TY - JOUR
T1 - Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Police-Reported Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration
T2 - A Mixed Methods Approach
AU - Lipsky, Sherry
AU - Cristofalo, Meg
AU - Reed, Sarah
AU - Caetano, Raul
AU - Roy-Byrne, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Grant Number K01AA015187 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the University of Washington, Seattle. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism or the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - The objectives of this study were to examine racial and ethnic disparities in perpetrator and incident characteristics and discrepancies between police charges and reported perpetrator behaviors in police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV). This cross-sectional study used standardized police data and victim narratives of IPV incidents reported to the police in Dallas, Texas in 2004. The sample included non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic male perpetrators who were residents of Dallas (N = 4470). Offense charges were prioritized in descending order: sexual assault, aggravated assault, simple assault, kidnapping, robbery, and intimidation. Textual data from the victim narratives were coded, based on the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS), and categorized in descending order of priority: sexual (severe, minor), physical (severe, minor), and psychological (severe, minor) assault. Perpetrators were more likely to be Black and Hispanic. Perpetrator and incident characteristics varied significantly by race/ethnicity, particularly age, age difference between partners, marital status, injury, and interracial relationships. Qualitative data revealed that greater proportions of Black and Hispanic men perpetrated severe physical, but not sexual violence, compared with White men. The greatest disparity between CTS categories and police charges occurred among those cases identified by the CTS as severe physical IPV; 84% were charged with simple assault. Significant differences by race/ethnicity were found only for simple assault charges, which were coded as severe physical as opposed to minor physical IPV more often among Black (69% and 31%) compared with White (62% and 38%) men. The disparities revealed in this study highlight the need to enhance primary and secondary prevention efforts within Black and Hispanic communities and to increase linkages between police, community, and public health organizations.
AB - The objectives of this study were to examine racial and ethnic disparities in perpetrator and incident characteristics and discrepancies between police charges and reported perpetrator behaviors in police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV). This cross-sectional study used standardized police data and victim narratives of IPV incidents reported to the police in Dallas, Texas in 2004. The sample included non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic male perpetrators who were residents of Dallas (N = 4470). Offense charges were prioritized in descending order: sexual assault, aggravated assault, simple assault, kidnapping, robbery, and intimidation. Textual data from the victim narratives were coded, based on the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS), and categorized in descending order of priority: sexual (severe, minor), physical (severe, minor), and psychological (severe, minor) assault. Perpetrators were more likely to be Black and Hispanic. Perpetrator and incident characteristics varied significantly by race/ethnicity, particularly age, age difference between partners, marital status, injury, and interracial relationships. Qualitative data revealed that greater proportions of Black and Hispanic men perpetrated severe physical, but not sexual violence, compared with White men. The greatest disparity between CTS categories and police charges occurred among those cases identified by the CTS as severe physical IPV; 84% were charged with simple assault. Significant differences by race/ethnicity were found only for simple assault charges, which were coded as severe physical as opposed to minor physical IPV more often among Black (69% and 31%) compared with White (62% and 38%) men. The disparities revealed in this study highlight the need to enhance primary and secondary prevention efforts within Black and Hispanic communities and to increase linkages between police, community, and public health organizations.
KW - criminology
KW - legal intervention
KW - violent offenders
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U2 - 10.1177/0886260511432152
DO - 10.1177/0886260511432152
M3 - Article
C2 - 22258076
AN - SCOPUS:84863600133
SN - 0886-2605
VL - 27
SP - 2144
EP - 2162
JO - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
JF - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
IS - 11
ER -