HOW NOVICE AND EXPERIENCED OFFICERS INTERPRET WIFE ASSAULTS - NORMATIVE AND EFFICIENCY FRAMES

Prior research has speculated about, but has not provided systematic e mpirical data on, how officers use their prior knowledge to interpret wife assault situations and how these interpretations shape their resp onses. Our findings challenge claims that officers' reluctance to purs ue formal arrest stems primarily from their proclivity to blame victim s. By manipulating whether or not a wife exhibited abnormal behavior, we show that experienced officers do not focus on whether wives can co ntrol their ''provoking'' actions and are to blame; instead they consi der the relative credibility and dangerousness of the husband. Prior e xperience with handling wife assault situations thus shifts the focus of decisionmaking from normative considerations such as blameworthines s to efficiency considerations such as substantiating claims for succe ssful prosecution. However, both novice and experienced officers base their arrest decisions on prior beliefs about whether wives provoke th eir husbands when wives have alcohol problems. Our findings indicate t hat future research can profitably examine how prior knowledge shapes interpretations to gain a better understanding of police decisionmakin g.