NCJ Number
152568
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1994) Pages: 147-218
Editor(s)
J H Kaci
Date Published
1994
Length
72 pages
Annotation
Four articles examine various issues pertinent to the characteristics of and response to domestic violence.
Abstract
The first article analyzes the implications of the research done to replicate Sherman and Berk's Minneapolis study that concluded arrest is the most effect deterrent for domestic violence. The article argues that the evidence on arrests as a deterrent to spousal abuse is less than compelling. Over-reliance on this solution is inhibiting exploration of other preventive measures. Expecting the police to be the front-line defense is unrealistic, since the root causes of physical abuse against intimates is rooted in cultural conditioning. The second article takes a closer look at data on cases in which spousal violence leads to homicide. There have been increases in ratio of spousal homicides committed by women over the past several decades. Although the overall rate for the United States is higher than the other countries studied, significant differences exist between racial groups. The authors suggest that aggregate rates for the United States are misleading and conclude that socioeconomic factors and family structure are major reasons for the observed differences. The third article discusses a study of over 600 case files on parental abductions. The poor and minorities were over-represented in this sample but the archival data did not permit and explanation of why this was so. Slightly over one-third of the parents reporting their children missing complained of being victimized by previous spousal abuse by the person who took the children; almost one-fifth of those who abducted the children reported such violence. The concluding article reports on surveys distributed to domestic-violence victims after they sought help in obtaining a temporary protective order. Physical abuse continued after seeking the temporary order in about one-eighth of the cases but respondents did not confirm suggestions by other authors that violence escalates after such orders are sought. References accompany the articles.