Intimate Partner Violence, Police Engagement, and Perceived Helpfulness of the Legal System: Between-and-Within-Group Analyses by Women’s Race and Ethnicity

Author(s):  
Ijeoma Nwabuzor Ogbonnaya ◽  
Millan A. AbiNader ◽  
Shih-Ying Cheng ◽  
Tina Jiwatram-Negrón ◽  
Meredith Bagwell-Gray ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122098834
Author(s):  
Kirk R. Williams ◽  
Richard Stansfield ◽  
Jacquelyn Campbell

This study seeks to determine the concurrent and predictive validity of a dual risk assessment protocol. It combines the risk of persistence in intimate partner violence (IPV) measured via the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument–Revised (DVSI-R) with supplemental items from the Danger Risk Assessment (DRA) bearing on the risk of potential lethality. We further test whether this assessment protocol reproduces disparities by race and ethnicity found in the larger population. Using a sample of 4,665 IPV male defendants with a female victim, analyses support both types of criterion validity. The DRA risk score is associated with felony charges, incarceration at the initial arrest, and the frequency of subsequent dangerous behavior. Results also suggest minimal predictive bias or disparate impact by race and ethnicity. Incorporating supplemental items bearing on potential lethality risk adds important information concerning the risk management strategies of those involved in IPV.


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-195
Author(s):  
Jill Theresa Messing ◽  
Meredith E Bagwell-Gray ◽  
Allison Ward-Lasher ◽  
Alesha Durfee

Protection orders (POs) are one legal system resource available to survivors of intimate partner violence. Many survivors choose not to obtain a PO, yet prior research has not examined the perspectives of these survivors. This study examined the open-ended survey responses ( n = 308) regarding the choice not to obtain a PO by survivors residing in emergency shelters in the United States. Content analysis indicated that many survivors made deliberate decisions to not seek safety through this venue. Survivors indicated that a PO may increase their partner’s violence, identified substantial barriers, evaluated a PO as unnecessary, preferred alternative strategies, were dealing with complex partner dynamics, and chose to protect their loved ones by not seeking a PO. Women with marginalized identities, in particular, indicated that there are multiple costs to seeking interventions within the legal system. Structural changes are needed within the legal system to facilitate access to justice for survivors.


Author(s):  
Leigh Goodmark

This chapter addresses the question, what is justice, in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV) and examines the use of law and the legal system for the prevention of IPV revictimization (tertiary prevention). The chapter highlights the limitations of the law and criminal legal system for achieving justice for specific groups of IPV survivors, and the potential for this system cause further harm. The chapter considers alternatives to the traditional criminal legal response to IPV to secure justice and safety for IPV survivors.


Author(s):  
Heather Douglas

The chapter outlines the approach and methodology of the study that underpins this book. This study draws on interviews with 65 women who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) and interacted with the legal system. The women were interviewed on three occasions over a 3-year period to understand how their experiences of law changed over time. This chapter also describes the characteristics of the women who took part in the study and the limitations of the study. It provides an overview of previous studies that have interviewed people over time and considers the choice of language used in this book.


Author(s):  
Heather Douglas

This chapter explores women’s interactions with judges when they appeared before them in relation to protection orders and child custody orders after experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Commonly women identified that judges prioritized physical violence and minimized other forms of abuse and that they seemed to align with abusers, discounting the women’s experiences of abuse. Women identified that judges often lacked preparation for hearings, rubber-stamped witness subpoenas, and failed to stop irrelevant witness examination. They explained how these approaches facilitated their partner’s misuse of the legal system as a tactic of abuse. Women also discussed how judges, especially in the family courts, prioritized fathers’ rights to contact with children over safety. However, women’s stories also demonstrated resistance to their abuser’s control over them through the courts, and their efforts to ensure the safety of their children regardless of court orders.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry Lipsky ◽  
Raul Caetano ◽  
Craig A. Field ◽  
Gregory L. Larkin

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1654-1670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Stoler ◽  
Jaclyn Verity ◽  
Jessica R. Williams

This study examined geodemographic factors associated with availability of comprehensive intimate partner violence (IPV) screening services in Miami-Dade County, Florida. We geocoded 2014 survey data from 278 health facilities and created a population-normalized density surface of IPV screening comprehensiveness. We used correlation analysis and spatial regression techniques to evaluate census tract-level predictors of the mean normalized comprehensiveness score (NCS) for 505 census tracts in Miami-Dade. The population-adjusted density surface of IPV screening comprehensiveness revealed geographic disparities in the availability of screening services. Using a spatial lag regression model, we observed that race and ethnicity are associated with mean NCS by census tract after controlling for age, median gross rent, and receipt of Social Security benefits. The percentage of White non-Hispanic residents was positively associated with NCS, Black non-Hispanic was negatively associated with NCS, while Hispanic—the majority ethnicity in Miami-Dade—was not associated with NCS. This exploratory study may be the first to put IPV screening comprehensiveness on the map, and provides a starting point for addressing urban disparities in the availability of IPV screening services that are shaped by race, ethnicity, zoning, and socioeconomic status.


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