Pragmatic Punitiveness: The Institutionalization of Criminal Domestic Violence Protection Orders

This paper analyzes the implementation of a domestic violence law in Minnesota that, in 2006, made the violation of a Domestic Abuse No-Contact Order a felony-level offense. Since this legal change, the rate of conviction for Domestic Abuse No-Contact Order felonies skyrocketed with stark racial disparities among Black and Native American residents, relative to Whites. Analysis of case files reveals that Domestic Abuse No-Contact Order convictions result from a range of behaviors, from seemingly mutual contact between the defendant and protected party to serious physical violence. We argue that the Domestic Abuse No-Contact Order law facilitates pragmatic punitiveness for legal actors. It is easier for prosecutors to demonstrate contact occurred than to prove domestic assault. Yet, the penalty for a Domestic Abuse No-Contact Order is as severe as the penalties for other domestic abuse-related crimes in Minnesota. Thus, the Domestic Abuse No-Contact Order law enables prosecutors to respond forcefully to domestic violence while avoiding additional burdens on their time and resources.

The impact of the COVID-19, social distancing, and movement restrictions on crime in NSW, Australia

The spread of COVID-19 has prompted Governments around the world to impose draconian restrictions on business activity, public transport, and public freedom of movement. The effect of these restrictions appears to vary from country to country and, in some cases, from one area to another within a country. This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions imposed in New South Wales (NSW) by the State Government. We examine week-to-week changes in 13 categories of crime (and four aggregated categories) from 2 January 2017 to 28 June 2020. Rather than using the pre-intervention data to make a forecast and then comparing that with what is actually observed, we use a Box–Jenkins (ARIMA) approach to model the entire time series. Our results are broadly in accord with those of other studies, but we find no effect of the lockdown (upward or downward) on domestic assault.

Predictive Properties of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) in a Northern Canadian Prairie Sample

This study examined the predictive properties of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) in a large Canadian, predominantly Indigenous, sample from a geographic region with the highest rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the country. A random stratified sample of 300 men (92.7% Indigenous) court adjudicated for an IPV offense was drawn from six Northern Saskatchewan Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment regions. The ODARA was rated from police records and recidivism data were obtained via official criminal records over a mean 4.7-year follow-up. ODARA scores had small to moderate predictive accuracy (AUC/C = .58–.67) for IPV and other recidivism outcomes in the aggregate sample and Indigenous subsample. E/O index analyses demonstrated that the ODARA Ontario norms overpredicted IPV recidivism at high scores but underpredicted it at lower mid-range scores. Implications for use of the ODARA to assist frontline police personnel in IPV risk assessment and management are discussed.

Traumatic intracranial nail-gun injury of the right internal carotid artery causing pseudoaneurysm and caroticocavernous fistula

Penetrating trauma due to nail gun is an uncommon yet important clinical entity. There are numerous case reports describing these injuries, yet few describe those resulting in cerebrovascular injury. Laceration of cerebral blood vessels may result in significant intracranial haemorrhage and cerebral ischaemia, with catastrophic consequences. In the present study, we report a female patient who was shot in the face with a nail gun in a domestic assault. The nail entered her right cavernous sinus and lacerated her right internal carotid artery causing a pseudoaneurysm and a caroticocavernous fistula. This report details the approach to, and pitfalls of, managing a cerebrovascular injury due to penetrating intracranial nail. Catheter cerebral angiography is essential in the diagnosis and treatment of these injuries. Best treatment and outcomes require clinicians with expertise in endovascular and surgical repair strategies.

The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment: Predicting Violence Among Men With a Police Record of Intimate Partner Violence in the United States

The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) is an actuarial risk assessment tool for intimate partner violence (IPV) recidivism. Despite its international use, there is no published validation of the ODARA’s predictive accuracy in a U.S. sample. We studied 356 men in New York police records of IPV against a female partner to examine the ODARA’s predictive accuracy for IPV recidivism (base rate 35%), non-IPV violent recidivism (against a nonpartner; 16%), any violent recidivism (49%), and nonviolent recidivism (50%), in a fixed 2-year follow-up. Using 11 scorable ODARA items, area under the curve values were significant and ranged from .590 to .630, indicating small to medium effects. Expected/Observed indices revealed poor calibration with 2-year IPV recidivism rates in ODARA construction and cross-validation samples. Findings support the generalization of the ODARA’s predictive accuracy in different populations and outcomes, but a need for new norm development for higher risk populations.