Stability of the Severity of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Prior research with a sample of male probationers indicates severity levels of one arresting intimate partner violence (IPV) offense are predictive of future frequency of such offenses and treatment completion. This study is an extended analysis looking at severity ratings across two IPV offenses to measure violence stability. The stability of IPV severity levels was analyzed in a sample of offenders in Lake County, Illinois. Offender subtypes of generally violent (GV) men and family only (FO) violent men were incorporated into stability analyses using generalized linear mixed modeling (GLMM) to determine whether certain types of offenders vary in violence levels over time. The purpose was to determine the predictive utility of using a single offense to determine the domestic violence trajectory for male probationers. Reoffense records of 80 men were collected from a larger sample of 352 males, ages 17 to 72 placed on probation in Lake County, Illinois, between 2006 and 2008. Severity of offenses was coded dichotomously based on a behaviorally derived measure. Results demonstrate 64% of reoffenders remained stable in IPV severity. Overall, severity levels decreased across time. This is the first study to use a probationary sample of men to analyze violence stability trends over time. This study confirms the utility of measuring a single offense to predict future violence trajectories for IPV offenders.

Agresores Plurivictimizadores en Violencia de Género: un Estudio Exploratorio

“…Una vez más, estos agresores no parecen responder a la intervención judicial o policial, mostrando incluso que en relación con la violencia física el patrón más habitual fue ejercer violencia cada vez más grave a lo largo de la serie. Los resultados obtenidos en este sentido respaldan los hallados por Taylor et al (2021). Cabe destacar que la violencia psicológica parece ser especialmente resistente en cuanto al descenso de su gravedad.…”

“…Los resultados de Echeburúa et al (2008) muestran que la violencia de carácter más grave suele manifestarse cuando los agresores han hecho uso anteriormente de la violencia (física, psicológica, amenazas) o cuando ha habido un aumento creciente de la escalada de las agresiones. En cambio, Taylor et al (2021) informaron que la estabilidad de la gravedad de la violencia fue la circunstancia más habitual en una muestra de agresores en libertad condicional. La mayoría fueron clasificados como estables, ya sea cometiendo dos delitos leves o dos delitos graves.…”

Coercive control in police reports of intimate partner violence: Conceptual definition and association with recidivism.

“…These findings indicate that coercive, controlling behavior and attitudes may be important risk factors for physical IPV. Previous studies of IPV severity and recidivism reveal complex patterns: Men who use IPV may vary in the severity of violence over time (e.g., Taylor et al, 2021) and IPV index severity does not necessarily predict recidivism (e.g., Goldstein et al, 2016). In our study, index partner injury was not significantly associated with IPV recidivism and, although severe violence at the index bore small bivariate associations with measures of IPV recidivism, this was not upheld in multivariate analyses when accounting for the contribution of Coercive Control.…”

Cumulative lifetime violence severity scale: development and initial testing among men

“…Researchers in violence and health often rely on a "more is worse" concept; that is, the dose-response relationship between health outcomes and the frequency of abuse exposure and/or the number of types of abuse, a practice that implies homogeneity among experiences of violence [1]. The concept of violence severity has been operationalized across studies differently, including by higher frequencies, more serious injuries, potential to cause harm, presence of a weapon, or accounts of the target or perpetrator only [19]. Some scales have pre-classified specific acts as more or less severe based on independent assessment of potential to cause harm, or egregiousness, by persons who may never have had similar experiences [20][21][22].…”