WHAT SOCIAL NETWORKS DO IN THE AFTERMATH OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Claims that domestic violence is best deemed a 'hidden crime' tend to equate being hidden with non-disclosure to social services, the police or other criminal justice professionals. However, the social worlds of domestic violence victims are much more intricate than this. Family, relatives, friends and neighbours usually form the immediate social world of domestic violence. They can be regarded as a 'response network' that may be mobilized in the aftermath of domestic violence. This article focuses on the analysis of three women's narratives about what happened in their social networks in the aftermath of violence. In all three cases, the culturally based understanding of how to deal with unacceptable behaviour in the social network constituted a framework for the response action. The analysis shows how social networks can be both responsible enough to intervene in the violence and responsive enough to recognize how the violence affects women and their children.