DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03013.v1
title: Reconsidering Domestic Violence Recidivism: Individual and Contextual Effects of Court Dispositions and Stake in Conformity in Hamilton County, Ohio, 1993-1998
title: Version 1

description: This study examined empirical relationships between various
court dispositions and the prevalence, incidence, and delay of
domestic violence recidivism. It built on past research by examining
the possible effects of formal and informal social controls at the
individual level, as well as the contextual effects of community
characteristics on individual behavior. The researchers collected
information on 3,662 suspects arrested for misdemeanor domestic
violence (specifically, assault against an intimate) in Hamilton
County, Ohio, during August 1, 1993, to October 31, 1993, and January
1, 1995, to December 31, 1996. All arrestees in the sample were
tracked until June 1998. The dataset includes information pertaining
to demographic and background characteristics of suspects (e.g., race,
age, means of support, education, employment, marital status,
residential stability, number of children the suspect had, and if the
suspect lived with a spouse and/or children at arrest), their criminal
histories (prior convictions for misdemeanors and felonies, prior
incarceration, alcohol/drug addiction, and pending charges), how their
cases were disposed (e.g., no charges filed, charges dropped,
acquitted at trial, sentenced to an offender program, probation, or
jail), rearrests for domestic violence that occurred between the
initial arrest and May 31, 1998, and the number of months that elapsed
between case disposition and rearrest.
description: Mandatory arrest policies in cases of misdemeanor
 domestic violence were implemented in many jurisdictions across the
 United States during the 1980s. However, the true success of arrest
 alone in preventing or delaying recidivism remains
 unknown. Furthermore, the effectiveness of arrest might hinge on
 whether arrestees are actually prosecuted and convicted, and whether
 they are placed on probation and/or serve a jail sentence. This study
 examined empirical relationships between various court dispositions
 and the prevalence, incidence, and delay of domestic violence
 recidivism. It built on past research by examining the possible
 effects of formal and informal social controls at the individual
 level, as well as the contextual effects of community characteristics
 on individual behavior. Aggregate-level census measures (proportion of
 college-educated individuals, proportion of employed individuals,
 proportion of financially independent residents, etc.) were included
 to determine the extent that these neighborhood characteristics
 correlate to an individual's propensity to recidivate and/or
conditioned relationships between formal controls and recidivism.
description: To study empirical relationships between court
 dispositions and the prevalence, incidence, and delay of recidivism
 for domestic violence, the researchers collected information on 3,662
 suspects arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence in Hamilton
 County, Ohio, during August 1, 1993, to October 31, 1993, and January
 1, 1995, to December 31, 1996. All arrestees in the sample were
 tracked until June 1998. The individual-level data were compiled from
 arrest reports, intake interview forms, and court records. Intake
 interview data provided the demographic and legal characteristics of
 suspects and information on their initial arrests, court records
 provided disposition information, and arrest reports provided the
 dates and types of all rearrests until May 31, 1998. The census tract
 data were obtained from the 1990 United States Census of Population
and Housing.
description: The dataset includes information pertaining to
 demographic and background characteristics of suspects (e.g., race,
 age, means of support, education, employment, marital status,
 residential stability, number of children the suspect had, and if the
 suspect lived with a spouse and/or children at arrest), their criminal
 histories (prior convictions for misdemeanors and felonies, prior
 incarceration, alcohol/drug addiction, and pending charges), how their
 cases were disposed (e.g., no charges filed, charges dropped,
 acquitted at trial, sentenced to an offender program, probation, or
 jail), rearrests for domestic violence that occurred between the
 initial arrests and May 31, 1998, and the number of months that
elapsed between case disposition and rearrest.
description: Response Rates: Not applicable.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: The sample consists of all persons arrested for
 misdemeanor domestic violence (specifically, assault against an
 intimate) in Hamilton County, Ohio, during two time periods:
August 1-October 31, 1993, and January 1, 1995-December 31, 1996.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Reconsidering Domestic Violence Recidivism: Individual and Contextual Effects of Court Dispositions and Stake in Conformity in Hamilton County, Ohio, 1993-1998
description: Persons arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence in
Hamilton County, Ohio.