NCJ Number
141895
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 36 Issue: 5 Dated: special issue (May/June 1993) Pages: 601-609
Date Published
1993
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A dramatic increase has occurred in the use of arrest to deal with perpetrators of domestic assault since the 1981 Minneapolis domestic violence experiment, but recent studies do not clearly demonstrate that arrest policies really control repetitive assaults.
Abstract
What is known about the impact of police arrest policies is that the majority of domestic violence cases brought to the attention of police involve low-income and minority group households. Studies indicate, however, that arrest cures some abusers but makes others worse and that arrest eases the pain for abuse victims but increases it for those intimate with unemployed partners. Further, arrest appears to help white and Hispanic victims but does not deter repetitive violence among black victims. Studies also indicate that arrest reduces violence in some cities but increases it in others, that arrest reduces domestic violence among employed people but increases it among unemployed people, and that arrest reduces domestic violence in the short run but can increase it in the long run. Police officers can generally predict which couples are prone to suffer future violence, but society values privacy too highly to encourage preventive action. Five policy recommendations are offered: repeal mandatory arrest laws; substitute structured police discretion; allow warrantless arrests; encourage the issuance of arrest warrants for absent offenders; and ensure special police units and policies focus on chronically violent couples. 1 reference