Police Decisions in a Rape Scenario: The Effect of Trauma Response, Forensic Evidence, Stranger-Perpetrators, and Rape Mythology.

This study examined the direct effect of "classic rape" characteristics, and how they were moderated by rape myth endorsement, on the likelihood of arrest, perceived district attorney charge acceptance, and perceived suspect conviction using a formal rape disclosure among a sample of 468 police participants from a sizeable municipal law enforcement agency in one of the fifth largest and most diverse U.S. cities. A randomly assigned, between-subjects factorial vignette design was employed. Manipulations included stereotypical trauma response, forensic medical exam, and perpetrator type. Path modeling revealed statistically significant relations between stereotypical trauma response, forensic medical exam, perpetrator type, and the three outcome variables. Rape myth endorsement moderated the effect of manipulations on the dependent variables. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Police Officers' Attributions of Victim Culpability in Scenarios of Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has garnered the attention of scholars, policymakers, and social justice actors for several decades. Shortcomings in police response to IPV may be related to police attributions of victim culpability. A dearth of research has assessed police officers' assignment of blame, responsibility, and causality directed toward IPV victims, particularly those who identify as LGBTQ+. Using a randomly assigned, experimental vignette design, the current study employed surveys from a sample of 305 police officers commissioned at a sizeable police department in one of the most populous and diverse U.S. cities to (1) assess culpability attributions directed toward same-sex IPV (SSIPV) victims, (2) determine whether culpability attributions differed between male and female SSIPV victims, (3) examine officer demographic, occupational, attitudinal, and experimental predictors of IPV culpability attributions directed toward SSIPV victims, and (4) assess differences in predictors of culpability between male and female SSIPV victims. Results from the current study suggest police officers attributed average levels of culpability toward SSIPV victims and levels were not significantly different between male and female SSIPV victims. Adherence to heteronormative IPV myths and trauma misperceptions increased police officers' attributions of culpability directed toward same-sex victims. Presence of physical evidence decreased culpability attributions among police officers. Educational programming developed for police officers should focus on the dynamics of IPV and cultural competency. Future research should continue to explore police officers' perceptions of and responses to SSIPV incidents.

Police Response to Latina Immigrant Intimate Partner Violence Victims: A Qualitative Analysis.

While an increasing body of literature has assessed police response to intimate partner violence (IPV), a dearth of this research has examined police decision-making with formal reports of IPV among Latina immigrants. Using a LatCrit theoretical framework, the current study addressed this substantive gap through the systematic methods of the grounded theory approach to assess a sample of 36 police case files drawn from an agency located in one of the fifth most populous and diverse US cities. Results from the current study identified five themes related to shortcomings in police response to Latina immigrant IPV victims. The themes included cultural coercive control, language barriers, victim participation, case clearance efforts, and service provision. Policy implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Help-Seeking Behaviors of Intimate Partner Violence Victims: A Cross-National Analysis in Developing Nations.

There is a dearth of research on help-seeking behaviors of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims, especially within developing nations. The current study uses the nationally representative population-based Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 31 nations to address this gap in the literature. Specifically, the study (a) assesses the extent to which IPV victims sought help in developing nations, (b) investigates from whom IPV victims sought help, and (c) evaluates individual and national factors that influence the likelihood of help seeking among IPV victims in developing nations. Given the hierarchical structure of the data, multilevel modeling techniques are used (individual level N = 65,530; national level N = 31). Descriptive findings revealed 34.88% of IPV victims engaged in help-seeking behaviors and the majority of victims who sought help reached out to family members (63.10%). Few IPV victims (3.24%) sought help from formal institutions. Results from the hierarchical generalized linear regression models indicated the severity of abuse, attitudes toward IPV, and indicators of empowerment all affected the likelihood of help seeking. National-level factors, including whether the nation had a law against IPV, were not significant. While providing formal services is important, policies designed to help IPV victims must recognize and address cultural barriers that may inhibit help-seeking behaviors. Because the majority of IPV victims sought help from informal support networks, it is important that individuals in these extended networks receive information about gendered norms and IPV so they can extend help and respond appropriately to family and friends.

Crime Victim Service Providers' Needs and Barriers: Rurality and "High Need".

The crime victims' rights movement has led to the development of advocacy, rights, and services for crime victims. A growing body of research has examined victim service provision using victim/client samples and complementary research has utilized service provider samples. The latter have focused on crime victim service providers' (VSPs) perceptions regarding clients' needs and barriers, as well as perceptions of service provision, needs, and barriers pertaining to their agency's operations. Although relatively small, the body of provider-focused victim services research has commonly considered the influence of rurality on service provision. The present study adds to this body of research by examining reported needs and barriers of VSPs (N = 94) in a Mountain West state, considering the influence of rurality and concentrated need. Three research questions informed the descriptive analyses: (a) What are the most commonly identified needs and barriers for providers in the state? (b) Are there differences in identified needs and barriers between rural and urban providers? (c) Do certain agencies report more needs and barriers than others, and if so, what are the differences? Findings indicate that many of the needs and barriers identified by VSPs mirror those identified by previous research and that agencies serving rural communities report significantly more needed services than those who do not serve rural communities. Furthermore, approximately 30% of the sample was designated as "high need" due to reported needs and/or barriers exceeding the average of the rest of the sample. The high-need agencies were not exclusively rural in terms of agency location or population served. The potential nuances of rurality's influence on VSPs in an overwhelmingly rural state are discussed.

The Rural/Urban Divide: Examining Different Types of Assault Through a Social Disorganization Lens.

Most studies of social disorganization theory focus on urban communities. In addition, these studies largely ignore more intimate crimes, such as intimate partner violence. Yet, results from extant studies are often generalized to explain all types of crime in all types of communities, thus potentially ignoring the dynamics surrounding intimate crimes and rurality. The current study expands on previous research in two ways. First, this study examines whether characteristics of social disorganization can predict assault across various victim-offender relationships. Second, this study applies social disorganization predictors to both metropolitan (or urban) and nonmetropolitan (or rural) counties. The sample consisted of 690 counties located across 13 different states. Results from the Poisson regression models indicate higher levels of ethnic heterogeneity and concentrated disadvantage were associated with increased rates of assault across various victim-offender relationships. Furthermore, the measures of social disorganization functioned in the expected direction in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan counties. These results highlight the importance of controlling for community structures when examining rates of violence, including intimate partner violence. Programs and policies designed to reduce intimate partner violence should include neighborhood components as these affect rates of violence within a community.