Deterrent Effect Of Arrest Research Articles

The Effects of Arrest, Reporting to the Police, and Victim Services on Intimate Partner Violence

Objectives: To estimate the effects of three types of responses to intimate partner violence: (1) reporting of crime to the police, (2) arresting the suspect, and (3) receiving services from agencies other than the police that assist victims of crime. Methods: We obtained a nationally representative sample of 2,221 victims, using longitudinal records from the area-identified National Crime Victimization Survey from 1996 through 2012. To reduce the threat of nonrandom selection into treatment, we estimated effects using propensity score matched and weighted survival analysis. Results: Victims’ probability of repeat victimization is not related to arrest (hazard ratio, 0.87; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.55 to 1.40; p = .57). In contrast, the reporting of crime to the police is associated with a 34 percent reduction in the risk of repeat victimization (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95 percent CI, 0.53 to 0.82; p < .001), and the use of victim services is associated with a 40 percent reduction in the risk of repeat victimization (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95 percent CI, 0.44 to 0.83; p < .01). Conclusions: The results support a model in which the deterrent effect of arrest is not substantively important, but police notification and victim-centered services produce important reductions in repeat victimization.

Reconsidering Domestic Violence Recidivism: Conditioned Effects of Legal Controls by Individual and Aggregate Levels of Stake in Conformity

Social scientists examining whether stake in conformity conditions the deterrent effect of arrest for domestic violence recidivism have applied criminological theory to an important criminal justice issue. We extend this research with a discussion and multi-level analysis of the possible interplay between court dispositions and (a) an offender's stake in conformity, and (b) the proportion of “higher stake” residents in an offender's census tract of residence. The prevalence of re-arrest for intimate assault (misdemeanor and felony) is examined for 3110 suspects of misdemeanor intimate assault in Cincinnati. Findings reveal a significant main effect involving higher re-arrest likelihoods for arrested suspects with no formal charges filed against them. Results for the conditioned effects of court dispositions reveal significantly lower re-arrest likelihoods for higher stake offenders undergoing a counseling program (a predicted relationship), and significantly lower re-arrest likelihoods for lower stake offenders serving probation and/or jail (opposite to the predicted relationship). At the neighborhood-level, sentences of probation and/or jail correspond with significantly lower re-arrest likelihoods for offenders living in neighborhoods with more residentially stable populations (as predicted). We discuss the implications of our study for future research.

What Are the Lessons of the Police Arrest Studies?

The six domestic violence police arrest experiments and several precursor studies stand unique in their research contribution to criminology and public policy. Together, these studies have significantly informed the debate about the deterrent effects of criminal justice sanctions and about the importance of how police can respond effectively to domestic violence. The strong methodological rigor of the six arrest experiments was a notable accomplishment, and set new standards for future criminological research. Early reviews synthesizing many results from the six arrest experiments typically concluded that the deterrent effect of arrest was not significant, however, these reviews generally did not meet the methodological rigor of the five replication experiments. Two recent attempts using different approaches for systematically combining results across multiple studies have concluded that there is a significant deterrent effect from arrest. This finding is variant from early reviews. Based upon data gathered from victim interviews, these two studies suggest that contemporary policies requiring preferred or mandatory arrest may be providing protection for victims though there is little change in the prevalence of police response over time. These studies have also taught us that methodological rigor is required throughout the scientific process, and not just during the data collection and analysis stages. The authors conclude that for several reasons there will likely be no further research testing for the effect of arrest on domestic violence and that current debate concerning how other aspects of the criminal justice system should respond to domestic violence seems less willing to be informed by the rigorous research and experimentation.

What happened depends on whom you ask: A comparison of police records and victim reports regarding arrests for woman battering

Following Sherman and Berk's (1984) study of the deterrent effects of arrest, researchers have continued to examine the role of the criminal justice system in responding to woman battering. Much of this research has used either victim reports or official records as data, even though victim reports and police records often disagree. The current study compared victim reports and official records of arrest and conviction for woman battering to examine the magnitude and pattern of discrepancies. Participants were recruited from a shelter for women with abusive partners and were interviewed several times across two years. Their police and court records were also examined. Agreement regarding arrest and conviction was low, with victims more likely to indicate that an arrest or conviction occurred. Implications of these discrepancies for researchers, victim decision making, and law enforcement are discussed.

Coordinated Community Intervention for Domestic Violence: The Effects of Arrest and Prosecution on Recidivism of Woman Abuse Perpetrators

This study explored the effectiveness of a coordinated community intervention designed to reduce domestic violence in DuPage County, Illinois. Police reports for all domestic violence calls within a 3-month period that indicated a male perpetrator of physical abuse against an intimate female partner were analyzed. The analysis examined the effects of arrest and prosecution on subsequent police calls and arrests within an 18-month period following the initial incident. Logistic regression analysis indicated that arrest significantly deterred subsequent domestic violence incidents. The deterrent effect of arrest did not deteriorate over the 18-month period and was most pronounced for those offenders who had a previous history of police involvement for domestic violence.

Odstraszające oddziaływanie kary na sprawcę przestępstwa w świetle badań empirycznych

Odstraszające oddziaływanie kary na sprawcę przestępstwa w świetle badań empirycznych

Limitations in the Pro-Arrest Response to Spouse Abuse

After a decade of research, the deterrent effect of arrest on spouse abuse recidivism has not been clearly established. The pro-arrest movement has, however, emerged as the mainstay of public policy; an overly simplistic solution for a complex social problem. It is suggested that the continuing high rates of spouse abuse have less to do with the failure of police to arrest than to a collective failure of imagination. While arrest is an important option, an over-reliance on pro-arrest police procedures may have impeded the development of more comprehensive and imaginative social policies. Policy makers must look beyond the police in developing both long term and short term responses to spouse abuse.