Transitando por los espacios jurídico-penales : discursos sociales e implicaciones para la intervención en casos de violencia hacia la mujer

The aim of this paper is to assess the way victims of domestic violence are treated in legal or penal institutions in Catalonia (Spain) from a psychosocial perspective. With this purpose in mind, we analyse the functions and discursive effects of the narratives of the agents that have taken part in our research (judges, public prosecutors, lawyers, police officers, and the victims themselves). The data was collected by means of participant observation and interviews. We then used discourse analysis, and more specifically, the identification of interpretative repertoires (Gilbert & Mulkay, 1984; Potter & Wetherell, 1987). The study reveals the predominance of two interpretative repertoires that characterise the practices of the criminal justice system with respect to domestic violence and the women involved: a) the "empiricist repertoire" characterised by objectivity and emotional distance; and b) the "professional repertoire", characterised by the predominance of professional roles and pragmatic experience versus reflective practice. Nevertheless, emerging resistance practices are characterised by elements that might be placed in the "feminist repertoire" and offer new insights into the treatment of vulnerable women. This "feminist repertoire" has the possibility of transforming professional interventions or practices, since the criminal justice system does not currently meet the needs of female victims, especially if we consider their diversity