Mandatory arrest policies in cases of misdemeanor
domestic violence were implemented in many jurisdictions across the
United States during the 1980s. However, the true success of arrest
alone in preventing or delaying recidivism remains
unknown. Furthermore, the effectiveness of arrest might hinge on
whether arrestees are actually prosecuted and convicted, and whether
they are placed on probation and/or serve a jail sentence. This study
examined empirical relationships between various court dispositions
and the prevalence, incidence, and delay of domestic violence
recidivism. It built on past research by examining the possible
effects of formal and informal social controls at the individual
level, as well as the contextual effects of community characteristics
on individual behavior. Aggregate-level census measures (proportion of
college-educated individuals, proportion of employed individuals,
proportion of financially independent residents, etc.) were included
to determine the extent that these neighborhood characteristics
correlate to an individual's propensity to recidivate and/or
conditioned relationships between formal controls and recidivism.
To study empirical relationships between court
dispositions and the prevalence, incidence, and delay of recidivism
for domestic violence, the researchers collected information on 3,662
suspects arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence in Hamilton
County, Ohio, during August 1, 1993, to October 31, 1993, and January
1, 1995, to December 31, 1996. All arrestees in the sample were
tracked until June 1998. The individual-level data were compiled from
arrest reports, intake interview forms, and court records. Intake
interview data provided the demographic and legal characteristics of
suspects and information on their initial arrests, court records
provided disposition information, and arrest reports provided the
dates and types of all rearrests until May 31, 1998. The census tract
data were obtained from the 1990 United States Census of Population
and Housing.
The sample consists of all persons arrested for
misdemeanor domestic violence (specifically, assault against an
intimate) in Hamilton County, Ohio, during two time periods:
August 1-October 31, 1993, and January 1, 1995-December 31, 1996.
Persons arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence in
Hamilton County, Ohio.
Individuals.
arrest reports, intake interview forms, court records,
and the 1990 United States Census of Population and Housing
administrative records data
census/enumeration data
event/transaction data
survey data
The dataset includes information pertaining to
demographic and background characteristics of suspects (e.g., race,
age, means of support, education, employment, marital status,
residential stability, number of children the suspect had, and if the
suspect lived with a spouse and/or children at arrest), their criminal
histories (prior convictions for misdemeanors and felonies, prior
incarceration, alcohol/drug addiction, and pending charges), how their
cases were disposed (e.g., no charges filed, charges dropped,
acquitted at trial, sentenced to an offender program, probation, or
jail), rearrests for domestic violence that occurred between the
initial arrests and May 31, 1998, and the number of months that
elapsed between case disposition and rearrest.
Not applicable.
None.