Access to Justice for Adolescents and Young Adults Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: Effectiveness and Accessibility of Civil Protection Orders, Washington, 2015-2024 (ICPSR 39464)

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of civil protection orders (CPOs) in preventing future intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescent and young adult (14 to 24 years) victims, and to examine their understanding and perceptions of using CPOs. Specifically, the following aims were explored:

• Aim 1.A examined the effectiveness of CPOs among adolescents and young adults with a history of IPV on IPV recidivism rates of: 1) physical IPV; 2) psychological IPV; and 3) IPV-related property crimes.
• Aim 1.B evaluated the likelihood of CPOs being awarded to petitioners who were minors (14 to 17 years) compared to petitioners who were young legal adults (18 to 24 years).
• Aim 2 used qualitative research methods to explore adolescent and young adult perceptions on the usefulness and accessibility of CPOs for IPV, including knowledge, attitudes, barriers, facilitators, and decision-making processes.

Study Design View help for Study Design

Aim 1: The retrospective cohort study was conducted among current or former intimate partners with a previous police-reported arrestable intimate partner violence (IPV) event between January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2020 where the victim was between the ages of 14 and 24 years and the suspect was between the ages of 14 to 29 years. The victim-suspect pairs were followed to determine those that go on to become petitioners and respondents in civil protection order (CPO) filings at any time from the index criminal event through the three-year follow-up period. CPO coverage periods served as the time-dependent exposure of interest. IPV recidivism in the three years following the index IPV event served as the outcome of interest.

IPV recidivism was defined as subsequent criminal IPV events documented in the statewide criminal court records perpetrated by the index suspect against the index victim. The research team measured police-reported criminal court records for IPV-related crimes occurring within Washington, and categorized these events as follows: 1) physically or sexually abusive IPV recidivism: events with a charge of assault, rape, reckless endangerment, or any other charge constituting intentional physical or sexual harm; 2) psychological IPV recidivism: events with a charge of threats, harassment, stalking or other psychologically but not physically harmful acts; and 3) IPV-related property crimes: events with a charge of burglary, theft, malicious mischief, or other property-oriented crimes committed by the index IPV suspect against the index IPV victim. Events were hierarchically categorized to avoid double counting of single events.

Aim 2: The research team conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with adolescents and young adults between 14 and 24 years old who had experienced some form of self-reported IPV. After obtaining consent and assent, interviews were done via Zoom between December 2022 and January 2024 by a trained researcher with experience interviewing youth about interpersonal violence. The interview guide was developed using existing empirical literature and consultation with advocates at community organizations. Participants were asked about their experience with general help-seeking around IPV, experiences and perceptions of legal help-seeking (including CPOs), barriers to and facilitators of legal help-seeking, and recommendations for increasing accessibility of legal services for adolescents and young adults. At the end of the interview, participants were asked to complete a short demographic survey via REDCap. Interviews were audio recorded and lasted approximately 45 minutes. Respondents received a $50 gift card for their participation.

Sample View help for Sample

Aim 1: Study subjects were identified through the county's criminal records available from the Washington State Administrative Office of the Court's (AOC) Justice Information System (JIS) database. Criminal records in this dataset consisted of all arrested intimate partner violence (IPV) offenders (at the scene or on warrant) and offenders who were not arrested but were subsequently summoned to appear. The cohort was linked to civil protection order (CPO) filings and those victim-suspect pairs with CPO coverage during the period from the index event to the end of the three-year follow-up period were identified. Criminal court records with missing victim identifiers were investigated by court partners who reported on whether the victim in the criminal case was the same victim in CPO filing. Victim-suspect relationship status was verified as eligible (current or former intimate partners) by review of the CPO petition. No exclusions based on sexual identity or gender were made, however, petitions that were submitted by an adult petitioner (typically parent or guardian) on behalf of a minor petitioner were excluded given the interest in studying freely sought protection order filings. The research team did not exclude petitions that involved the assistance of third parties (including a parent or guardian) but for which it was apparent the intention to seek a protective order was being made by the IPV victim/petitioner. A random 3:1 sampling of criminal cases without any active CPOs during the follow-up period was performed. Only CPO+ and CPO- cases with existing police incident reports for the index event that led to their inclusion in the study were retained in the final sample in order to have sufficient background information on the index criminal IPV event. This required narrowing of the original cohort to a more recent time period given regular purging of records associated with juvenile offenders.

Aim 2: The research team recruited interview participants through community-based organizations that served youth survivors of IPV and via social media advertising on Instagram. Adolescents and young adults were intentionally sampled to ensure adequate representation by age group (14-17 vs. 18-24 years), and included participants who were at different levels of engagement with the legal system, spanning from those with no knowledge or engagement with legal help-seeking to those who had filed for CPOs.

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

Aim 1: Adolescents and young adults between 14 and 24 years old with a previous police-reported arrestable intimate partner violence (IPV) event occurring in one county in Washington between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2020.

Aim 2: Adolescents and young adults between 14 and 24 years old in one county in Washington who had experienced some form of self-reported IPV.

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2025-12-02

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