NCJ Number
100736
Date Published
1986
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This study guide, which accompanies the ''Crime File' videotape on domestic violence, reviews the Minneapolis Police Department's experiment on the effectiveness of various police methods for dealing with domestic assaults and assesses whether experiment findings should determine police policy in other cities.
Abstract
Police officers were randomly assigned to policies of handling domestic assault cases by arresting the alleged offender, mediating between the alleged offender and victim, or expelling the offender from the house. Victims were interviewed every 2 weeks for 6 months following police intervention to determine whether assaults recurred. Although approximately 18 percent of all offenders repeated their violence, only 10 percent of the arrested offenders repeated it. Whether or not the research findings are flawed can be determined after similar experiments are conducted elsewhere. Even if the Minnesota findings are valid, factors unique to the Minneapolis experiment may prevent the replication of the same result in other cities. Duluth, Minn., has a policy of arresting alleged offenders in domestic assault cases, attended by required counseling for the offender. The Atlanta Police Department varies its approach to domestic assault according to the seriousness of the assault. Neither of these programs has been tested for its effect on repeat violence. 4 references.