The Significance of the Victim Advocate for Domestic Violence Victims in Municipal Court

Previous research has examined factors that influence felony case prosecution in domestic violence cases, but few have analyzed how victim participation, or lack thereof, may affect the defendant's case outcome in misdemeanors. This study used 384 municipal cases from a specialized domestic vio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Violence and victims 2008-01, Vol.23 (3), p.288-300
Main Authors: Camacho, Christina M., Alarid, Leanne Fiftal
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advocacy
Behavioral Sciences
Communication
Conflicts
Consumer Advocacy - legislation & jurisprudence
Counseling
Court hearings & proceedings
Crime Victims - legislation & jurisprudence
Crime Victims - psychology
Criminal Law - legislation & jurisprudence
Criminal Proceedings
Domestic violence
Domestic Violence - legislation & jurisprudence
Family Violence
Female
Humans
Judges & magistrates
Judicial Role
Law Enforcement
Legal Cases
Male
Marriage and Family Counselling
Policy, Social Justice, and Human Rights
Psychology
Shelters
Social and Personality Psychology
Social Work
Spouse Abuse
Spouse Abuse - legislation & jurisprudence
Spouse Abuse - prevention & control
United States
Victims
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Summary:Previous research has examined factors that influence felony case prosecution in domestic violence cases, but few have analyzed how victim participation, or lack thereof, may affect the defendant's case outcome in misdemeanors. This study used 384 municipal cases from a specialized domestic violence court to examine the role of the victim advocate and variables that had an impact on victim participation with prosecution and case disposition. To ensure that decisions in all cases were consistent, all decision makers in the sample involved the same group: the court advocate, prosecutor, and judge. The analysis found that victim cooperation after arrest coupled with services provided by shelter court advocates were a strong predictor of victim cooperation at disposition and case outcome.
ISSN:0886-6708
1945-7073
DOI:10.1891/0886-6708.23.3.288