Citation

Pate AM, Hamilton EE. Am. Sociol. Rev. 1992; 57(5): 691-697.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, American Sociological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Recent formulations of deterrence theory suggest that informal sanctions mediate the effects of formal sanctions. A randomized field experiment in Dade County was designed to test the relative effectiveness of different police responses to incidents of spouse abuse. We test whether the deterrent effect of arrest interacts with the informal sanctions implied by employment status and marital status. The results indicate that, overall, formal arrest has no effect on occurrence of a subsequent assault. This overall lack of effect masks two offsetting effects: Arrest has a statistically significant deterrent effect among employed suspects, whereas arrest leads to a significant increase in subsequent assaults among unemployed suspects. The interaction effect between arrest and employment status was also statistically significant. There were no significant effects associated with marital status. The interaction effect between arrest and a composite measure of "commitment" based on both employment and marital status was also statistically significant. (abstract Adapted from Source: American Sociological Review, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by the American Sociological Association)

Florida
Deterrence
Spouse Abuse Offender
Domestic Violence Offender
Domestic Violence Intervention
Spouse Abuse Intervention
Offender Arrest
Adult Offender
Adult Male
Adult Violence
Male Offender
Male Violence
Partner Violence
Violence Against Women
Police Response
Police Intervention
04-02