A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Intimate Partner Violence Primary Aggressor Laws

• In Event: Understanding the Political and Historical Contexts of Domestic Violence

Abstract

The movement to arrest as the preferred response in intimate partner violence cases has come with unintended consequences. Foremost among these has been an increase in dual arrest, the situation where both parties to an incident are arrested. To lessen the likelihood that victims are unfairly arrested with the perpetrators many jurisdictions have enacted primary aggressor laws. In this paper the authors examine 2000 to 2009 NIBRS data from 5,521 jurisdictions in 36 states and the District of Columbia to assess the effect that primary aggressor laws play in determining whether one or both of the involved parties are arrested.

Authors

• David Hirschel, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Philip McCormack, Fitchburg State University

• Eve Buzawa, University Massachusetts Lowell, Emerita