Assessing and managing risk for intimate partner violence: Police employees’ use of the Police Screening Tool for Violent Crimes in Scania

Relapse into intimate partner violence (IPV) can potentially be predicted and counter-measures applied. This study examines the predictive validity of a violence risk assessment tool: the Police Screening Tool for Violent Crimes (PST-VC) among a sample of 65 offenders. All PST-VC assessments regarding IPV that were conducted at the Scania police department in 2010 were included in the sample. Follow-up time was 16–28 months, and all reported incidents with the same victim and suspected offender were recorded. The PST-VC demonstrated limited effect in the ability to identify high-risk offenders and predict repeat victimization. Interventions against the offender and victim protective actions were more often recommended in high-risk cases but did not lower the number of IPV relapses. The study suggests that the PST-VC is not a promising instrument.     

The influence of implicit theories and offender characteristics on judgements of sexual offenders: a moderated mediation analysis

The psychological factors underpinning responses to sexual offenders are beginning to receive increased empirical scrutiny. One such factor is offender representativeness, which refers to the extent to which a given offender example matches a stereotype of those who are typically labelled as “sexual offenders”. Using a sample of 252 community members, we examined the role of implicit theories about sexual offenders (ie whether sexual offending is seen as fixed or malleable) in mediating the relationship between affective responses to sexual offenders and policy outcome judgements. We found support for this mediating effect, although this was eliminated when participants were presented with a “non-representative” offender vignette. We argue that the relationship between affective responses and policy judgements is contingent on the activation of a sexual offender stereotype, and that this link can be disrupted via the increased presentation of non-stereotypical case examples. Implications for public debate and professional practice are discussed.     

Implicit Theories in Intimate Partner Violence Sex Offenders: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

An increased understanding of the cognitive characteristics of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Sex Offenders would have implications for clinical intervention and risk assessment in this distinctive offending behaviour group. The improved understanding of cognitions in violent offenders, sex offenders, and IPV offenders has led to the development and implementation of specific offender behaviour programmes taking these cognitive characteristics into account. Recently, empirical investigations have focussed on qualitative exploration of cognition to propose implicit theories (ITs), that is distinct sets of schemas that offenders hold in relation to themselves, the world, and others. The current paper utilises Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore cognition in 11 Intimate Partner Sex Offenders. Five superordinate and 14 subthemes were identified, which are representative of Implicit Theories present in this specific offender group. These ITs are discussed in relation to other offending behaviour groups in addition to their clinical implications in the development of effective interventions and risk assessment tools.     

Burden of Womanhood: Tamil Women’s Perceptions of Coping with Intimate Partner Violence

Helping women victimized by intimate partner violence (IPV) is a challenge, particularly when the women belong to diverse ethnic groups. The objective of our study was to collect information on perceptions of coping with IPV from the perspective of a specific immigrant group of women. Sixty-three women from the Tamil community in Toronto representing different generations and experiences of IPV were interviewed in focus group settings about their views of coping with IPV. Study findings suggested that their views were deeply embedded in their sociocultural context and influenced by the gender-role expectations from the community. The women showed a marked preference for “passive” modes of coping rather than “active.” Study findings have implications for the development of alternative approaches to helping ethnically diverse women deal with IPV.     

DOES VIOLENCE INVOLVING WOMEN AND INTIMATE PARTNERS HAVE A SPECIAL ETIOLOGY?*

We used data from a survey of inmates who have committed homicide or assault to examine whether men and women who have killed or assaulted their intimate partners are different from other violent offenders. A “gender perspective” implies that intimate partner violence and violence between the sexes have different etiologies than other types of violence, whereas a “violence perspective” implies that they have similar etiologies. Our evidence supports a violence perspective. In general, offenders who attack their partners are similar to other offenders in terms of their prior records, alcohol and drug use, and experiences of abuse. We observed some differences between men who attack women (including their female partners) and other male offenders, but the differences were opposite those predicted by a gender perspective. For example, men who attacked their partners were particularly likely to have been abused by their partners. In addition, men who attacked women were particularly likely to have experienced sexual abuse during childhood and to have been intoxicated at the time of the incident. These results suggest that some well-known predictors of violence are particularly strong predictors of male violence against women and female partners.     

Changing the Domestic Violence Narrative: Aligning Definitions and Standards

Many states use a broad legal definition of domestic violence that includes intimate partner violence along with family violence, and it is from this broader conceptualization that the criminal justice system intervenes and often treats all types of offenders in the same way. This judicial response can include a mandate to attend a Batterer Intervention Program-type group, which does little to address violence that occurs outside of the “traditional” partner violence paradigm. In order to advance interventions for physical partner violence that adequately address both male and female perpetration, as well as the broader conceptualization of domestic violence, we must align definitions and standards among researchers, service providers, advocates, policymakers, and the public health and criminal justice systems. Examples of how this misalignment has stalled progress in offender treatment are discussed and a plan for enabling continued innovation in the field is presented.     

Implicit attitudes toward violence among male perpetrators of intimate partner violence: a preliminary investigation

Whereas cognitive variables are hypothesized to play an important role in intimate partner violence (IPV) etiology and intervention, cognitive assessment methods have largely targeted offenders' explicit, controlled cognitive processing using paper-and-pencil questionnaires prone to social desirability biases. Using an implicit measure of attitudes (the Implicit Association Test [IAT]), we assessed attitudes toward gender, violence, and the association between gender and violence among 50 men enrolled in an IPV treatment program and a comparison sample of 40 nonviolent (NV) men. Although no group differences were noted on explicit attitudinal measures, men in the IPV group showed more positive implicit attitudes regarding violence, and a more rapid association between women and violence. Among men in treatment for IPV, the attitudes toward violence IAT was significantly correlated with self/partner-reported IPV frequency. In accordance with social information processing models of aggression, these results suggest that aggressogenic attitudes are likely to operate automatically and with little conscious deliberation. As a result, clinicians and researchers must adapt assessment and intervention strategies to capture both implicit and explicit aspects of cognitive processing.     

REDUCING INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: AN EVALUATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE JUSTICE SYSTEM‐COMMUNITY COLLABORATION*

Research Summary In 1999, three communities were selected to participate in a research demonstration designed to test the feasibility and impact of a coordinated response to intimate partner violence that involved the courts and justice agencies in a central role. The primary goals of the Judicial Oversight Demonstration (JOD) were to increase victim safety, hold offenders accountable, and reduce repeat offending using coordinated community services and integrated justice system policies in intimate partner violence court cases. The partnerships differed from earlier coordinated community responses to domestic violence by placing special focus on the role of the court, specifically the judge, to facilitate offender accountability in collaboration with both nonprofit service providers and other criminal justice agencies. This article presents the results of an impact evaluation of this demonstration in all sites. The demonstration received mostly positive responses from justice system agencies, service providers, offenders, and victims. Improvements were made in offender monitoring, consistent sanctioning, and increased supervision. However, these changes did not translate into gains in victim perceptions of their safety or into reductions in repeat violence in all sites. Policy Implications The demonstration had minimal impact on changing offender attitudes and behavior. The mixed results of the evaluation indicate that the most effective justice system responses to intimate partner violence must include a focus on protecting victims, close monitoring of offenders, and rapid responses with penalties when violations of court‐ordered conditions are detected. Indications were found that JOD strategies were effective for some subgroups, including younger offenders with fewer ties to the victim and offenders with extensive arrest histories. The observed reductions in intimate partner violence in selected subgroups in the JOD sites may suggest a fruitful way to begin designing new intervention strategies, including prevention programs for men and women.     

Gender Differences in Specialization in Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing the Gender Symmetry and Violent Resistance Perspectives

Research on male domestic violence offenders has typically considered them to be highly specialized offenders, and specialized theories and policies have been developed to address this type of offending. Some scholars have suggested that intimate partner violence is not as specialized as has been previously assumed. Especially in terms of gender differences, intimate partner violence research and theory suggest some variability in the level of specialization apparent for offenders. The current study uses the gender symmetry and violent resistance perspectives of women’s use of intimate partner violence to examine gender differences in specialization among a sample of intimate partner violence arrestees. Analyses employed multivariate models estimating the diversity index as a measure of specialization in general and multilevel item response theory to assess specialization in intimate partner violence specifically. Results indicate that female arrestees demonstrate significantly greater levels specialization as compared to male arrestees, providing support for the violent resistance perspective. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed.     

What Happens Before Intimate Partner Violence? Distal and Proximal Antecedents

Although research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has emphasized the importance of building situational frameworks and event-based research, our knowledge of the contexts surrounding IPV is particularly limited for immigrants. The present study identifies the sequence of specific antecedents of IPV and their relationships with one another. This study is a content analysis of online postings on an anonymous internet forum for Korean married women living in the U.S. Ninety-five postings narrating IPV episodes from the direct experiences of the posters were selected. With a novel method named the “might-cause chain,” violence was extracted from the narratives and then traced back to prior actions. Results suggest that environmental settings of IPV can be expanded from immediate proximal situations (triggers), through contingent pathways, to distal context. The roles of verbal exchange, alcohol, in-laws, and self-control, and the patterns of demand interactions, IPV cycles or continuums, and dispute-related violence are discussed.     

共同正犯“部分实行全部责任”的法理及适用

根据因果共犯论,共同正犯"部分实行全部责任"归责原则的法理根据在于各行为与法益侵害结果之间的因果性。我国立法明确否定共同过失犯罪,故解释论上难以肯定过失共同正犯,但司法实务中所讨论的过失共同正犯的实例,常常存在回避结果发生的义务违反,因而完全可以以过失的同时犯对结果承担责任;肇事"逃逸"的罪过形式是故意而非过失,故指使"逃逸"可以成立共犯。只要片面行为与结果之间存在物理的因果性,就应肯定片面共同正犯的成立。承继共犯正犯否定说是因果共犯论的当然归结,因而利用被害人不能反抗的状态中途参与取财的,仅成立盗窃罪共同正犯,而非抢劫罪共同正犯;未参与盗窃仅事后参与暴力的,不成立事后抢劫的共犯。     

VARIETIES OF VIOLENT BEHAVIOR

There is an implicit assumption of homogeneity across violent behaviors and offenders in the criminology literature. Arguing against this assumption, I draw on three distinct literatures [child abuse and neglect (CAN) and violence, violence and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and CAN and PTSD] to provide a rationale for an examination of varieties of violent behaviors. I use data from my prospective cohort design study of the long‐term consequences of CAN to define three varieties of violent offenders using age of documented cases of CAN, onset of PTSD, and first violent arrest in a temporally correct manner [CAN → to violence, CAN → PTSD → violence (PTSD first), and CAN → violence → PTSD (violence first)], and a fourth variety, violence only. The results illustrate meaningful heterogeneity in violent behavior and different developmental patterns and characteristics. There are three major implications: First, programs and policies that target violence need to recognize the heterogeneity and move away from a “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach. Second, violence prevention policies and programs that target abused and neglected children are warranted, given the prominent role of CAN in the backgrounds of these violent offenders. Third, criminologists and others interested in violence need to attend to the role of PTSD, which is present in about one fifth (21 percent) of these violent offenders, and not relegate the study of these offenders to the psychiatric and psychological literatures.     

Intimate Partner Violence Against Married Women in Uganda

This study utilized data from the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey to examine correlates of the lifetime experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) against married women in Uganda. Guided by an integrated theoretical framework that synthesizes resource and gender theories, five hypotheses are developed and tested concerning three major forms of IPV: (a) physical violence, (b) emotional or psychological violence, and (c) sexual violence. Results from multivariate statistical analyses indicate that although both the resource and gender factors are significant predictors of the lifetime experience of IPV among married Ugandan women, the gender factors appear to be more systematic and robust than the resource factors in predicting IPV in Uganda. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.     

Intimate partner violence during pregnancy and mothers' child abuse potential

This research examines whether women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy have a higher child abuse potential than women who have not experienced IPV. Data were analyzed from a longitudinal investigation of IPV during pregnancy. This study recruited 88 pregnant women during prenatal care and followed them for 1(1/2) years. IPV was assessed using the Conflict Tactics Scale 2 (CTS2). The woman's potential for child abuse was assessed using the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAPI). There was a significant positive association between IPV and child abuse potential scores (p = .003), even after controlling for sociodemographics. The odds of having a high level of child abuse potential were 3 times greater for women who were victims of IPV compared to nonvictims. Higher child abuse potential scores of the victimized women resulted mainly from the Distress and Problems with Others CAPI scales.     

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD: NARRATIVES OF PERSISTENCE AND DESISTANCE

Prior research on patterns of intimate partner violence (IPV) has documented changes over time, but few studies have focused directly on IPV desistance processes. This analysis identifies unique features of IPV, providing a rationale for the focus on this form of behavior cessation. We develop a life‐course perspective on social learning as a conceptual framework and draw on qualitative interviews (n = 89) elicited from a sample of young adults who participated in a larger longitudinal study (Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study). The respondents’ backgrounds reflected a range of persistence and desistance from IPV perpetration. Our analyses revealed that relationship‐based motivations and changes were central features of the narratives of successful desisters, whether articulated as a stand‐alone theme or in tandem with other potential “hooks” for change. The analysis provides a counterpoint to individualistic views of desistance processes, highlighting ways in which social experiences foster attitude shifts and associated behavioral changes that respondents tied to this type of behavior change. The analyses of persisters and those for whom change seemed to be a work in progress provide points of contrast and highlight barriers that limit a respondent's desistance potential. We describe implications for theories of desistance as well as for IPV prevention and intervention efforts.     

Typologies,risk and recidivism in partner-violent men with the B-SAFER: a pilot study

The research describes the criminal profile of 100 imprisoned partner-violent men (PVM) in Spain, and the follow-up for an average of 15 months of 40 released cases. The ability of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) to classify offenders according to typologies and to predict recidivism is analyzed. The results show that PVM have low level of specialization (only 45% limit their criminal activity to intimate partner violence (IPV)) and high level of recidivism (47% previously have been in prison, and 41% have prior arrest for IPV). The B-SAFER shows a high capacity to classify according to batterers typologies (accuracy of 79% with a score ≥13) in two groups: non-pathological and antisocial/pathological offenders. After prison release, 17.5% relapsed (15% in IPV), and 66% have done so within the first year. The B-SAFER had a predictive accuracy of 70% (sensitivity 100%). From antisocial/pathological group, 21% have recidivate compared to 12.5% in non-pathological aggressors, with an over-representation of antisocial/pathological subtype among recidivists (71%). The best predictive variables are the justification of violence, age at first imprisonment, and treatment. There is a 9% of recidivism among treated offenders compared to 50% in the untreated group.     

The Interrelationship Between Substance Abuse and the Likelihood of Arrest,Conviction, and Re-offending in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence

The nexus between substance abuse and intimate partner violence has been studied in depth. The interrelationship between substance abuse, intimate partner violence, and the criminal justice system response and subsequent offending has not received as much attention. In this article, the authors examine the impact of substance abuse on the likelihood of an officer’s decision to make an arrest, conviction in that case, and subsequent re-offending. The authors find that while official decision-making remains unaffected by the fact that the offender has been drinking and/or using drugs, substance abuse and subsequent re-offending are inextricably interlinked. These findings highlight the need to screen domestic violence offenders for alcohol/drug abuse, and provide offenders manifesting these problems with alcohol/drug treatment in addition to batterer treatment.     

Police attitudes toward domestic violence offenders

Police attitudes are important in facilitating a sense of safety and comfort in women seeking justice-system support for protection from partner violence. This study examined police attitudes toward sanctions and treatment for domestic violence offenders compared with other violent and nonviolent offenders. In addition, police attitudes toward domestic violence offenders who do and do not use substances were examined. Officers from one city police department (n = 315) participated in a survey. Results indicate there is a trend toward attitudes that treatment, rather than sanctions, was more appropriate for domestic violence offenders. In addition, officers rated the use of sanctions higher for domestic violence offenders who abuse alcohol or drugs compared with domestic violence offenders who did not abuse alcohol or drugs. Understanding police attitudes toward domestic violence offenders may have implications for police training and victim services in facilitating the use of the justice system in protecting women from partner violence.     

Young Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence Describe their Abused Parent: A Qualitative Study

The negative impact of intimate partner violence (IPV) begins early in the child’s relationship with a caregiver. Children’s relationships with, and internal working models of, abused parents have rarely been documented. The aim of this study was to collect and interpret young children’s accounts of their abused parent. Interviews were conducted with 17 children aged 4 to 12 years who had witnessed IPV. Thematic analysis identified three main themes and seven sub-themes: “Coherent accounts of the parent” (sub-themes of “general benevolence”, “provision of support, protection, and nurture”, and “parental distress”); “Deficient accounts of the parent” (“vague accounts” and “disorganized narrations”); and “The parent as a trauma trigger” (“avoidance” and “breakthrough of intrusive memories and thoughts”). The results indicate these children may hold integrated, deficient, or blocked internal representations of an abused parent, and they illustrate the benefit of including young children as informants in research.