Significant Predictors of Recidivism in Domestic Violence Cases: A Brief Review of Research

Abstract

From 2002-2006, over 29,000 people in Idaho were victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in 27,860 IPV incidents. Most recently, the number of IPV victims increased by 8.5 percent and the number of IPV incidents increased by 8.2 percent (2005 to 2006) (Idaho State Police, 2007). In the first 10 months of 2007, 22 IPV homicides occurred in Idaho; this represents a 100% increase from 2006 (FACES, 2008). In 2008, The Idaho Coordinated Response to Domestic & Sexual Violence (ICRDSV) committee was created through a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to encourage arrests in domestic and sexual violence (Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence (ICASDV), n.d.). The ICRDSV brings together representatives from various statewide agencies to work on initiatives to address issues surrounding domestic and sexual violence across Idaho. Since 2007, this group, facilitated by the ICASDV, has been working on a risk assessment of dangerousness to be used in IPV cases reported to law enforcement. The purpose of this instrument is to assess IPV cases to determine the risk of future violent recidivism for each case. As with most IPV risk assessments that have been developed, the resulting risk level has a variety of uses such as education and safety planning with victims or providing additional information in determining bail and/or release conditions. In late 2008, the ICRDSV Directors’ Committee requested a brief review of significant predictors of recidivism in IPV cases and, specifically, whether or not there was empirical support for the items and factors included on its Idaho Domestic Violence Supplement (IDVS). This remainder of this report is divided into three sections: a review of research, an analysis, and conclusion/recommendations. The review of research explains the purpose, methodology, and results from a brief collection of studies examining significant predictors of recidivism in IPV cases. The analysis provides a comparison of significant predictors found in these studies to those included in the IDVS. Finally, the conclusion/recommendations offers several suggestions for the revision, implementation, and evaluation of the IDVS. (Author Abstract)