A Comparison of Men and Women Arrested for Domestic Violence: Who Presents the Greater Threat?

Recent increases in the number of women arrested for domestic violence raise important questions about implementation of proarrest policies, equivalency of intimate partner aggression across genders, and management of female domestic violence offenders. This study compares demographic characteristics, criminal history variables, and the past domestic violence history of men (n = 5,578) and women (n = 1,126) arrested for domestic assault against a heterosexual intimate partner. Using victim reported information and data collected by local criminal justice agencies, we found that female arrestees were significantly less likely than males to have histories that warrant concern regarding the potential for future violence. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

EMPOWERING CHILDREN IN MEDIATION

The available research in the mediation arena regarding child custody disputes indicates a lack of and growing need for effective intervention techniques. The authors present practicing mediators with a specific intervention model for interviewing, safeguarding, and empowering children in the process of mediating custody disputes. The mediation model utilizes a structured, strategic, and process-oriented approach with a family systems theoretical orientation and may be used in private or court-connected settings. The model presented here goes beyond the child-centered interview norm to the inclusion of the child in the process to assist parents in decision making. The model supports the current California statute under Family Code Section 3023, which states that "if a child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason so as to form an intelligent preference as to custody, the court shall consider and give due weight to the wishes of the child in making an award of custody or modification." The model does, however, maintain the position that the final decision continues to lie with the parents or the courts and not the child.     

Developing relevant data for a prison organizational development program

A project to develop a set of techniques for bringing about change in an existing prison is described. The effort concentrated primarily on the managers of the statewide system, and the staff and inmates of one prison were the focus of a set of intervention experiments. Methods for modifying the network of human and organizational relationships in that system were objects of this project. The research instruments used, their use, and some of the things learned about them is given in detail.