ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explains the rhetorical analysis and professional communication perspectives, in conjunction with feminist and cultural analysis, have revealed the complexities regarding legal, legislative, and public discourse about two types of violent crimes against women: domestic violence and sexual assault. It focuses on two specific studies to illuminate the different directions that policymaking and protocols have taken regarding that violence against women: the debate over civil commitment of sex offenders, as exemplified by the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP), and attempts to identify high-risk domestic violence victims, as in the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP). The book identifies not only how professional communication perspectives can illuminate the challenges of curtailing sexual assault and domestic violence but also how scholars and activists may recognize the strategies by which major organizational and social changes are introduced and ultimately either considered successful or remain unrealized.
