Correctional Officers and Domestic Violence: Experiences and Attitudes

Abstract

This article presents the first statewide data regarding correctional officers' attitudes about and personal experiences with domestic violence. Online surveys were administered to Florida correctional officers asking a series of questions, including their beliefs and attitudes about the prevalence of domestic violence among colleagues, and their childhood and adult experiences with domestic violence. Results from 710 officers revealed that 33 % of respondents knew about correctional officers who had committed unreported domestic violence; 30 % reported that they had directly experienced domestic violence as children; and over 11 % reported that they had been physically violent with an intimate partner. Multivariate statistics showed that age, race, and childhood experiences with domestic violence were significantly related to correctional officers reporting being physically abusive to an intimate partner or family member. These and other findings highlight the need for increased agency prevention efforts and research on the phenomenon of correctional officer-involved domestic violence.

A Sociological Investigation of Awareness and Causes of Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria: A Survey of Agege, Lagos State

“…Surveys conducted had shown that 21-34% of women will be physically victimized by an intimate male during adulthood [Knutson et al, 2009] and that according to census-based population projections, more than a million women each year and upward of 21 million women in their lifetimes will be victimized by a current or former spouse or cohabitating partner in America [Macy, Ermentrout and Rizo, 2012]. This Domestic Violence [IPV] is not confined to any segment of society as it occurs across ethnic, racial and socio-economic boundaries and the rates are similar across rural and urban area [Valentine, Oehme and Martin 2012]. The perpetrators include people from all occupations of life, this include even officers charged with enforcing the law against perpetrators.…”

“…This domestic violence has been identified as a serious epidemic public health tragedy by researchers and many governments of the world nations. [Valentine et al, 2012;Ramirez, 2011;Gracial, Herrero, Fuente and Lina, 2008] Women are particularly vulnerable to Intimate Partner Violence during pregnancy and post partum periods. Fifty-six percent of women who report wife assault are between the ages of 18 and 34, the period that coincides with the child bearing years.…”

“…This invariably gave a positive nod in favour of violence against women at homes and outside the homes. The situation of Intimate Partner Violence will be more complicated in such homes, especially if the abusers or batterers are equally abusers of alcohol [Valentine et al, 2012] or when the violent spouses are smokers, drug addicts or mentally ill [Nouri et al, 2012].…”

Police Responses to Cases of Officer-Involved Domestic Violence: The Effects of a Brief Web-Based Training

“…The incidence of OIDV remains unclear despite increased attention on domestic violence training for law enforcement. The difficulties in determining accurate incidence often stem from small samples and imprecise measures Valentine et al, 2012;Garvey, 2015). Estimates of officers committing this crime range from fewer than 10% of all officers to more than 40% (Neidig et al, 1992;Gershon, 1999;Blumenstein et al, 2012;Valentine et al, 2012;Stinson and Liederbach, 2013;Friedersdorf, 2014;Garvey, 2015).…”

The role of static, distal, and proximal antecedents in intimate partner violence

“…Proximal antecedents, experiences that occur around the time of perpetration, may be directly and indirectly associated to IPV perpetration. For this purposes of this dissertation, financial and employment stressors, including financial insecurity [107][108][109][110][111][112][113] and job strain [114][115][116][117][118][119] , have been selected as the proximal antecedents of interest.…”