Policing a new domestic abuse crime: effects of force-wide training on arrests for coercive control

Abstract

Objective: Following a pre-registered study design, estimate the effect of police force-wide domestic abuse training on arrests for the new crime of 'controlling or coercive behaviour'.Methods: Using data on monthly count of arrest for controlling or coercive behaviour in 33 police forces, we employed a negative binomial difference-in-difference analysis and capitalised on differences in intervention timing to undertake an event study. Results:Training was associated with a 41% increase in arrest for controlling or coercive behaviour for trained forces compared to untrained forces (IRR 1.413, 95% CI 1.235-1.617).The event study illustrated that the increase in arrests in trained forces was consistent with the timing of the training. Conclusions:Training entire police forces to understand the dynamics of domestic abuse, including the new offence of coercive control, is effective in increasing the rate of arrest for coercive control.

Coercive Control: Patterns in Crimes, Arrests and Outcomes for a New Domestic Abuse Offence

“…This low per capita rate of arrest in some forces affirms concerns that some police forces would struggle to adapt to a new conceptualisation of domestic abuse (Walklate et al, 2018). However, a positive development is that training whole forces to understand domestic abuse in terms of gender dynamics and to better understand coercive control can result in a meaningful albeit temporary increase in arrests (Brennan et al, 2021).…”

Intimate Partner Violence Polyvictimization and Health Outcomes

“…Very few states in the United States recognize and criminalize coercive control as a form of IPV (e.g., Connecticut and Hawaii; Fontes, 2021; Sheley, 2020). On the other hand, it is a criminal offense in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France that can be reported to the police, which may involve either a warning to or arrest of, the perpetrator (Brennan et al, 2021; Sheley, 2020). This study's findings provide strong support for such protection by the criminal justice system.…”

A Sense of Danger: Gender-Based Violence and the Quest for a Sensory Criminology

“…As we have highlighted, certain experiences of GBV, particularly those involving touch , are privileged in the criminal justice system, while others are marginalized. As non-physical violence in the form of coercive control is criminalized around the world, police and other practitioners are grappling with the challenge of evidencing non-contact abusive behavior, arguing that this potentially places higher reliance on victim testimony (Brennan et al, 2021). This being so, we suggest that a shift towards valuing victims’ multi-sensorial experiences can help explain the invisible ‘atmospheres’ that GBV creates and operates within.…”

“…The absence of touch can also be a powerful weapon in some forms of GBV, such as the deliberate withholding of affection to control a partner and/or to communicate demands (Rees et al, 2006). In current understandings of GBV, touch tends to be privileged over the other senses – for example, inflicting physical pain is seen as ‘more serious’ (and dealt with more severely by law enforcement) than non-tactile forms of abuse such as coercive control (Brennan et al, 2021; Stark & Hester, 2019).…”