This study seeks to determine the concurrent and predictive validity of a dual risk assessment protocol. It combines the risk of persistence in intimate partner violence (IPV) measured via the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument-Revised (DVSI-R) with supplemental items from the Danger Risk Assessment (DRA) bearing on the risk of potential lethality. We further test whether this assessment protocol reproduces disparities by race and ethnicity found in the larger population. Using a sample of 4,665 IPV male defendants with a female victim, analyses support both types of criterion validity. The DRA risk score is associated with felony charges, incarceration at the initial arrest, and the frequency of subsequent dangerous behavior. Results also suggest minimal predictive bias or disparate impact by race and ethnicity. Incorporating supplemental items bearing on potential lethality risk adds important information concerning the risk management strategies of those involved in IPV.

This paper empirically examines the relations between homicide rates by age (adults 18 to 24 and adults 25 or older), the tattoo shop density, on-site and off-site alcohol outlets, and disadvantage. It offers an additional explanation for the relation between alcohol outlets and homicide besides alcohol availability and consumption being facilitators of such lethal violence, suggesting that these businesses are a proxy for attracting those most prone to violent behavior. The analysis estimated linear pooled cross-sectional time series models to test the relations between age-specific homicide rates and tattoo shop density, on-site alcohol density, off-site alcohol density, and a multidimensional measure of disadvantage. These relations were examined among 88 of the largest cities in the United States for the years 1998 to 2006 (city-years = 792). The findings showed positive relations between homicides rates involving young adults 18 to 24 years of age, off-site alcohol outlets, tattoo shops, controlling for disadvantage. Findings suggest business establishments that attract young adults increase the likelihood of lethal violence not solely because of the availability and consumption of alcohol, but by increasing the convergence in space and time of motivated offenders and suitable targets, with limited or absent capable guardianship.

This evaluation examines the impact of a pretrial risk assessment and supervised release program on pretrial release rates, judicial bail determinations, and failure to appear (FTA) rates among non-violent felony defendants in Orange County, CA. The results indicate that program implementation was not associated with a significant increase in pretrial release rates. However, defendants who received supervised release under the program were significantly less likely to FTA than similarly situated defendants who were released on cash bail. The results therefore suggest that pending bail reform measures in California and elsewhere, which replace cash bail with risk assessment screening and non-monetary supervised release, can be implemented without sacrificing appearances in court.

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) among same-sex couples remains relatively rare. Moreover, few studies examine risk and the likelihood of reoffending among such couples. The present study utilized a large sample of people ( N = 6,711) arrested for IPV to explore the risk, likelihood, and timing of reoffending, including 332 perpetrators in same-sex relationships. Analyses revealed that male perpetrators in same-sex relationships had lower assessed risk than males in heterosexual relationships, and a smaller percentage were rearrested for a new violent offense. Although female perpetrators in same-sex relationships were no more likely to have higher assessed risk compared with perpetrators of female to male violence, female perpetrators in same-sex relationships had a higher likelihood and rate of reoffending, more closely resembling male-to-female violence. Female perpetrators with male victims were identified as the lowest risk to reoffend and indeed were the least likely to reoffend.

Only a handful of macro-level studies of homicide clearance exist, and the impact of community characteristics is mixed. In addition, community members are critical to clearances, but the willingness of residents to unite for the collective goal of aiding in investigations (via collective efficacy) remains to be tested. Combining data from the Chicago Police Department, Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), and U.S. Census, we estimate the effect of collective efficacy on homicide clearances in Chicago neighborhoods, while taking into account neighborhood characteristics and case composition. Results indicate that economic disadvantage, residential stability, and victimization significantly decrease homicides clearances, while collective efficacy increases clearances.

Nonfatal strangulation between intimate partners represents an extreme controlling form of violent behavior, increasing the risk that intimate partner violence (IPV) becomes lethal. Guided by Dutton and Goodman's conceptualization of coercive control, the present research explored the relation between death threats and subsequent nonfatal strangulation to amplify the credibility of those threats, using a large sample of IPV perpetrators (n = 6,488). Logistic regression analyses determined the relation between overt threats to a partner's life during an initial incident arrest and subsequent nonfatal strangulation postincident arrest, accounting for perpetrator characteristics and assessed risk. Results showed the highly gendered nature of this violent behavior, noting that men were significantly more likely than women to persist in nonfatal strangulation. Given the potential lethality of this violent behavior, the analysis also explored whether treatment service recommendations (family violence education, counseling, and mental health evaluation) mitigate these patterns. These preliminary findings support the further exploration of treatment and intervention efforts for reducing nonfatal strangulation.

Quadcopters (also known as “drones”) do not fly in vacuum. This is obvious enough that experimenting on one in a vacuum chamber would seem rather uninteresting, but there is one question that may be usefully addressed by such an experiment: the mechanism for yaw control. Quadcopters control yaw (rotation about the vertical axis) by differential rotor speed, and the question of whether those changes in rotor speed create yaw torque via conservation of angular momentum or via atmospheric drag can be addressed by “flying” a quadcopter in a vacuum where there is effectively zero atmospheric drag.

Although research has established economic disadvantage as one of the strongest, most robust predictors of urban violence, the conditions under which this relation holds need further elaboration. This study examines the disadvantage–violence link across age-specific transitional periods from adolescence to adulthood and provides theoretical arguments for why the strength of this relation should decline with age. Using 90 of the largest cities in the United States, the present study analyzes the impact of economic disadvantage and other urban conditions (residential instability, family disruption, and population heterogeneity) on age-specific homicide counts from 1984 to 2006. The analytical strategy incorporates temporal trends by using negative binomial fixed-effects regression models. The results reveal a consistent decline from adolescence to adulthood in the strength of the estimated effects of economic disadvantage, residential instability, and family disruption on homicide trends. The findings are discussed in terms of the implications for future research and public policy.

To manage intimate partner violence (IPV), the criminal justice system has turned to risk assessment instruments to predict if a perpetrator will reoffend. Empirically determining whether offenders assessed as high risk are those who recidivate is critical for establishing the predictive validity of IPV risk assessment instruments and for guiding the supervision of perpetrators. But by focusing solely on the relation between calculated risk scores and subsequent IPV recidivism, previous studies of the predictive validity of risk assessment instruments omitted mediating factors intended to mitigate the risk of this behavioral recidivism. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of such factors and the moderating effects of risk assessment on the relation between assessed risk (using the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument-Revised [DVSI-R]) and recidivistic IPV. Using a sample of 2,520 perpetrators of IPV, results revealed that time sentenced to jail and time sentenced to probation each significantly mediated the relation between DVSI-R risk level and frequency of reoffending. The results also revealed that assessed risk moderated the relation between these mediating factors and IPV recidivism, with reduced recidivism (negative estimated effects) for high-risk perpetrators but increased recidivism (positive estimate effects) for low-risk perpetrators. The implication is to assign interventions to the level of risk so that no harm is done. (PsycINFO Database Record

This paper reports on the development and piloting of the Madres a Madres (Mothers to Mothers) program, a new, community-based parent training program designed for immigrant Latina mothers and their children. Promotoras, or female community health workers of Latina background, delivered the program in a home visitation format. A total of 194 mothers and 194 focal children (87 male, 107 female) ages 7–12 were randomized to the intervention (113 mother–child dyads) or wait-list control condition (81 mother–child dyads) over the study period. Outcomes of interest were mother-reported parenting skills, broad family functioning, and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month posttest, and 9-month follow-up periods. Multilevel growth models revealed increases in intervention mothers’ reported parenting skills, family support, and family organization, and reductions in child internalizing behavior from pretest to follow-up, relative to the control condition. Outcomes did not vary by focal child age, gender, nativity status, or mother acculturative status (years in the United States). Findings are discussed in the context of future directions for research on the Madres a Madres program and on the implementation and dissemination of empirically-supported parent training practices to culturally diverse families.

This paper reports on the development and piloting of the Madres a Madres (Mothers to Mothers) program, a new, community-based parent training program designed for immigrant Latina mothers and their children. Promotoras , or female community health workers of Latina background, delivered the program in a home visitation format. A total of 194 mothers and 194 focal children (87 male, 107 female) ages 7–12 were randomized to the intervention (113 mother–child dyads) or wait-list control condition (81 mother–child dyads) over the study period. Outcomes of interest were mother-reported parenting skills, broad family functioning, and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Data collection occurred at pretest, 3-month posttest, and 9-month follow-up periods. Multilevel growth models revealed increases in intervention mothers’ reported parenting skills, family support, and family organization, and reductions in child internalizing behavior from pretest to follow-up, relative to the control condition. Outcomes did not vary by focal child age, gender, nativity status, or mother acculturative status (years in the United States). Findings are discussed in the context of future directions for research on the Madres a Madres program and on the implementation and dissemination of empirically-supported parent training practices to culturally diverse families.

Recent published predictive validation studies of risk assessment instruments commonly used the explanatory power of Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) analysis. The present study also tested the predictive validity of the Revised Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI-R) by conducting a ROC analysis of 18-month follow-up data post assessment from the entire state of Connecticut between January 1, 2010, and May 31, 2012. With a sample of 29,317, the analysis examined rearrests for new family violence incidents and new violations of protective or restraining orders. The sample was predominantly male (70%), with an average age of 34 years, and equally split between non-Latino White and minority perpetrators. Moving beyond the explanatory power of ROC analysis, the Kaplan–Meier (KM) estimator of the survival function was used to examine the cumulative probability of rearrest during the time at-risk period. In addition to determining the survival functions of perpetrators based on their level of risk as identified by their DVSI-R total numeric risk scores, the analysis examined differences by characteristics of perpetrators, an issue given scant attention in prior research. Survival analyses identified critical times after intake assessments when those who reoffended were at greatest risk and significant differences in timing of reoffending by gender and ethnicity. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Research on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has ignited considerable controversy about gender and IPV. Feminist scholars have viewed IPV as a manifestation of male dominance and control, with women primarily the victims and men primarily the perpetrators of this behavior (gender asymmetry). Conversely, family violence researchers have viewed IPV as emerging from conflicts in relationships, with both men and women being involved (gender symmetry). The present study was framed within the context of this controversy using new empirical evidence on one person arrested (single arrest) or both persons arrested (dual arrest) in IPV incidents. Data were acquired on the assessed risk of IPV recidivism immediately after arrest and actual IPV recidivism over an 18-month period postassessment across the state of Connecticut involving heterosexual partners ( N = 2,155). Though not definitive, the findings showed persistent gender asymmetry on these behavioral characteristics across arrest categories.