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How Novice and Experienced Officers Interpret Wife Assaults: Normative and Efficiency Frames

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Loretta J. Stalans  and
Mary A. Finn
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Abstract

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Prior research has speculated about, but has not provided systematic empirical data on, how officers use their prior knowledge to interpret wife assault situations and how these interpretations shape their responses. Our findings challenge claims that officers' reluctance to pursue formal arrest stems primarily from their proclivity to blame victims. By manipulating whether or not a wife exhibited abnormal behavior, we show that experienced officers do not focus on whether wives can control their “provoking” actions and are to blame; instead they consider the relative credibility and dangerousness of the husband. Prior experience with handling wife assault situations thus shifts the focus of decisionmaking from normative considerations such as blameworthiness to efficiency considerations such as substantiating claims for successful prosecution. However, both novice and experienced officers base their arrest decisions on prior beliefs about whether wives provoke their husbands when wives have alcohol problems. Our findings indicate that future research can profitably examine how prior knowledge shapes interpretations to gain a better understanding of police decisionmaking.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 287 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

A college and university research grant from Georgia State University supported this research. We gratefully acknowledge and thank the participating officers, and the Clayton County, Fulton County, and North Central Public Safety Training Centers for their support and cooperation. The order of authorship indicates level of contribution: The first author proposed the conceptual framework, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper. The second author refined and clarified aspects of the analysis and writing. Both authors contributed equally to the development of materials and measures and to the data collection and coding. We thank four anonymous reviewers and Mark Dantzer for constructive comments that clarified our exposition and thinking.

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Statute

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