NCJ Number
121717
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: (1989) Pages: 37-59
Date Published
1989
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Legislative attitudes toward domestic-violence policy were examined through a survey of the Indiana General Assembly approximately 1 year after it enacted a new law that increased police authority to arrest in domestic-violence cases.
Abstract
Eighty-five legislators (59 percent of the General Assembly) were surveyed in the fall of 1986 regarding their attitude toward the adoption of statewide standards on processing domestic violence cases. Seventy-four survey responses were useable. Data were obtained on the independent variables of sex, education, urbanicity, political party, criminal justice committee membership, criminal justice employment, prison visitation, and attribution. Approximately 64 percent of the lawmakers supported a statewide policy to control domestic violence. This indicates that legislators wanted still more influence on domestic-violence policy even after they had enacted major legislation to increase police power to arrest in such cases. Ordinary least squares regression procedures were used to examine the sources of support for the policy proposal. The only independent variable significantly impacting a legislator's position on the statewide domestic-violence policy was urbanicity. Urban/suburban legislators were more likely than rural legislators to support a statewide domestic violence policy. 3 tables, 40 references.