[DV_listserv] To End the Abuse, She Grabbed a Knife - NYTimes.com

[Domestic Violence issues]

Hi, All,

A few things for you on this Friday morning:

FIRST, here's a link to a recent NY Times Op-Ed article by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author Nicholas Kristof (co-author of "Half the Sky" and native Oregonian). While the substance of the article doesn't reveal anything particularly eye-opening about Domestic Violence, I do appreciate that he puts this topic front and center and not just in response to a headline-grabbing tragedy. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/opinion/sunday/kristof-to-end-the-abuse-she-grabbed-a-knife.html?_r=0


SECOND, a new study and report that was just released  this January: SEVERITY OF SENTENCING IN DV CASES

The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of DV prosecutions. To do that, researchers identified from a larger sample almost 500 abusers who were on probation for DV in Rhode Island in 2002 who had both DV and non-DV cases during the first six years of their criminal careers (and for whom at least one non-DV case preceded a DV case). They then looked at their every adult criminal prosecution, for DV and for non-DV offenses, since age 18 through April 2012.

FINDINGS:

"The policy implications of the findings are clear. Prosecution and sentencing of DV cases can significantly reduce reabuse, at least for the majority of more chronic abusers who also commit crimes other than DV. But to reduce reabuse, the sanctions imposed for DV offenses must be more severe than that imposed on the typical non-DV offenses committed by the abusers."

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244757.pdf

The primary author of this study has another one that is very interesting and useful for judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement when determining DV policy. That study is called "Practical Implications of Current Domestic Violence Research: For Law Enforcement, Prosecutors, and Judges" (2009). 

If you're wondering whether specialized prosecution units significantly increase prosecution and conviction rates (they do if "adequately staffed") or whether judicial demeanor toward a victim has any influence on participation in the criminal justice system (it does), then this research and report will be very interesting to you!

https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225722.pdf

Have a great weekend!

--Erin


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