Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Contextual factors impacting battered women's intentions to reuse the criminal legal system
Other Titles:	Journal of Community Psychology
Authors:	Belknap, Joanne Melton, Heather C Fluery-Steiner, Ruth E Bybee, Deborah Sullivan, Cris M
Keywords:	Policing;Criminal justice responses;Advocacy
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Wiley Interscience
Citation:	34 (3), 2006
Notes:	This article presents US findings from interviews with 178 women who had partners charged with a domestic violence-related crime. It aims to examine how situational, relational or system factors influence battered women’s intentions to re-use the police and court systems. It is based on a larger longitudinal study to look at the long-term impact of criminal legal system involvement on battered women’s safety. Women were recruited from 3 areas: a Midwestern county (n=38), a Western suburban area (n=48) and a large Western city (n=92) in the US. They were asked about the violence, their relationship with the perpetrator, their financial dependence on the perpetrator, community supports, their expectations regarding the criminal legal response, their prior experiences with the police, prosecutors, advocates and the courts. Regression analyses were done to analyse the women’s intentions to re-use the criminal legal system. It found that women were more likely to want further involvement with the system if they were employed, had received information about services from the police, felt supported by their communities, had been treated well by the criminal legal system and had experienced case outcomes consistent with their desires. Women were less likely to use the system in the future if they were legally or financially tied to their perpetrators, if they had been pressured instead of supported by the criminal legal system, if court proceedings had been cancelled at least once, and if they had been assaulted before the court case was finalised
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14003
ISSN:	0090-4392
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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