Domestic violence: Victimization, police intervention, and disposition

The data presented here are consistent with prior research conclusions and indicate that wives have been victims in domestic dispute incidents in the United States more frequently than other family or household members. Further, in specific instances where criminal complaints were initiated, it is shown that in these instances, arrest under the Domestic Violence Program produced the strongest association when wives were the victims. The police were likely to arrest offenders (1) when criminal complaints were initiated and (2) when intimate family members, rather than strangers, were victims. The data indicate that victims who did not initiate criminal complaints did not receive adequate protection or services from the criminal justice system, and criminal complaints initiated by wives received significantly more arrest-and-referral activity than did complaints initiated by other family or household members.