“Whoa! They Could’ve Arrested Me!”: Unsuccessful Identity Claims of Women During Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Many jurisdictions in the U.S. have implemented mandatory arrest policies in an attempt to limit police officers' discretion in their arrest decisions when responding to intimate partner violence calls. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with female victims of intimate partner violence, I explore the ways in which mandatory arrest policies have influenced the identity work of women during their interactions with police officers. I focus specifically on women's "unsuccessful" identity claims: situations where women are unable to convince police officers that they are victims and situations where women are unable to convince officers that they are not victims. I examine the strategies that women use during their identity work and explore the consequences of women's failed self presentations under mandatory arrest policies, the most significant of which is a woman's arrest. I argue that under mandatory arrest policies, for many women, the risk of failed identity work is even more consequential than before these policies were established.

Police officers’ definitions and understandings of intimate partner violence in New Brunswick, Canada

“…Mandatory charging policy places “the onus for laying charges on the police and Crown” (Brown, 2000: iii). Mandatory policies have generated controversies in regards to the identification of the perpetrator, taking into account victim needs, or simply removing latitude for police officers to handle an IPV situation (Leisenring, 2011).…”

Victims’ Perceptions of Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence

“…Perhaps not surprisingly, officers' perceptions of their work with IPV and IPV victims is in no way uniform (DeJong et al, 2008). Officers may not always agree on the appropriate actions that should be taken during response to IPV cases (Leisenring, 2011). A number of different factors-such as an officer's age, sex, and their experience level-may influence the likelihood of an officer making an arrest (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003).…”

“…Police officers, judges, attorneys, and even victim advocates hold certain expectations of "good victims" and may expect women to present as nonaggressive, blameless, and/or cooperative (Dunn, 2001;Dunn & PowellWilliams, 2007;Leisenring, 2011). In her study of intimate stalking cases, Dunn (2001) found that some of the ways in which prosecutors and advocates characterized stalking victims included "compliant," "borderline," "histrionic," "combative," "saintly," "grounded," "accountable," "annoying," "demanding," "noncooperative," "credible," "innocent," "proactive," "a survivor," "a real victim," "'still' a victim," "too 'into' being a victim," and "not a typical victim" (p. 298).…”

“…There were several similarities reported by the women regarding their beliefs as to why they were arrested. (I discuss these themes in-depth elsewhere and will thus provide a brief explanation of them here; see Leisenring, 2011, for more discussion). The partners of all but two of the women I interviewed had experienced a prior arrest for IPV.…”

Contextualizing the Experiences of Black Women Arrested for Intimate Partner Violence in Canada

“…However, there is a major gap in existing scholarship in terms of drawing on the narratives of Black women to understand their experiences of being charged for an IPV offense, and how they have been impacted following police intervention. Only a few studies have explored the context and experiences of women’s arrest from their perspectives ( Grace, 2019 ; Leisenring, 2011 ; Li et al, 2014 ; Rajah et al, 2006 ; West, 2007 ). Even fewer examine the experiences of Black women (i.e., Bundy, 2019 ; Dichter, 2013 ; Larance et al, 2019 ; Potter, 2008 ; Richie, 2012 ; West, 2007 ).…”