Public’s and Police Officers’ Interpretation and Handling of Domestic Violence Cases: Divergent Realities

The public’s and police officers’interpretation and handling of realistic hypothetical domestic violence cases and their stereotypic views about domestic violence are discussed. A sample of 131 experienced officers, 127 novice officers, and 157 adult laypersons were randomly assigned to read a domes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2006-09, Vol.21 (9), p.1129-1155
Main Authors: Stalans, Loretta J., Finn, Mary A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis of Variance
Arrests
Attitudes
Battered Women - legislation & jurisprudence
Crime
Decision Making
Domestic violence
Experience
Family Violence
Female
Feminism
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Law Enforcement
Lay People
Male
Police
Police Community Relations
Police-Citizen interactions
Public Opinion
Public policy
Self defense
Spouse Abuse - legislation & jurisprudence
Spouse Abuse - prevention & control
Stereotyped Behavior
Stereotypes
Stereotyping
Surveys and Questionnaires
Women's Health
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:The public’s and police officers’interpretation and handling of realistic hypothetical domestic violence cases and their stereotypic views about domestic violence are discussed. A sample of 131 experienced officers, 127 novice officers, and 157 adult laypersons were randomly assigned to read a domestic violence case. Experienced officers were more likely to arrest only the husband than were laypersons or rookie officers even when respondents inferred that the husband was primarily responsible or had used violence before. Experienced officers considered their stereotypic beliefs about battered women’s propensity to use self-defense in arriving at their arrest decision whereas laypersons and rookie officers did not. These findings indicate that the public and police officers have not adopted the feminists’ message that arrest is the best response to handle all domestic violence cases. Policy implications are discussed.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260506290420