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.     

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.     

THE PREVENTIVE EFFECTS OF ARREST ON INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: RESEARCH,POLICY AND THEORY*

Research Summary: This research addresses the limitations of prior analyses and reviews of five experiments testing for the specific deterrent effect of arrest on intimate partner violence by applying to individual level data consistent eligibility criteria, common independent and outcome measures, and appropriate statistical tests. Based on 4,032 cases involving adult males who assaulted their female intimate partners, multivariate regression analyses show consistent but modest reductions in subsequent offenses targeting the original victim that is attributable to arresting the suspect. Although the reductions attributable to arrest are similar across all five studies, other factors, such as the suspect's prior arrest record, are stronger predictors of subsequent offenses. The effect of arrest is also modest compared with the general decline in offenses toward the same victim during the follow‐up period. Policy Implications: These results lend limited support for policies favoring arrest over informal police responses to intimate partner violence. However, the analyses also show that despite police intervention, a minority of suspects repeatedly victimize their partners and that factors other than formal sanctions play larger roles in explaining the cessation or continuation of aggressive behavior between intimates. These findings suggest that new policies replacing or enhancing arrest that target potential repeat offenders might produce larger reductions in intimate partner violence.     

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN U.S. METROPOLITAN AREAS: THE CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES OF POLICE AND SOCIAL SERVICES*

Although community responses to the problem of intimate partner violence typically focus on increasing and improving policing and social services, few studies have examined the relationship among police force size, social service providers, and women's safety at home. To address this issue, we use data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to examine patterns of intimate partner violence for 40 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) over a 16‐year period (1989–2004). We analyze the data using three‐level multilevel models, with individual respondents (N = 487,166) nested within years, nested within MSAs. Net of other important individual and contextual factors, the results show that women's likelihood of victimization is significantly lower in MSAs that employ more sworn officers per capita, whereas the states’ mandatory arrest laws are not found to have significant independent effects. Above and beyond the effects of police force size, we also find a significant negative relationship between the size of the social service workforce and intimate partner violence. Future research should develop collaborative data collection efforts to examine the specific activities of police and social service workers in dealing with intimate partner violence so that the mechanisms underlying these significant relationships can be understood more clearly.     

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN THE MILITARY: SECURING OUR COUNTRY,STARTING WITH THE HOME1

This Note discusses domestic violence in the military. Currently, in cases of domestic violence in the military, the Case Review Committee uses the Incident Severity Index for Spouse Abuse to determine the severity of abuse. The Case Review Committee uses this index when determining treatment options for the perpetrator of domestic violence. However, this index is extremely inconsistent with the current views and emerging research of domestic violence. This Note identifies the problems with the current system and gives recommendations for ways to improve the system. The Note concludes that a new system would enhance the military's ability to combat domestic violence.     

A COMPARISON OF TWO PROSECUTION POLICIES IN CASES OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: MANDATORY CASE FILING VERSUS FOLLOWING THE VICTIM'S LEAD*

Research Summary This study capitalized on differences in domestic violence prosecution policies between two boroughs of New York City. In Brooklyn, arrest cases generally are filed, but in the Bronx, cases typically are not filed when the victim does not want to proceed. We sampled 272 intimate partner cases declined by the Bronx prosecutor and 211 similar cases filed by the Brooklyn prosecutor. The Brooklyn policy is more costly, and most cases ultimately were dismissed. After 6 months, rearrest rates did not differ significantly between the two boroughs, although victims offered qualified support for the universal filing policy. Policy Implications Prosecutors face conflicting pressures when victims do not support prosecution. Victim empowerment and resource conservation favor declining such cases, but sending a message of zero tolerance favors filing. Our results support an intermediate policy of filing most cases but dropping them sooner to give victims a voice while avoiding heavy investments in cases headed for dismissal.     

DIFFERENTIATION AMONG TYPES OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: RESEARCH UPDATE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTIONS

A growing body of empirical research has demonstrated that intimate partner violence is not a unitary phenomenon and that types of domestic violence can be differentiated with respect to partner dynamics, context, and consequences. Four patterns of violence are described: Coercive Controlling Violence, Violent Resistance, Situational Couple Violence, and Separation‐Instigated Violence. The controversial matter of gender symmetry and asymmetry in intimate partner violence is discussed in terms of sampling differences and methodological limitations. Implications of differentiation among types of domestic violence include the need for improved screening measures and procedures in civil, family, and criminal court and the possibility of better decision making, appropriate sanctions, and more effective treatment programs tailored to the characteristics of different types of partner violence. In family court, reliable differentiation should provide the basis for determining what safeguards are necessary and what types of parenting plans are appropriate to ensure healthy outcomes for children and parent–child relationships.     

THE MEDIATOR'S ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY ISSUES AND CONCERNS (MASIC): A SCREENING INTERVIEW FOR INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AND ABUSE AVAILABLE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

Screening for intimate partner violence and/or abuse (IPV/A) in family mediation is important, perhaps particularly among cases without attorney representation. While most mediators agree that it is ideal to consider IPV/A in case planning, there is less agreement regarding the need to universally and systematically screen for IPV/A among all cases. Such attitudes are of concern, given research in other fields (e.g., medicine, couples therapy) and our own research in a family mediation clinic, which documents that the lack of consistent and formal IPV/A assessment results in underdetection of IPV/A. While a variety of IPV/A screening measures exist, each has shortcomings. Thus, our research and clinical experience led us to develop a new IPV/A screening measure, the Mediator's Assessment of Safety Issues and Concerns (MASIC). We discuss features of the MASIC and provide the full measure in the Appendix. The MASIC is a behaviorally specific IPV/A screen that assesses various types of abuse (e.g., coercive control, stalking, physical violence) over the course of the relationship and in the past year. It is administered as an interview to build rapport and assesses lethality indicators and offers optional recommendations for procedural changes in mediation based on IPV/A. Although we have begun relevant research, it is important to note that the MASIC has not yet been validated. Nonetheless, we recommend the use of systematic IPV/A screens in family mediation and suggest that such measures may prove especially important in providing unrepresented parties a safe and appropriate environment for mediation.     

HOW DIFFERENT IS VIOLENCE IN THE HOME? AN EXAMINATION OF SOME CORRELATES OF STRANGER AND INTIMATE HOMICIDE*

Research into the nature and sources of intimate violence has not resolved the question of whether intimate violence differs from other forms of criminal violence to the extent that it should be considered separately. Some scholars have posited that the family context of intimate violence makes it unique because the intimacy and emotional attachment that usually characterize family relationships are absent from stranger violence. In contrast, others have suggested that intimate violence is like all other forms of violence and does not require separate consideration. If intimate violence does not differ from stranger violence the two must share common explanatory factors. I apply hierarchical modeling techniques to data from the Supplementary Homicide Reports to estimate multilevel models of stranger homicide and compare them with results from research on intimate homicide. The results suggest that intimate homicides differ from stranger homicides in several important respects and warrant separate treatment.     

PARTNER VIOLENCE AND RISK ASSESSMENT IN CHILD CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

How to integrate the problem of partner violence into a child custody evaluation is analyzed within a risk-assessment approach. The research literature on partner violence is reviewed to examine the issues of establishing a base rate for partner violence and its relative frequencies for both genders. Theoretical typologies of partner violence are reviewed and a new typology presented that is more suitable to the predictive task in the custody evaluation. A model of how the evaluator should approach partner violence is described, with an integration of a risk-assessment approach to child developmental outcomes as associated with custody and parenting time arrangements and a violence risk assessment of a perpetrator/parent.     

SELF-CONTROL AND INTIMATE VIOLENCE: AN EXAMINATION OF THE SCOPE AND SPECIFICATION OF THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME*

Ambiguities in Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime have generated doubts about the explanatory scope of the theory and inconsistencies in the specification of models attempting to test it. In particular, the theory has been criticized for its inability to explain intimate violence; however, an empirical test of this criticism cannot be conducted appropriately unless the theoretical model has been adequately specified. This study tests four models of self-control theory for their ability to explain one form of intimate violence: courtship aggression. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the ability of measures of low self-control, opportunity, and perceptions of reward to predict the probability of courtship violence in a sample of 985 students currently involved in a dating relationship. The results indicate that while the main effects of low self-control, opportunity, and perception of immediate gratification are significant predictors of the probability of using violence in a dating relationship, it is less clear whether the functional form of the theoretical model accommodates the interaction between low self-control and either opportunity or perceived rewards.     

CIVIC COMMUNITY IN THE HINTERLAND: TOWARD A THEORY OF RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND VIOLENCE*

Drawing on the civic community literature, this article explicates a theoretical model to explain variation in rates of violence across rural communities. It is hypothesized that rural communities with a stable population base that is locally invested, a vibrant participatory civic culture with a well‐developed noneconomic institutional base, and a robust economically independent middle class will have lower rates of violent crime. Results from the analysis of data for more than 1,000 rural counties reveal that the 11 variables used to operationalize the theory are empirically distinguishable from indicators of resource disadvantage and form three well‐defined indices: a residential stability/local investment factor, a local capitalism/independent middle class factor, and a civic engagement factor. Negative binomial regression models confirm that violent crime rates are generally much lower in communities that score high on these dimensions. Implications of these findings for future macrolevel criminological research are discussed.     

THE POLITICS OF RESEARCH: THE USE,ABUSE, AND MISUSE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA—THE CASES OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

This article examines the issue of how research is utilized, abused, and misused in policy and practice in the area of intimate partner violence (IPV). The article reviews and critically analyzes facts set forth for the purpose of claiming that IPV is a significant social problem and finds that many of these facts lack empirical support. The lack of evidence that supports theoretical explanations for IPV and recommended interventions hinders the ability to adequately respond to the problem of IPV.