Date of Award

Summer 2019

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Criminology and Criminal Justice

First Advisor

Robert Brame

Abstract

Average annual reporting and arrest victimization rates, or the probability that an intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is reported or ends in arrest, are estimated to be 56% and 23%, respectively, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS; Reaves, 2017). These estimates are based on the number of victimizations that occur annually, but certain repetitive reporting or arrest patterns for a household may mask an offender’s individual probability of being reported or arrested. To address this problem, the current study examines prevalence rates, which examine the number of unique victims who report an offender or experience an incident that ends in arrest, using data from the NCVS for the years 1994–2015. Additionally, these rates are examined over time for varying levels IPV severity. Results provide mixed evidence regarding changes in the prevalence of reporting and arrest for cases of IPV. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the data and directions for future research.

Rights

© 2019, Tara E. Martin

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