What happens after arrest for domestic abuse? A prospective longitudinal analysis

• In Event: Tracking the Outcomes of Domestic Violence Arrests

Abstract

The prevention of domestic abuse is a challenge for police and police-makers alike and the criminal justice system is normally neither designed to accommodate the range of behaviors constituting abuse nor to respond effectively. Despite, or perhaps because of, a policing strategy that encourages ‘positive action’, or even mandatory arrest, there remains substantial attrition between arrest and conviction, with a substantial proportion receiving no sanction at all. Findings from this study indicate that a pro-prosecution approach may need reconsidering and suggest that more attention should be given to alternatives or additions to prosecution more likely to help victims of abuse and to prevent future offending.

Authors

• Joanna Rowland, Hampshire Police UK

• Heather Strang, Cambridge University