Blog Post 1

Preliminary ideas/information for DACSS697 research project

Potential Research Ideas/Questions

1. How do arrest policies in response to domestic violence situations differ by state, particularly by the amount of discretion given to the responding officer?

This question is prompted by my previous research. During my literature review, I learned that since the early 2000’s, domestic violence arrest rates have been rising significantly (which is related to multiple factors). It would be interesting to look at how much directive each state provides to officers with such a rise in relevance.

2. How do firearm laws vary by state for individuals accused or charged with domestic violence, or those with a restraining order against them for a domestic violence incident? (More specific question within this topic: How are the directives for officer seizure of firearms for these individuals different by state?)

This question is prompted by my previous research. During my literature review, I found that “the combination of data from the FBI’s [Uniform Crime Report] and supplemental homicide reports from [intimate partner homicide] cases revealed that nearly 50% of intimate partner homicides were perpetrated using a firearm between 1991 and 2015.”

3. What are the most significant conditions preventing victims from leaving or attempting to leave domestic violence situations?

There is already a lot of research related to this topic. Primary barriers include a victim’s lack of information about available resources, shared children/pets with perpetrator, perpetrator has financial control, perpetrator has restricted victim’s access to family/friends/outside world, etc. Some follow-up research that I may find interesting is what makes a victim’s attempt to leave a domestic violence situation successful or unsuccessful (but I would not know where or what kind of data to look for in relation to this question).

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Potential Data

1. American Bar Association: Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence

Useful for research question 1. This is a table consisting of Domestic Violence Arrest Policies by State. Each state differs in policy and wording. Some states seem to have much more thorough policies/guidelines for officers responding to DV situations. There can be similarities and differences found in the phrasing of policy, particularly allowing for more or less discretion from responding offers. Some key phrases include “mandatory arrest”, “primary aggressor”, “warrantless arrest”, “shall arrest”, “must arrest”, “may arrest”, “physical manifestation of injury”, “probable cause”, “oral or written allegation”, credible evidence”, and so on… It would be interesting to analyze this data, particularly looking at how definitive/clear each policy is about what is expected of the responding officer.

Source: https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/domestic_violence1/Resources/charts/migrated_charts/2014-domestic-violence-arrest-policy-chart.pdf

2. Gifford’s Law Center

Useful for research question 2: Each state’s laws on firearm ownership/possession for domestic violence offenders (or those accused or with a related restraining order filed against them) and officer guidelines for firearm seizure.

• Ex. of portion of Alaska legislation: “Alaska has no law prohibiting individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition.”
• Ex. of portion of Massachusetts legislation: “Massachusetts law prohibits individuals convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition.”

Some states go even further, and define exactly what an officer can or can’t do to seize firearms from these individuals.

• Ex. from Rhode Island: “Rhode Island still does not expressly authorize or require law enforcement officers to remove firearms from the scene of a domestic violence incident.”
• Ex. from Michigan: “Require law enforcement to remove firearms at the scene of a domestic violence incident.”
• Ex. from New Hampshire: “Whenever any peace officer has probable cause to believe that a person has been abused, New Hampshire law requires the officer to use all means within reason to prevent further abuse, including confiscating any firearms and ammunition in the defendant’s control, ownership or possession.”

Source: https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/browse-state-gun-laws/?filter0=,306

3. National Network to End Domestic Violence

Annual count of adults and children seeking services for domestic violence related issues (with a focus on housing/shelter services) within a 24 hour time frame, by state. The organization publishes a yearly report displaying and discussing the findings of the study.

This organization was a data source for me in my former research. I looked at the rate of unmet needs (particularly housing) by state for domestic violence victims. However, I’m not sure if it could be useful for text-as-data research because the data is already quantified. However, I find the topic interesting/important and may continue searching for more anecdotal data related to barriers that victims face when trying to seek help for a domestic violence situations.

Source: https://nnedv.org/about-us/dv-counts-census/