Limited research exists on police officers’ service provision for sexual and domestic violence survivors after they formally report. This study used surveys from 452 commissioned officers at an urban police department in one of the five largest and most diverse U.S. cities to examine police perceptions of victim advocates, self-reported frequency of referral, and predictors of service referral among police. Findings revealed officers were relatively likely to provide referrals and held somewhat favorable attitudes of advocates. Knowledge of services and positive perceptions of advocates increased the frequency of service referral to victims. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
BelknapJ.McCallK. D. (1994). Woman battering and police referrals. Journal of Criminal Justice, 22(3), 223–236.
2.
BelsleyD. A.KuhE.WelschR. E. (1980). Regression diagnostics: Identifying influential data and sources of collinearity. John Wiley.
3.
BurtM. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(2), 217–230.
4.
BuzawaE. S.HotalingG. T. (2006). The impact of relationship status, gender, and minor status in the police response to domestic assaults. Victims and Offenders, 1(4), 323–360.
5.
CamachoC. M.AlaridL. F. (2008). The significance of the victim advocate for domestic violence victims in municipal court. Violence and Victims, 23(3), 288–300.
6.
CampbellR. (2008). The psychological impact of rape victims’ experiences with the legal, medical, and mental health systems. American Psychologist, 63(8), 702–717.
7.
CampbellR.FeeneyH.Fehler-CabralG.ShawJ.HorsfordS. (2017). The national problem of untested sexual assault kits (SAKs): Scope, causes, and future directions for research, policy, and practice. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(4), 363–376.
8.
CarmodyD. C. (2006). Sexual assault victim advocates in Virginia: Challenges faced in the field. Journal of Health and Human Services, 29, 191–208.
9.
CorcoranJ.StephensonM.PerrymanD.AllenS. (2001). Perceptions and utilization of a police–social work crisis intervention approach to domestic violence. Families in Society, 82(4), 393–398.
10.
DawsonM.DinovitzerR. (2001). Victim cooperation and the prosecution of domestic violence in a specialized court. Justice Quarterly, 18(3), 593–622.
11.
DeJongC.Burgess-ProctorA.ElisL. (2008). Police officer perceptions of intimate partner violence: An analysis of observational data. Violence and Victims, 23(6), 683–696.
ErezE.BelknapJ. (1998). In their own words: Battered women’s assessment of the criminal processing system’s responses. Violence and Victims, 13(3), 251–268.
14.
FerraroK. J. (1989). Policing woman battering. Social Problems, 36(1), 61–74.
15.
FinnM. A.StalansL. J. (1995). Police referrals to shelters and mental health treatment: Examining their decisions in domestic assault cases. Crime & Delinquency, 41(4), 467–480.
16.
FranklinC. A.GarzaA. D.GoodsonA.BouffardL. A. (2019). Police perceptions of crime victim behavior: A trend analysis exploring mandatory training and knowledge of sexual and domestic violence survivors’ trauma responses. Crime & Delinquency, 66(8), 1055–1086.
17.
FritschE. J.CaetiT. J.TobolowskyP. M.TaylorR. W. (2004). Police referrals of crime victims to compensation sources: An empirical analysis of attitudinal and structural impediments. Police Quarterly, 7(3), 372–393.
18.
GainesD. C.WellsW. (2017) Investigators’ and prosecutors’ perceptions of collaborating with victim advocates on sexual assault casework. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 28(6), 555–569.
19.
GarzaA. D.FranklinC. A. (2020). The effect of rape myth endorsement on police response to sexual assault survivors. Violence Against Women, 1077801220911460.
20.
HattenP.MooreM. (2010). Police officer perceptions of a victim-services program. Journal of Applied Social Science, 4(2), 17–24.
21.
HomantR. J.KennedyD. B. (1985). Police perceptions of spouse abuse: A comparison of male and female officers. Journal of Criminal Justice, 13(1), 29–47.
JohnsonA. G. (1997). The gender knot: Unraveling our patriarchal legacy. Temple University Press
24.
JonesD. A.BelknapJ. (1999). Police responses to battering in a progressive pro-arrest jurisdiction. Justice Quarterly, 16(2), 249–273.
25.
KernicM. A.BonomiA. E. (2007). Female victims of domestic violence: Which victims do police refer to crisis intervention?. Violence and Victims, 22(4), 463–473.
26.
KimM.HunterJ. (1993). Relationships among attitudes, behavioral intentions, and behavior: A meta-analysis of past research, part 2. Communications Research, 20(3), 331–364.
27.
KinneyL. M.BrunsE. J.BradleyP.DantzlerJ.WeistM. D. (2008). Sexual assault training of law enforcement officers. Women & Criminal Justice, 18(3), 81–100.
28.
KlineR. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
29.
KossM. P. (2000). Blame, shame, and community: Justice responses to violence against women. American Psychologist, 55(11), 1332–1343.
30.
KossM. P.GoodmanL. A.BrowneA.FitzgeraldL. F.KeitaG. P.RussoN. F. (1994). No safe haven: Male violence against women at home, at work, and in the community. American Psychological Association.
31.
LonswayK.ArchambaultJ. (2008). Advocates and law enforcement: Oil and water?Sexual Assault Report, 11(6), 86–95.
32.
LordV. B.RasselG. (2000). Law enforcement’s response to sexual assault: A comparative study of nine counties in North Carolina. Women & Criminal Justice, 11(1), 67–88.
33.
LorenzK.KirknerA.UlmerS. E. (2019). A qualitative study of sexual assault survivors’ post-assault legal system experiences. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 20(3), 263–287.
34.
LutzeF. E.SymonsL. (2003). The evolution of domestic violence police through masculine institutions: From discipline to protection to collaborative empowerment. Criminology & Public Policy, 2(2), 319–328.
35.
MaddoxL.LeeD.BarkerC. (2011). Police empathy and victim PTSD as potential factors in rape case attrition. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 26(2), 112–117.
36.
MaierS. L. (2014). Rape, victims, and investigations: Experiences and perceptions of law enforcement officers responding to reported rapes. Routledge.
37.
MartinD. (1975). Battered wives. Volcano Press.
38.
MartinP. Y. (2005). Rape work: Victims, gender, and emotions in organization and community context. Routledge.
39.
MonroeL. M.KinneyL. M.WeistM. D.DafeamekporD. S.DantzlerJ.ReynoldsM. W. (2005). The experience of sexual assault: Findings from a statewide victim needs assessment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20(7), 767–776.
40.
MorabitoM. S.WilliamsL. M.PattavinaA. (2019). Decision making in sexual assault cases: Replication research on sexual violence case attrition in the U.S [Final technical report (NCJ 252689)]. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252689.pdf
41.
NgoF. T. (2018). Stalking: An examination of the correlates of subsequent police responses. Policing: An International Journal, 42(3), 362–375.
42.
NixJ.PickettJ. T.BaekH.AlpertG. P. (2019). Police research, officer surveys, and response rates. Policing and Society, 29(5), 530–550.
43.
OppenlanderN. (1982). Coping or copping out: Police service delivery in domestic disputes. Criminology, 20(3–4), 449–466.
44.
PageA. D. (2010). True colors: Police officers and rape myth acceptance. Feminist Criminology, 5(4), 315–334.
45.
ParkerS. G. (2001). Establishing victim services within a law enforcement agency: The Austin experience. US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime.
46.
PattersonD. (2011a). The impact of detectives’ manner of questioning on rape victims’ disclosure. Violence Against Women, 17(11), 1349–1373.
47.
PattersonD. (2011b). The linkage between secondary victimization by law enforcement and rape case outcomes. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(2), 328–347.
48.
PetersJ. (2008). Measuring myths about domestic violence: Development and initial validation of the Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance Scale. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma, 16(1), 1–21.
49.
RegoecziW. C.HubbardD. J. (2018). The impact of specialized domestic violence units on case processing. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 43(3), 570–590.
50.
RobinsonA. L. (2000). The effect of domestic violence policy change on police officers’ schemata. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 27(5), 600–624.
51.
RumelhartD. E. (1984). Schemata and the cognitive system. In WyerR. S.SkullT. K. (Eds.), Handbook of social cognition. Lawrence Erlbaum.
52.
RumelhartD. E.OrtonyA. (1977). The representation of knowledge in memory. In AndersonR. C.SpiroR. J.MontagueW. E. (Eds.), Schooling and the acquisition of knowledge. Lawrence Erlbaum.
53.
StalansL. J.FinnM. A. (1995). How novice and experienced officers interpret wife assaults: Normative and efficiency frames. Law & Society Review, 29(2), 287–321.
54.
StalansL. J.FinnM. A. (2000). Gender differences in officers’ perceptions and decisions about domestic violence cases. Women & Criminal Justice, 11(3), 1–24.
55.
StephensB. J.SindenP. G. (2000). Victims’ voices: Domestic assault victims’ perceptions of police demeanor. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15(5), 534–547.
56.
SudderthL. K. (2006). An uneasy alliance: Law enforcement and domestic violence victim advocates in a rural area. Feminist Criminology, 1(4), 329–353.
57.
TaylorS. E.CrockerJ. (1981). Schematic bases of social information processing. In HiggensE. T.HermanC. P.ZannaM. P. (Eds.), Social cognition: The Ontario Symposium, (Vol. 1, pp. 89–134). Lawrence Erlbaum.
58.
Ward-LasherA.MessingJ. T.HartB. (2017). Policing intimate partner violence: Attitudes toward risk assessment and collaboration with social workers. Social Work, 62(3), 211–218.
59.
WatsonA. C.SwartzJ.BohrmanC.KriegelL. S.DraineJ. (2014). Understanding how police officers think about mental/emotional disturbance calls. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37(4), 351–358.
60.
WilsonD.SegraveM. (2011). Police-based victim services: Australian and international models. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 34(3), 479–496.
