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The reporting and help‐seeking behaviors of domestic violence victims with criminal backgrounds
Author(s) -
Iratzoqui Amaia,
Cohn Ellen G.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sociology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 31
ISSN - 1751-9020
DOI - 10.1111/soc4.12771
Subject(s) - domestic violence , criminal justice , criminology , psychology , social psychology , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , medical emergency , medicine
The decision to report domestic violence is often conditional on whether victims were satisfied with their prior treatment by the criminal justice system. One issue in reporting victimization is that victims of domestic violence may also be involved with the system as offenders. The current paper systematically reviews research on this overlap, finding that most research supports that victims who also have criminal backgrounds are significantly less likely to report subsequent experiences of domestic violence, and are less likely and able to seek out social services, particularly when they report prior negative experiences. The paper then identifies theoretical and policy‐based implications of the review findings.