WHAT HAPPENED DEPENDS ON WHOM YOU ASK - A COMPARISON OF POLICE RECORDS AND VICTIM REPORTS REGARDING ARRESTS FOR WOMAN BATTERING

Following Sherman and Perk's (1984) study of the deterrent effects of nr rest, researchers have continued to examine the role of the crimina l justice system in responding to woman battering. Much of this resear ch has used either victim reports or official records as data, even th ough victim reports and police records often disagree, The current stu dy compared victim reports and official records of al-rest and convict ion for woman battering to examine the magnitude and pattern of discre pancies. Participants were recruited from a shelter for women with abu sive partners and were interviewed several times across two years. The ir police and court records were also examined. Agreement regarding ar rest and conviction was low, with victims more likely to indicate that an arrest or conviction occurred. Implications of these discrepancies for researchers, victim decision making, and law enforcement are disc ussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.