Abstract
To better understand police response to domestic violence, it is useful to consider the perspectives of officers themselves. Through exploratory, in-depth interviews and applying the lens of role theory, this study focuses on police officers’ perceptions of their role in responding to domestic violence, their perceptions of the effectiveness of their response, and challenges they face. Findings suggest that, for these participants, there is an overlap in the different roles they inhabit, as well as limitations and barriers to their response. These limitations and obstacles are a signal that officers may be experiencing role overload, which leads to their frustration and ambivalence toward domestic violence situations. This study has the potential to serve as the groundwork for future research and policy changes aimed at mitigating role overload experienced, particularly in domestic violence calls.
Highlights
After the 2015 killing of five police officers in Dallas, TX, the Police Chief David Brown said, “We're asking cops to do too much in this country
In-depth interviews, this study focuses on understanding police officer perceptions of their role, their perceptions of the effectiveness of their response options, and challenges they face in responding through the application of role theory
Officer roles—“Oh, authority, peacekeeper, the voice of reason”. Officers described their role as a dual function they perform when responding to domestic violence calls that is utilized differently depending on the nature of the call
Summary
After the 2015 killing of five police officers in Dallas, TX, the Police Chief David Brown said, “We're asking cops to do too much in this country. We put it off on the cops to solve. The demands of the job of police officers are numerous and complex, with domestic violence response among those demands. Domestic violence calls represent a common call for service (Hirschel, Dean, & Lumb, 1994), and can present ambiguous and complex situations that demand officer resolutions. The demands of the role of police go beyond enforcing the law, and as Johnson, Sigler, and Crowley (1994) conclude, resolving domestic violence calls requires officers to take on both a social service and crime control roles
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