Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons^™

Factors That Influence Domestic Violence Convictions In "No Drop Policy" Trials, Kim D. Akinyanju

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that significantly influence conviction rates in domestic violence no drop policy trials. Literature heavily supports the position that factors.-such as physical evidence, police officer testimony, and cooperative victim testimony can help prosecutors increase conviction rates. This research utilizes data collected by Smith et al. (2001) on domestic violence trials in four cities that have implemented the no drop policy. Analyses revealed that various types of physical evidence do not significantly influence convictions in no drop policy trials. Cooperative victim testimony, however, does significantly influence conviction rates and in addition significantly …

Differential Police Treatment Of Domestic And Nondomestic Assaults, Gina Michelle Sajko

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The current study examines the effects of type of assault and victim gender on police response. Victim accounts of domestic and nondomestic assaults in the San Diego region were examined. This study found that domestic assaults were significantly less likely to result in arrest than nondomestic assaults. Female victims of domestic assaults were more likely to receive police referrals to outside agencies. Assaults with victim injury were more likely to result in arrest for domestic assaults, and within the sample as a whole. The gender of the victim had no effect on arrest.

Comparing Domestic Assaults In Military And Non-Military Populations: A Test Of Social Learning Theory, Crystal S. Carey

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examined factors relating to the severity of domestic assaults in military and non-military populations by examining a sample of 599 clients admitted to battered women's shelters over a 22-month period. This study addressed the following question: What differences, if any, exist between the severity of domestic assaults committed by military and non-military offenders, and what explains those differences?

The following factors as they may relate to severity of domestic assault are measured: batterer race, batterer income, victim income, batterer military status, and weapon involvement. Analyses reveal no significant differences in injury severity between assaults perpetrated by military and …

Police Response To Domestic Violence: Does Officer Gender Make A Difference?, Amy Leighann Whitmore

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

With domestic violence an increasing problem within the United States, police response to domestic violence has emerged as an important issue in its prevention and treatment. Recent research on police response to domestic violence has yielded conflicting results, with some studies showing that officer gender affects responses. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect that officer gender has on both formal and informal police responses to domestic violence. Incident reports were collected from a police agency to examine responses to domestic violence.

Results indicated that officer gender does have a significant effect upon both formal and informal …

Effects Of Race And Prosecutor's Perceptions Of Victim's Behaviors On Domestic Violence Case Outcomes, Angel K. Williams

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of race and prosecutor's perceptions of victim's behavior on domestic violence case outcomes. This research utilizes data collected by Belknap and Graham (2000) in a large Midwestern Urban area during 1997-1998. Past literature supports the predictions that race and victim's behaviors affect case outcomes. However, there are no studies that examine either race and victim's behavior or the connection between them.

Analyses revealed that victim's race is not significantly related to case outcome. Perceptions of victim's behavior, however, were significantly related to case outcomes. Additionally, prosecutor's race and level of …

War At Home Spouse Abuse In Military Families, Carrie L. Gray

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the patterns, tendencies, and physical severity of spouse abuse in military families. The demographic makeup of military families in many ways parallels that of violent families in the civilian community. Therefore, this study will determine if certain variables will be similarly correlated in cases of wife abuse within military families as they are in civilian families. Although a significant amount of research has been conducted on spouse abuse in the last thirty years, family violence within military families has been virtually ignored. This study utilizes secondary data provided by the Navy Family Advocacy Central Registry located in …

The Effects Of Education And Exposure On College Students' Perceptions Of Dating Violence, Kristian Moore

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between previous exposure to violent situation and an individual's tolerance level of dating violence. In addition, the effect that intervention, in this case a film, can have on one's perception is also examined. This research is quasi-experimental in design and uses a pre-test/post-test design. A baseline sample of 137 Old Dominion University undergraduate students was surveyed at time one at which previous exposure to conflict situations as well as tolerance levels to dating violence were assessed. The film was presented between times one and two. The post-test was given …

An Exploratory Study Of Domestic Violence Attitudes Among Virginia Magistrates, Elaine M. Phillips

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Currently, 43 states utilize magistrates in the criminal justice response to domestic violence. In Virginia, magistrates have the power to grant emergency protective orders and arrest warrants in domestic violence cases. In 1996, Virginia instituted a new mandatory arrest law. This study explores magistrates' attitudes toward the new law. It also examines their attitudes toward victims and offenders involved in domestic violence cases. The study utilizes data from Crossland's 1998 survey of Virginia magistrates (n=239). Hypotheses based on conflict theory and feminist theory lead to hypotheses that predict that magistrates' attitudes will vary depending on the race, educational level and …

A Study Of The Knowledge And Attitudes Of Physicians Toward Victims Of Spouse Abuse, Ramani N. Garimella

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to measure the knowledge and attitudes of physicians toward victims of spouse abuse. All 150 practitioners in the specialities of emergency medicine, family medicine, obstetrics-gynecology and psychiatry, in a large area general hospital are included in the sampling frame; 76 responded (RR = 51%). Knowledge and attitudes were measured using the Physician Survey on Spouse Abuse. Rosenberg's Tripartite Model of Attitude formed the theoretical basis for this study. Participants were 72% male, 90% white, 88% currently married, with a mean age of 44 years (SD = 7.99). Mean years in practice was 14.61 (SD …

A Study Of Child Abuse: Race Gender And Family Structure, Linda Wyatt Faircloth

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Using 1989-1994 data collected from the Portsmouth Department of Social Services in Portsmouth, Virginia, this study looked at severity and recidivism of child abuse in Portsmouth from 1989-1994. Analyses of data from the Portsmouth Department of Social Services indicated that children living in single parent families are more likely to be severely abused than children living in two parent families but no differences were observed for race and age.

Pounding Seas Against The Shore Wife Battering In The U.S. Navy And Its Relationship To Duty Assignment, Peter James Mercier Iii

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the severity of wife battering in the U. S. Navy and to determine if duty assignment has an impact on its occurrence. Although considerable research on wife battering has been conducted in the general population over the past 25 years, limited research has focused its attention on wife battering in the military; there has been virtually no research conducted in the Navy. The present research utilizes Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base Police data on domestic disturbance calls at five Navy housing complexes, as well as ship deployment schedules, and compares the incidence of …

When The "Blues" Come To Call: Police Officers' Attitudes Toward And Responses To Domestic Violence, Christine Reneé Crossland

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

As a result of the growing popularity of arrest in domestic assault cases, many studies have focused on the relationship between police arrest policies and incidence rates of domestic violence. However, few actually assess direct input from police officers concerning their attitudes and perceptions of these policies, or how they feel about dealing with domestic violence. Since police officers are the first point at which domestic disputes are brought to the public's attention, the information provided by police officers concerning domestic violence can provide essential knowledge which could impact future policies and training on domestic violence. This study addresses the …

Forced Sex In Battering Relationships: An Ethnographic Investigation, Leigh Hofheimer

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This research examines the complex problem of forced sex in battering relationships. Interviewing eleven women in a battered women's shelter in a southeastern city, I focused on both their perceptions of forced sex and its effects on their self-esteem, expectations and body-image.

Based on the interviews I conclude that forced sex needs a broader definition than the traditionally accepted definition of rape. In addition, the victims' memories of earlier incidents of physical abuse during sex may influence their perceptions of when they are being forced. This study suggests that future researchers and members of the helping profession should include the …

Factors Involved In Battered Women's Decision To Leave Their Abusive Partners: Shelter Research In The Southeast, Mary Ellen Miles

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This paper is an examination of some of the factors involved in battered women's decision to leave their partners. A review of past literature on battering, suggests factors that account for the women's decision: 1. the more financially dependent (whether actual or perceived) the battered woman is on the batterer, the more likely the woman will stay in the violent relationship regardless of the shelter services offered; 2. women with a teenage child or children will be more likely to leave the violent relationship than women without teenage children; 3 . women who were abused as children will be more …

Attributions For Violence In Relationships: Do Battered Women Blame Themselves?, Debra Down

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The central purpose of this research was to compare attributions of blame for spousal violence made by women who were in violent relationships with those of abused women who had sought shelter and those of women who had never been abused. Both clinicians and researchers (e.g., Frieze, 1979; Walker, 1979) have included victims of marital abuse among victims who self-blame, and have contended that self-blame contributes to remaining in an abusive relationship. Previous work, however, has not considered the repetitive nature of spouse abuse, and has routinely confounded self-causality with self-blame.

Nonabused women and abused women who remained in relationships …