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Prosecution and Conviction Rates for Intimate Partner Violence

Joint Centers for Justice Studies, Inc., Shepherdstown, WV, jgarner{at}jcjs.org

Christopher D. Maxwell

Michigan State University, East Lansing University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The prosecution of intimate partner violence is thought to be infrequent, as is the rate at which those prosecutions result in a criminal conviction. The paucity of prosecutorial and court response to intimate partner violence is considered one of the inadequacies of the justice system, an indicator of society's inattentiveness to violence against women, and another reason to question the criminal justice system's ability to successfully address violence between intimate partners. Our review of 135 English language studies leads us to challenge the widely accepted notion that prosecution and conviction for this offense are infrequent. There is great variability in the reported rates of prosecution and conviction for intimate partner violence. These studies report that, on average, about one third of the reported offenses and more than three fifths of arrests result in the filing of charges; more than half of all prosecutions result in a criminal conviction.

Key Words: domestic violence • prosecution • conviction

This version was published on March 1, 2009

Criminal Justice Review, Vol. 34, No. 1, 44-79 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0734016808324231


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