Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Police officers' judgements of blame in family violence: the impact of gender and alcohol
Other Titles:	Sex roles
Authors:	Stewart, Anna Maddren, Kelly
Keywords:	Drug and alcohol misuse;Policing
Year:	1997
Publisher:	Plenum Pub. Corp
Citation:	37 (11/12), 1997
Notes:	Reports and discusses the methodology and findings of a study aimed at comparing Queensland police officers’ judgements of blame of victims and perpetrators of family violence, utilising victim gender, consumption of alcohol by either the victim or perpetrator and police officer gender as independent variables. The role of these judgements in police officers’ decision to charge the assailant with assault was also examined. Existing research into the assigning of blame to victims and perpetrators by police is reviewed and gaps in the literature identified. Findings suggest that although gender of police officers does not have any significant impact on judgments of blame, male victims are more likely to be assigned blame than female victims and sober victims are less likely to be assigned blame than those who had consumed alcohol prior to the assault. Further, while the decision to prosecute perpetrators is influenced by a range of factors, the assignment of blame was shown to play a significant role. Concludes that stereotypical notions of gender roles are interfering with police officers’ assessment of family violence incidents, highlighting the particular vulnerability of male victims of male-male violence.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/16185
ISSN:	0360-0025
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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