"Handling" Family Violence: Situational Determinants of Police Arrest in Domestic Disturbances
1981; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 15; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3053608
ISSN1540-5893
AutoresSarah Fenstermaker Berk, Donileen R. Loseke,
Tópico(s)Sex work and related issues
ResumoThe recent “discovery” of family violence, particularly violence between spouses, has elicited attention from social scientists and policy makers. Police intervention in domestic disputes is a primary focus. Critiques of police practice have often centered on police failure to arrest offenders in domestic violence incidents. Yet, the literature to date reveals little effort to examine systematically the discretionary role of police in domestic disputes. With data drawn from 262 official police reports concerning domestic disturbances, the propensity of police to make arrests is examined through a variety of exogenous variables. Police arrests, we find, reflect the immediate circumstances of police-citizen encounters.
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