Intimate Partner Violence Responses Have Limited Impact: Study

Coordinated community responses to intimate partner violence do not reduce recidivism to the degree previously accepted by advocates, say new studies published in the journal Criminology & Public Policy. The research did suggest potential avenues for success among certain sub-groups. Studies found that coordinated responses to intimate partner violence in the form of increasing offender accountability through the courts failed to alter offender attitudes and behavior. Research was conducted in American states of Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

The research, which is not available publicly online, was done byChristy A. Visher of the University of Delaware, Adele Harrell of the Urban Institute, and Lisa Newmark of George Mason University, along with Jennifer Yahner at the Urban Institute. Richard Peterson of the New York City Criminal Justice Agency argued in the journal that the time has come for the scientific community to accept that attempts to reduce intimate partner violence are of very little use. He and colleagues suggested that more effort should be directed toward the prevention of initial intimate partner violence offences, rather than the reduction of recidivism.