Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-04T18:49:41.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

“Handling” Family Violence: Situational Determinants of Police Arrest in Domestic Disturbances

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

Sarah Fenstermaker Berk  and
Donileen R. Loseke
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The 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.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , 1981 , pp. 317 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

*

We wish to acknowledge the valuable criticisms provided by Richard A. Berk on an earlier draft of this paper. Additional thanks go to Nancy Blum and Chris Sproule for their meticulous coding of the data, as well as to Cheryl Goluch and Trina Marks Miller for typing the manuscript. We are indebted to the staff of the Santa Barbara Family Violence Program for their kind cooperation. Support for this project was provided in part by funds from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, a Faculty research grant from the UCSB Academic Senate, and the National Institute of Health (Grant # 1-RO1-MH34616-Q1A1).

References

ALTSCHULE, Joe (1978) “Testimony of Joe Altschule, Deputy Public Defender, Tulare County,” in California Legislature Senate Committee on Judiciary. San Francisco, California.Google Scholar
BANNON, James (1978) “Testimony of James Bannon, Executive Deputy Chief of Police,” in U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered Women: Issues in Public Policy. Washington, D. C: U. S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
BANTON, Michael (1964) The Policeman in the Community. London: Tavistock Publications.Google Scholar
BARD, Morton (1974) “The Study and Modification of Intra-Familial Violence,” in Steinmetz, S. and Straus, M. (eds.), Violence in the Family. New York: Dodd Mead.Google Scholar
Straus, M. (1978) “The Police and Family Violence: Practice and Policy,” in U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered Women: Issues in Public Policy. Washington, D. C: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
BARD, Morton and Joseph, ZACKER (1971) “The Prevention of Family Violence: Dilemmas of Community Intervention,” 33 Journal of Marriage and the Family 677.Google Scholar
Joseph, ZACKER (1974) “Assaultiveness and Alcohol Use in Family Disputes: Police Perceptions,” 12 Criminology 281.Google Scholar
BERK, Richard A., BERK, Sarah Fenstermaker, and Donileen R., LOSEKE (1979) “A Preliminary Evaluation of the Santa Barbara Family Violence Program,” Unpublished, University of California at Santa Barbara.Google Scholar
BERK, Richard A., LOSEKE, Donileen R., BERK, Sarah Fenstermaker, and David, RAUMA (1980) “Bringing the Cops Back In: A Study of Efforts to Make the Criminal Justice System More Responsive to Incidents of Family Violence,” 9 Social Science Research 193.Google Scholar
BITTNER, Egon (1967a) “The Police on Skid-Row: A Study of Peace Keeping,” 32 American Sociological Review 699.Google Scholar
BITTNER, Egon (1967b) “Police Discretion in Emergency Apprehension of Mentally Ill Persons,” 14 Social Problems 278.Google Scholar
BITTNER, Egon (1970) “The Functions of the Police in Modern Society,” Maryland: National Institutes of Mental Health.Google Scholar
BITTNER, Egon (1974) “Florence Nightingale in Pursuit of Willie Sutton: A Theory of the Police,” in Jacob, Herbert (ed.), The Potential for Reform of Criminal Justice. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
BLACK, Donald J. (1971) “The Social Organization of Arrest,” 23 Stanford Law Review 1087.Google Scholar
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE (1978) Senate Committee on Judiciary: Domestic Violence. Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
CENTER FOR WOMEN'S POLICY STUDIES (1979) Response: To Violence and Sexual Abuse in the Family. Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
CUMMING, Elaine, Ian, CUMMING, and Laura, EDELL (1965) “Policeman as Philosopher, Guide and Friend,” 12 Social Problems 276.Google Scholar
DAVIS, Kenneth C. (1975) Police Discretion. St. Paul: West Publishing.Google Scholar
DeAMICIS, Clement D. (1978) “Testimony of Clement D. DeAmicis, Deputy Chief of Investigations, San Francisco,” in California Legislature Senate Committee on Judiciary. San Francisco, California.Google Scholar
DOBASH, R. Emerson and Russell, DOBASH (1979) Violence Against Wives: A Case Against Patriarchy. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
EMERSON, Charles D. (1979) “Family Violence: A Study of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department,” June The Police Chief 43.Google Scholar
FIELD, Martha H. and Henry F., FIELD (1973) “Marital Violence and the Criminal Process: Neither Justice Nor Peace,” 47 Social Service Review 221.Google Scholar
FIELDS, Margory (1978) “Wife Beating: Government Intervention, Policies and Practices,” in U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered Women: Issues in Public Policy. Washington, D. C: U. S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
GAQUIN, Dierdre A. (1977-1978) “Spouse Abuse: Data from the National Crime Survey,” 2 Victimology 632.Google Scholar
GELLES, Richard J. (1974) The Violent Home. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
GOLDSTEIN, Herman (1977) Policing a Free Society. Cambridge: Ballinger.Google Scholar
HANUSHEK, E. A. and J. E., JACKSON (1977) Statistical Methods for Social Scientists. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
HECKMAN, James (1979) “Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error,” 47 Econometrica 153.Google Scholar
KADISH, Stanford H. (1962) “Legal Norm and Discretion in the Police and Sentencing Processes,” 75 Harvard Law Review 904.Google Scholar
KITSUSE, John I. and Aaron V., CICOUREL (1963) “A Note on the Use of Official Statistics,” 12 Social Problems 131.Google Scholar
LaFAVE, Wayne R. (1965) Arrest: The Decision to Take a Suspect Into Custody. New York: Little Brown.Google Scholar
LaFAVE, Wayne R. (1969) “Noninvocation of the Criminal Law by Police,” in Cressey, Donald R. and Ward, David A. (eds.), Delinquency, Crime and Social Process. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
LEVINGER, George (1966) “Sources of Marital Dissatisfaction Among Applicants for Divorce,” 36 American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 804.Google Scholar
MANNING, Peter K. (1977) Police Work: The Social Organization of Policing. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.Google Scholar
MARGARITA, Mona (1980) “Killing the Police: Myths and Motives,” 452 The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 63.Google Scholar
MARTIN, Del (1976) Battered Wives. San Francisco: Glide Publications.Google Scholar
MARTIN, Del (1978) “Scope of the Problem,” in U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered Women: Issues in Public Policy. Washington, D. C: U. S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
MUIR, William (1977) Police: Streetcorner Politicians. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
PAGELOW, Mildred Daley (1978) “Needs Assessment of Victims of Domestic Violence,” in U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Hearings on Domestic and International Scientific Planning, Analysis and Cooperation. Washington, D. C. U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
PARNAS, Raymond I. (1967) “The Police Response to the Domestic Disturbance,” 2 Wisconsin Law Review 914.Google Scholar
PARNAS, Raymond I. (1973) “Prosecutorial and Judicial Handling of Family Violence,” 9 Criminal Law Bulletin 733.Google Scholar
PATERSON, Eva Jefferson (1979) “How the Legal System Responds to Battered Women,” in Moore, Donna M. (ed.), Battered Women. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
PEPINSKY, Harold E. (1976) “Police Patrolmen's Offense-Reporting Behavior,” 13 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 33.Google Scholar
PINDYCK, Robert S. and Daniel L., RUBENFELD (1976) Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts. New York: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
REISS, A.J. (1971) The Police and the Public. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
ROY, Maria (1977) “Some Thoughts Regarding the Criminal Justice System and Wife-Beating,” in Roy, Maria (ed.), Battered Women: A Psychosociological Study of Domestic Violence. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
RUBENSTEIN, J. (1973) City Police. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.Google Scholar
SKOLNICK, Jerome H. (1966) Justice Without Trial: Law Enforcement in Domestic Society. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
STEINMETZ, Suzanne K. and Murray A, STRAUS, eds. (1974) Violence in the Family. New York: Dodd Mead.Google Scholar
STRAUS, Murray A. (1977-1978) “Wife Beating: How Common and Why?” 3 Victimology 443.Google Scholar
STRAUS, Murray A., GELLES, Richard J., and Suzanne, STEINMETZ (1980) Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Home. New York: Anchor.Google Scholar
TRUNINGER, Elizabeth (1971) “Marital Violence: The Legal Solution,” 23 Hastings Law Journal 259.Google Scholar
VAN MAANEN, John (1974) “Working the Street: A Developmental View of Police Behavior,” in Jacob, Herbert (ed.), The Potential for Reform of Criminal Justice. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
WALKER, Lenore J. (1978) “Testimony of Lenore Walker,” in the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, Battered Women: Issues in Public Policy. Washington, D. C: U.S. Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
WALKER, Lenore J. (1979) The Battered Woman. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
WEBSTER, John A. (1973) The Realities of Police Work. Iowa: Kendall/Hunt.Google Scholar
WESTLY, William (1970) Violence and the Police. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.Google Scholar
WILSON, James Q. (1968) Varieties of Police Behavior: The Management of Law and Order in Eight Communities. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WOODS, Laurie (1978) “Litigation on Behalf of Battered Women,” 5 Women's Rights Law Reporter 1.Google Scholar