The Effect of Arrest On Wife Assault Recidivism

Prior research on the effect of arrest on wife assault recidivism had equivocal results and mixed reception. Arrest is not always used in wife assault cases, and several studies suggest that arrest is influenced by incident severity rather than risk of recidivism. The present study examined the effect of arrest controlling for pre-arrest actuarial risk of recidivism, which was measured retrospectively and independently of arrest decision using the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment. In an archival study of 522 wife assault incidents with police attending, arrest was associated with pre-arrest risk for recidivism and with victim injury, incident severity, and other sample characteristics. In multivariate regression and survival analyses, arrest had no overall effect on recidivism but a small beneficial effect in lower risk cases, mostly in terms of a delayed time until recidivism. Arrest of higher risk cases could be increased by police use of a validated tool for risk assessment.

Effets pervers de certaines luttes féministes sur le contrôle social

This paper analyses feminist initiatives to use law, particularly the criminal justice system, to heighten levels of control over men and fight partriarchy. It argues that passing new laws and increasing levels of punishment has not worked, either to strengthen individual female victims, or to build the feminist movement as a whole. Increasing punishment through criminal law means investing power in the hands of an un-monitored bureaucracy which has historically acted to promote a set of institutional, structurally based principles which are incompatible with feminist aims. The paper examines efforts to employ criminal and civil law in the struggle against patriarchy, in spheres such as rape and wife assault, and shows that inviting the state to intrude more deeply into the lives of lower and working class women has extended criminalisation and increased state control, without altering the underlying conditions which continue to create female victimization. The final section examines alternate measures to achieve feminist goals of empowerment and social transformation.