9412061 Philips This Dissertation Improvement project examines the cultural, ideological, and behavioral dimensions of domestic violence and law among the Wolof of St. Louis, Senegal. Study subjects will include female and male disputants and legal professionals participating in domestic violence cases at the Regional Tribunal. Anthropological methods, including structured and unstructured interviews, court observations, and participant observation will elicit information on a number of subjects pertaining to law and domestic violence. The chief objective of this study is to determine to what extent the law provides a means for challenging domestic violence, and, alternatively, in what measure it maintains the conditions enabling domestic violence to persist. To pursue this objective, three sets of questions will be investigated: (1) what beliefs do female and male disputants hold regarding the law, gender, and violence, and how do these beliefs shape the demands disputants make on the legal system?; (2) how do legal professionals interpret the law, and how does this affect their handling of cases and case outcomes?; and (3) do case outcomes offer remedies for women facing domestic violence? Information obtained from this research will be of potential use to legal professionals and scholars in the United States, Senegal, and the rest of the Islamic world.
