In the United States, there is a gap between the way that sociologists, psychologists, legal scholars, and advocates define domestic violence and the way that criminal laws define domestic violence. Experts largely agree: domestic violence occurs when a partner exercises continuous power and control over the other. In this view, domestic violence occurs via a pattern of abusive behaviors that unfolds over time, and its manifestations include both physically-violent and emotionally-abusive behaviors. In contrast, criminal statutes throughout the United States continue to conceptualize domestic violence as single acts of physical violence or threats of physical violence. During the past several years, England and Wales, Ireland, and Scotland have passed laws that have attempted to bridge this gap in their own societies. The enactment of these laws abroad—and the fact that legislatures are considering similar laws in other jurisdictions, including the United States—provides a timely opportunity to analyze whether state legislatures should adopt similar laws here. This Comment argues that states should adopt domestic violence laws similar to the ones passed abroad. First, it explains why this gap between the criminal law and other understandings of domestic violence emerged, what it looks like in practice, and what its consequences are for victims throughout their experience with the criminal justice system. Second, it draws attention to the ways in which both the legislature and the criminal justice system are growing increasingly comfortable with defining and prosecuting crimes as courses of conduct. Based on the conduct covered and the harm addressed under these already existing laws, introducing similar laws in the domestic violence context would be a natural next step. Third, it evaluates course-of-conduct laws recently passed in Scotland, Ireland, and England and Wales that have attempted to close this gap. Finally, it recommends that states pass course-of-conduct domestic violence statutes, using Scotland’s law as a model.

在美国，社会学家、心理学家、法律学者和倡导者定义家庭暴力的方式与刑法定义家庭暴力的方式之间存在差距。专家们普遍同意：当一方对另一方行使持续的权力和控制权时，就会发生家庭暴力。在这种观点下，家庭暴力是通过一种随时间推移而展开的虐待行为模式发生的，其表现形式包括身体暴力和情感虐待行为。相比之下，美国各地的刑事法规继续将家庭暴力概念化为单一的身体暴力行为或身体暴力威胁。在过去几年中，英格兰和威尔士、爱尔兰和苏格兰通过了试图弥合其社会差距的法律。这些法律在国外的颁布——以及立法机关正在考虑包括美国在内的其他司法管辖区的类似法律这一事实——提供了一个及时的机会来分析州立法机关是否应该在这里采用类似的法律。该评论认为，各州应采用与国外通过的类似的家庭暴力法。首先，它解释了为什么会出现刑法和其他对家庭暴力的理解之间的差距，它在实践中的样子，以及它对受害者在刑事司法系统的整个经历中的后果。其次，它提请注意立法机关和刑事司法系统越来越习惯于将犯罪定义和起诉为行为过程的方式。根据这些现有法律涵盖的行为和处理的伤害，在家庭暴力背景下引入类似的法律将是自然的下一步。第三，它评估了苏格兰、爱尔兰、英格兰和威尔士最近通过的行为过程法，这些法律试图缩小这一差距。最后，它建议各州以苏格兰的法律为范本，通过行为过程中的家庭暴力法规。