The Voices of Domestic Violence Victims: Predictors of Victim Preference for Arrest and the Relationship Between Preference for Arrest and Revictimization

Abstract

This article focuses on what female victims of domestic violence expect the police to do when they call for assistance during an abusive incident and whether there is an association between their desire for formal intervention and subsequent victimization and offender aggression. The 419 victims interviewed in this study had a variety of expectations ranging from simply warning to arresting the offender. A combination of victim characteristics, offender characteristics, and incident characteristics was predictive of victim desire for arrest, and victim desire for arrest was significantly associated with subsequent threat of abuse and actual abuse of the victim. The implications of these findings for preferred and mandatory arrest policies are discussed.