NCJ Number
230138
Date Published
January 2010
Length
88 pages
Annotation
This report examined criminal court case processing of young male domestic violence offenders in New York City, and compared and contrasted these offenders with older male domestic violence offenders, as well as young male offenders charge with offenses that are non-domestic violence.
Abstract
Using data from offenders arrested in New York City in the third quarter of 2005, the findings show that first, most young male domestic violence (DV) offenders had active criminal careers and many had a history of domestic violence arrests in the prior 2 years. Second, young male DV offenders had more extensive criminal histories than young male non-DV offenders. Third, findings found only a few factors that predicted which young male DV offenders engaged in pretrial misconduct, with the strongest predictor of failure to appear (FTA) a history of FTA in previous cases. Fourth, among young male DV offenders, age mattered: the youngest of the young male DV offenders those age 16-20, were more likely FTA than those age 21-24. Fifth, the strongest predictor of pretrial rearrest for a new domestic violence offense was whether the defendant had any domestic violence arrests in the prior 2 years. While much has been done to address domestic violence, it is not clear that the new policies and practices have been effective at specific deterrence in New York City. This study was undertaken with the goal of learning whether there is a potential for early intervention with young male DV offenders that might deter them from committing future acts of domestic violence. The study addressed three research questions: 1) what are the characteristics of young male DV offenders; 2) how do young male DV offenders compare to older male DV offender and to young male non-DV offenders; and 3) what factors influence pretrial misconduct (FTA) among young male DV offenders. Tables, figure, references, and appendixes A-C.