Abstract
This study examined the predictive properties of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) in a large Canadian, predominantly Indigenous, sample from a geographic region with the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the country. A random stratified sample of 300 men (92.7% Indigenous) court adjudicated for an IPV offense was drawn from six Northern Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment regions. The ODARA was rated from police records and recidivism data were obtained via official criminal records over a mean 4.7-year follow-up. ODARA scores had small to moderate predictive accuracy (AUC/C = .58–.67) for IPV and other recidivism outcomes in the aggregate sample and Indigenous subsample. E/O index analyses demonstrated that the ODARA Ontario norms overpredicted IPV recidivism at high scores but underpredicted it at lower mid-range scores. Implications for use of the ODARA to assist frontline police personnel in IPV risk assessment and management are discussed.
Highlights
This study examined the predictive properties of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) in a large Canadian, predominantly Indigenous, sample from a geographic region with the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the country
Given that later analyses would demonstrate that ODARA score was positively correlated with age at IPV index offense while age at IPV index was inversely associated with recidivism, the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) and Cs were repeated controlling for age
The three different studies used varying populations: this study used a Northern Saskatchewan sample, which is highly rural in nature with a large portion of the sample consisting of Indigenous men; Hilton et al.’s sample was gleaned from both rural and urban centers from across the province of Ontario and did not account for race; Olver and Jung’s sample was taken from an urban prairie sample, with half of the sample being classified as Caucasian (55.3%) and a smaller proportion of the sample being identified as First Nations or Métis (30.3%)
Summary
The impact of colonization, residential schools, and work camps have negatively impacted Indigenous communities and has been recognized as influencing elevated rates of IPV, especially in the Canadian North. This may be influenced by economic, social, and cultural insecurities that have stemmed from a history of assimilation and exclusion (CACP, 2016; Rotenberg, 2019). All of the above led to culture erosion, loss of language, lack of parent skills, unhealthy intimate relationships, and family breakdowns for the last five to seven generations This is what Indigenous communities in Northern Saskatchewan, and across Turtle Island (i.e., Canada) are dealing with today. Given the lack of prior precedent for ODARA research with Indigenous persons, we did not advance specific hypotheses about whether rates of IPV observed in the current sample associated with ODARA scores, corresponded closely to the rates expected from ODARA norms (i.e., calibration) and a predominantly white sample (e.g., Hilton et al, 2004)
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