NCJ Number
168563
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: September 1997 Pages: 349-356
Date Published
1997
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study solicited the attitudes of women victims of domestic violence toward the mandatory reporting of this crime.
Abstract
The study was conducted between February and May 1995 at a community outreach program for battered women in a moderate-sized urban Florida city. The sample size was 45, drawn from women who either were currently participating in the support group or had just completed the support group program. Each of the women completed the self-administered questionnaire. The survey focused on the type of abuse suffered by the respondent, to whom they reported the abuse, how that person reacted to the information, whether required reporting of the abuse would help them (and how) or hurt them (and how), and whether it would help others who were in situations like theirs. Findings show that women victims of domestic violence overwhelmingly support mandatory reporting laws. In an apparent paradox, however, they were much less certain that mandatory reporting would have been helpful to them in their specific situations. 3 tables and 5 references