Victim Recantation and Disengagement from Prosecution in Intimate Partner Violence Criminally Prosecuted Crimes, Washington, 2014-2016 (ICPSR 38548)
Version Date: Feb 27, 2024 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Mary A. Kernic, University of Washington;
David Martin, King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38548.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This population-based retrospective cohort study involved current or former heterosexual intimate partners with a misdemeanor or felony-level criminal incident of intimate partner violence (IPV). These cases were referred to and accepted by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office in Washington state for prosecution between the years of 2014 and 2016. The ultimate goal of this study was to better inform understanding of the factors that differentiate IPV cases involving victims who disengage from prosecution from cases involving victims who are more engaged (and likely more empowered), thereby better informing how to mitigate barriers and improve overall system response to victims who disengage. This study aimed to provide better understanding of a fuller spectrum regarding victims' needs and vulnerabilities, thereby facilitating provision of more responsive services. The comparison group consisted of otherwise comparable IPV cases that did not, at any point during the prosecution process, involve victim recantation of IPV allegations or disengagement from the prosecution of the criminal IPV case.
This study was designed to address the critical gap in IPV research by accomplishing the following specific aims:
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None
Restrictions View help for Restrictions
Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine victim recantation of intimate partner violence (IPV) allegations or other forms of victim disengagement from the prosecution of the index IPV criminal case.
Study Design View help for Study Design
The research team focused exclusively on cases with female victims and male defendants since this constitutes 95% or more of the criminal cases handled by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office's Domestic Violence Unit (KCPAO-DVU). The primary variable of interest for the proposed study was victim disengagement from the prosecution of the index IPV criminal case at any point following the filing of charges by KCPAO-DVU. The comparison group consisted of otherwise comparable IPV cases that did not, at any point during the prosecution process, involve victim disengagement from the prosecution of the criminal IPV case. Study design differed by study aim as described in detail below.
In Aim 1, the research team examined how criminal IPV cases involving victim disengagement from prosecution (victim disengagement from prosecution-positive or VDP+) differed from those for which victim disengagement from prosecution did not occur (victim disengagement from prosecution-negative or VDP-). For this aim, cases that involved victims who disengaged served as the binary dependent variable of interest (0= consistent engagement with prosecution (VDP-); 1= disengagement with prosecution (VDP+)); and victim, defendant, and relationship characteristics, prior criminal history of the defendant, and victim resource needs and additional potential risk factors of disengagement were evaluated as potential predictors.
In Aim 2, victim disengagement served as the exposure (independent) variable of interest and the disposition of the criminal case served as the outcome (dependent) variable. The independent variable of interest was victim disengagement from prosecution (VDP). The dependent variable of interest for Aim 2 was the disposition of the index criminal case classified as follows: 1) dismissed/acquitted of all charges; 2) guilty plea or finding on misdemeanor charge(s) (but no felony charge(s)); 3) guilty plea or finding on any felony charge(s). Multinomial regression was performed on the trichotomous outcome.
Sample View help for Sample
The study sample consisted of current or former heterosexual intimate partners with a misdemeanor- or felony-level criminal incident of intimate partner violence (IPV) that occurred in King County, Washington and was referred to and accepted by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office's Domestic Violence Unit (KCPAO-DVU) for prosecution. The pool of eligible study subjects was identified using the KCPAO-DVU Prosecutor by Karpel (PbK) case management data system which captures highly detailed information on the suspects and victims involved in IPV cases in which criminal charges have been filed. Because the research team collected a number of key variables for the study from police incident reports (the image files of which were housed in PbK), the research team further limited the subject pool to a subset of referring police agencies with the most complete and thorough data available on their incident report forms. This was done to focus on agencies whose incident reports included data on the key variables of interest (many of which were collected on a Domestic Violence (DV) Supplemental Report, a form not used by all agencies). Specifically, the research team included incidents responded to by 15 of the 43 (34.9%) police agencies that referred to the KCPAO-DVU during study enrollment period. This represented 50.8% of all unduplicated (by defendant, victim and defendant-victim pair) potentially eligible incidents referred to King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (KCPAO) between 1/1/2014 and 12/31/2016.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Criminal intimate partner violence incidents in the state of Washington
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Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables
The variables in this study include victim and suspect demographics, use of weapons, use of drugs and alcohol, criminal history, employment history, poverty level measurement, other various descriptions such as pregnancy status and presence of children during the event.
Users should note that the variable STUDYNUM is the linking variable for all three datasets.
Response Rates View help for Response Rates
Not applicable
Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales
Not applicable
HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2024-02-27
Version History View help for Version History
2024-02-27 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
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