Convicting and incarcerating felony offenders of intimate assault and the odds of new assault charges

The effectiveness of harsher sanctions for domestic violence offenders is an important topic given legislative trends in “getting tough” with these offenders. This article takes a rare look at felony domestic violence, specifically felony assaults on female intimates, with an analysis of whether conviction, jail, and imprisonment are related to the odds of subsequent charges among 353 male defendants from twenty-four Ohio trial courts of general jurisdiction. Each defendant was followed up for two years after his original case was closed and his sentence (if any) was served. Conviction and jail sentences were both related to significantly lower likelihoods of recharging for intimate assault, but prison sentences were not related to these odds. These findings are discussed in relation to the potential importance of reducing short-term opportunities for violence in order to prevent future harm.