PUBLIC PREFERENCES FOR THE COURTS HANDLING OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SITUATIONS

This article examines public opinion about court dispositions in domes tic violence cases. Adult residents in Georgia were asked to respond t o short scenarios involving their spouses and intimate partners. The s cenarios were varied on three factors: the intentionality of harm, the presence of injury, and a history of injury in previous domestic disp utes. Participants preferred dismissal when, according to the scenario their spouses acted unintentionally and when they did not receive inj uries in the current dispute. Women and men preferred counseling signi ficantly more than they wanted jail or probation. Also, women preferre d jail and counseling more than men. The most preferred disposition ov erall was court-ordered mediation.