Race and the Likelihood of Intimate Partner Violence Arrest and Dual Arrest

Abstract

Research on the impact of race on the likelihood an incident of intimate partner violence will result in arrest is mixed. Some scholars find racial minorities to be at lower risk of arrest, some find racial minorities to be at higher risk of arrest, and some find no difference in arrest likelihood based on race of the involved parties. Using a data set comprising 10 years of National Incident-Based Reporting System data (2000–2009) from 5,481 jurisdictions in 36 states and the District of Columbia, the authors examine the impact of victim and offender race on the likelihood of arrest and dual arrest. Accounting for such factors as seriousness of offense, location, and sex, the authors found that there are significant differences in the likelihood of arrest and dual arrest based on the victim and offender racial dyad. Generally, regardless of offender race, incidents with a White victim evince the highest likelihood of arrest, while interracial incidents involving a Black offender and White victim evince the lowest likelihood of dual arrest. Research and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Same-Sex Couples and the Police: A 10-Year Study of Arrest and Dual Arrest Rates in Responding to Incidents of Intimate Partner Violence

“…Due to the confounding nature of characteristics found in cases in which there are multiple victims and offenders, cases with more than two victims and more than two offenders were omitted. This approach is consistent with NIBRS research examining the likelihood of crime clearance (see, for example, Hirschel et al, 2021; McCormack & Hirschel, 2018; Roberts & Lyons, 2011; Walfield, 2016). As a result, the sample was reduced in size by 49,445 (1.8%) cases and 13 (0.2%) jurisdictions.…”

To Report or Not to Report? A Focal Concerns Analysis of Victim Reporting Decisions Following Victimization

“…Moreover, coupled with fears of underenforcement in the police response to their victimization (McCormack & Hirschel, 2018; O’Neal, 2019), research finds that Black women may also face dual arrest (i.e., arrest of victim and offender) and police violence (Fedina et al, 2018; McCormack & Hirschel, 2018) when they report. Indeed, Black women are discredited and criminalized when they report their victimizations (Decker et al, 2019; Jacobs, 2017; McCormick & Hirschel, 2018). Historically, police were trained to associate Blackness with criminality—or “symbolic assailants”—as they conducted racialized police practices targeting Black people via slave patrols (Jones-Brown, 2007; Williams & Murphy, 1990).…”

The Nexus Between Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking: Examining the Arrest Decision

“…Extralegal factors, such as alcohol involvement, have also predicted arrest (Dichter et al, 2011; Durfee & Fetzer, 2016; Hamilton & Worthen, 2011; Roark, 2016). In terms of race/ethnicity, some studies have demonstrated that arrest has increased in IPV incidents involving White victims when compared with other racial/ethnic groups (Dichter et al, 2011; Eitle, 2005; Hamilton & Worthen, 2011; McCormack & Hirschel, 2018).…”