Spouse Abuse Replication Project in Metro-Dade County, Florida, 1987-1989

The Metro-Dade project replicated an earlier study of
domestic violence, the Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment
(SPECIFIC DETERRENT EFFECTS OF ARREST FOR DOMESTIC ASSAULT:
MINNEAPOLIS, 1981-1982 [ICPSR 8250]), which was conducted by the
Police Foundation with a grant from the National Institute of Justice.
The Metro-Dade study employed a research design that tested the
relative effectiveness of various combinations of treatments that were
randomly assigned in two stages. Initially, eligible spouse battery
cases were assigned to either an arrest or a nonarrest condition.
Later, cases were assigned either to receive or not to receive a
follow-up investigation and victim counseling from a detective working
with the Safe Streets Unit (SSU), a unit that deals specifically with
domestic violence. Given the various treatment conditions employed,
three types of dependent variables were examined: (1) prevalence--the
proportion of suspects who engaged in repeat incidents, (2)
incidence--the frequency with which repeat incidents occurred, and (3)
"time to failure"--the interval between the presenting incident and
subsequent incidents. Initial interviews were conducted with victims
soon after the presenting incident, and follow-up interviews were
attempted six months later. The interviews were conducted in either
English or Spanish. The interview questions requested detailed
background information about the suspect, victim, and any family
members living with the victim at the time of the interview, including
age, gender, and marital and employment status. Parallel sets of
employment and education questions were asked about the victim and the
suspect. Additionally, the interview questionnaire was designed to
collect information on (1) the history of the victim's relationship
with the suspect, (2) the nature of the presenting incident, including
physical violence, property damage, and threats, (3) causes of the
presenting incident, including the use of alcohol and drugs by both
the victim and the offender, (4) actions taken by the police when they
arrived on the scene, (5) the victim's evaluation of the services
rendered by the police on the scene, (6) the nature of the follow-up
contact by a detective from the Safe Street Unit and an evaluation of
the services provided, (7) the victim's history of abuse by the
offender, and (8) the nature of subsequent abuse since the presenting
incident. Data for Parts 1 and 2 are self-reported data, obtained
from interviews with victims. Part 4 consists of data recorded on
Domestic Violence Continuation Report forms, indicating subsequent
assaults or domestic disputes, and Part 5 contains criminal history
data on suspects from arrest reports, indicating a subsequent arrest.
The police report of the incident and information on the type of
randomized treatment assigned to each case is given in Part 6.

Tags: battered-women, counseling, domestic-violence, police-response, program-evaluation, recidivists, spouse-abuse, treatment-outcomes, treatment-programs, victims, victims-services
Organization: Department of Justice