{"id":2289,"date":"2020-03-06T10:19:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T00:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/?p=2289"},"modified":"2020-03-09T12:41:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T02:41:12","slug":"specialization-among-female-partner-violence-offenders-and-the-role-of-self-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2020\/03\/06\/specialization-among-female-partner-violence-offenders-and-the-role-of-self-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Specialization among Female Partner Violence Offenders and the Role of Self-Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Heather Wolbers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brief is based on the following paper: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wolbers, H., & Ackerman, J. (2020). The Degree of Specialization among Female Partner Violence Offenders and the Role of Self-Defense in Its Explanation<\/a>. Victims & Offenders, 15<\/em>(2), 197-217. \u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. What problem does your research address? <\/strong>Why is this significant?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some\nportions of the criminological literature claim that intimate partner violence\n(IPV) offenders specialize. In other words, many offenders who commit violent\noffenses against romantic partners often do not commit violent or other\noffenses (Paternoster et al., 1998). If\nthis claim is accurate, an important theoretical question relates to the causal\nmechanism that produces the specialization. Of particular theoretical interest\nin our study is whether self-defense motivations might underlie specialization\namong female IPV offenders. This interest stems from the suggestion that\nfemales in heterosexual relationships resort to IPV as a self-defense or\nresistance measure (Henning et al., 2006;\nMiller, 2001), meaning that violence takes place as a reaction to an\nassault and is intended to protect oneself from injury (Johnson, 2008). If these dynamics about female-perpetrated IPV are\naccurate, they suggest that female IPV is not reflective of a generally violent\nor generally criminal nature. Instead, women may tend to use violence only in\nspecific situations and therefore would be considered more specialized in their\noffending behavior than men (Bouffard et al.,\n2008). This study investigates the level of specialization within a\nfemale population of interest and whether self-defense can explain the observed\nspecialization.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. How did you conduct your research?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We used a quantitative survey to investigate these matters in a sample of Australian and American female university students. Respondents reported on their engagement with ten non-IPV related offenses and seven IPV offenses. When respondents reported perpetrating IPV we asked whether their IPV was perpetrated in self-defense. These measures allowed us to use a diversity index, offense specialization coefficient and latent class analysis to calculate specialization and determine whether self-defense was predictive of the observed offending patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. <\/strong>What\nare your major findings?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was\nevident that there are both specialized and generalized IPV offenders, however,\nwe found specialization to best characterize our sample of university-aged\nwomen. We did not find self-defense to be a substantial explanation for the\nspecialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. <\/strong>What does your research mean for policy and\npractice? <\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Understanding that there are both specialist and generalist IPV\noffenders is useful in designing programs intended to reduce IPV recidivism. It\nmay be that domestic violence specific programs are more appropriate for those\nwho specialize in IPV and that other programs intending to treat the underlying\ncauses of a broader criminality (e.g., antisocial personality, substance abuse,\netc.) may be best suited for versatile offenders. If some offenders are highly\nspecialized while others are not, the implication is that careful consideration\nshould be given to prior offense history when deciding on an ideal IPV\nintervention strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Bouffard, L. A., Wright, K. A.,\nMufti\u0107, L. R., & Bouffard, J. A. (2008, 2008\/09\/01). Gender Differences in\nSpecialization in Intimate Partner Violence: Comparing the Gender Symmetry and\nViolent Resistance Perspectives. Justice\nQuarterly, 25<\/em>(3), 570-594. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/07418820801930100         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henning, K., Renauer, B., &\nHoldford, R. (2006). Victim or Offender? Heterogeneity Among Women Arrested for\nIntimate Partner Violence. Journal of\nFamily Violence, 21<\/em>(6), 351-368.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson, M. (2008). A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate\nTerrorism, Violent Resistance, and Situational Couple Violence<\/em>.\nNortheastern University Press.         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller, S. L. (2001). The Paradox of\nWomen Arrested for Domestic Violence: Criminal Justice Professionals and\nService Providers Respond. Violence\nagainst women, 7<\/em>(12), 1339-1376. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paternoster, R., Brame, R., Piquero,\nA. R., Mazerolle, P., & Dean, C. W. (1998, 1998\/\/). The Forward\nSpecialization Coefficient: Distributional Properties and Subgroup Differences.\nJournal of quantitative criminology, 14<\/em>(2),\n133-154. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1023\/A:1023024120766             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Heather Wolbers This brief is based on the following paper: Wolbers, H., & Ackerman, J. (2020). The Degree of Specialization among Female Partner Violence Offenders and the Role of Self-Defense in Its Explanation. Victims & Offenders, 15(2), 197-217. \u00a0\u00a0 1. What problem does your research address? Why is this significant? Some portions of theContinue reading “Specialization among Female Partner Violence Offenders and the Role of Self-Defense”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,97,98,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefs","category-domestic-violence","category-intimate-partner-violence","category-violence"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Keiran Hardy","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/03\/shutterstock_178086416.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNLK1-AV","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1623,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2019\/09\/02\/episode-1-should-australia-have-a-sex-offenders-registry\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":0},"title":"A Matter of Crime, Episode 1: Should Australia have a sex offenders registry?","author":"Keiran Hardy","date":"September 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In this episode, we speak to Griffith University School of Criminology and Criminal Justice senior lecturer Dr Danielle Harris about whether public registers should be implemented for child sex offenders. 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