The Role of Place and Sociodemographic Characteristics on the Issuance of Temporary Civil Protection Orders

Abstract

Civil protection orders are one of the most widely used legal interventions for intimate partner violence. Every American state has legislation that allows victims to seek legal remedies through protection orders such as preventing abusers from contacting them, requiring perpetrators to stay away from specific locations, and ordering removal of firearms. However, judges do not grant every petition for a protection order. This study analyzed over 1000 civil protection order cases from Nebraska to identify how factors not prescribed in the legal statute contribute to a determination of whether victims receive protection. The results suggest that victims' gender and the counties in which they file influence victims' chances of obtaining a protection order. Male victims, victims with children with their abuser, and married victims are significantly less likely to receive protection orders, even after controlling for the severity, recency, and type of abuse. Both male and female victims who file their cases in metropolitan counties are more likely to receive protection orders than their nonmetropolitan counterparts.

Facing Others’ Trauma: A Role-Taking Theory of Burnout

“…The stimulus for this study is a narrative from a court order in a real civil protection order case. These court orders can restrain an abuser from contacting, threatening, or harassing a victim (Groggel 2021; Lynch et al 2022; McFarlane et al 2004). Victims typically apply for a protection order by filing a court petition that includes a written first–person account of abuse.…”

How Americans Assess Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

“…Civil protection orders are binding court orders intended to constrain abusers who threaten or harass victims, through provisions such as exclusion from the shared residence, granting temporary custody of minor children to victims, temporary child support, and requiring the removal of weapons such as firearms (Holt 2004; Logan et al 2006; Zeoli et al 2019). Violators of these orders are subject to criminal and civil penalties and prosecution including fines, contempt penalties, and criminal charges (Groggel 2021; McFarlane et al 2004). Each state in the United States has enacted statutes authorizing civil protection orders to provide victims immediate relief from abusive partners, but eligibility criteria may differ between states (DeJong and Burgess-Proctor 2006).…”

Haunting details: A mixed‐methods study on predictors of details recalled from a victim narrative

“…Domestic violence protective orders in the U.S. are civil orders that victims of IPV can pursue that prohibit contact between victims and their offenders and are available to victims in every state (Groggel, 2021). In these cases, victims often initiate the application process and can represent themselves in court pro se unlike criminal cases where a prosecutor decides whether to proceed with the case (Bejinariu et al., 2019).…”