NCJ Number
208869
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2005 Pages: 255-277
Date Published
February 2005
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of convictions for domestic violence on the recidivism rates of batterers.
Abstract
Domestic violence is the most prevalent violent crime reported to police and research has indicated that over 70 percent of domestic violence victims who sought help did so through the criminal justice system. Yet the effectiveness of criminal justice policies and interventions for domestic violence remains questionable. In order to add to the knowledge in this area, the current study sought to answer two interrelated research questions regarding (1) the characteristics, violent acts, and criminal histories of batterers who are convicted versus batterers whose cases are dismissed and (2) the impact of convictions on domestic violence recidivism over a 1-year follow-up period. Dismissed and convicted cases were randomly selected from the dataset of a larger study that tracked information for all domestic violence charges filed in municipal court between April 2000 and March 2001. The analysis was completed on 315 dismissed cases and 204 convicted cases and included an examination of criminal histories. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated that convictions reduced the rate of domestic violence recidivism among the batterers. This finding remains significant, yet modest, after controlling for histories of domestic violence and other relevant background variables. Other findings on the characteristics of batterers suggests that younger batterers are more likely to recidivate, as are batterers with long histories of domestic violence. Future research should examine the impact of conviction on recidivism over a longer follow-up period. Tables, notes, references