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    http://jiv.sagepub.com/Violence

    Journal of Interpersonal

    http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/24/7/1222The online version of this article can be found at:

    DOI: 10.1177/0886260508322197

    2009 24: 1222 originally published online 3 September 2008J Interpers ViolenceLenora M. Olson

    Alana Kindness, Han Kim, Stephen Alder, Alison Edwards, Asha Parekh andDomestic Violence Offenders

    Court Compliance as a Predictor of Postadjudication Recidivism for

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    1222

    Court Complianceas a Predictor ofPostadjudicationRecidivism for DomesticViolence OffendersAlana Kindness

    Han KimStephen AlderAlison EdwardsUniversity of Utah

    Asha ParekhSalt Lake Area Safe at Home Coalition

    Lenora M. Olson

    University of Utah

    This study evaluated pre- and postadjudication behavior of 220 male defen-

    dants convicted of a domestic violence-related offense using court records

    and police department data. Our goal was the identification of possible pre-

    dictors for continued criminal behavior that could pose a risk of further harm

    to victims. Factors identified as significant predictors of defendant recidivism

    were having two or more court reports of noncompliance with domestic vio-

    lence treatment, two or more warrants issued by the court for noncompliance,and two or more reports to law enforcement of new criminal activity involv-

    ing the defendant. Law enforcement reports were the strongest predictor of

    recidivism, with an odds ratio of 7.7 and confidence interval of 3.0-19.7.

    These results illustrate the importance of monitoring multiple dimensions of

    defendant behavior while under court supervision and of communicating

    information on noncompliance with victims and advocates to assist in safety

    planning efforts.

    Keywords: domestic violence; criminal justice; law enforcement; riskassessment; partner abuse

    Journal of Interpersonal

    Violence

    Volume 24 Number 7

    July 2009 1222-1238

    2009 SAGE Publications

    10.1177/0886260508322197http://jiv.sagepub.com

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    Kindness et al. / Court Compliance as Predictor of Postadjudication Recidivism 1223

    Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem in the UnitedStates, disproportionately affecting women and resulting in significant mor-bidity and mortality. More than 1.5 million women experience intimate part-ner violence, rape, physical assault, or stalking annually (Tjaden & Thoennes,

    2000). The estimated cost of meeting the medical and mental health care needs

    of women who are victimized by an intimate partner is nearly US$4.1 billion

    annually (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2003). This

    alarming and pervasive form of violence also has far reaching effects includ-

    ing children who witness the abuse, other family members, communities, and

    society as a whole (Goodman, 2006; Stover, 2005).

    The widespread impact and complex nature of intimate partner violencecalls for an integrated response by practitioners and researchers in the fields

    of criminal justice, social services, public health, and health care (Cattaneo &

    Goodman, 2005; Murphy, Musser, & Maton, 1998). Examples of this collab-

    orative response can be seen in the establishment of specialized courts that

    take a restorative approach to addressing crime. In the case of interpersonal

    violence, this has meant developing interventions that attempt to prevent fur-

    ther offenses by changing offender behavior through therapeutic interven-

    tions such as counseling and intensive supervision, while also providingservices such as shelter and safety planning to victims. These specialized

    courts use measures such as mandatory domestic violence treatment and reg-

    ular review hearings to monitor defendants compliance with court orders

    while under supervision (Babcock & Steiner, 1999; Murphy et al., 1998).

    Domestic violence courts often employ staff and judges who are well

    versed in the dynamics of domestic violence (Newmark, Rempel, Diffily, &

    Kane, 2001). These professionals are trained to respond to the complex nature

    of domestic violencerelated crime and to collaborate closely with community

    Authors Note: The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Jennifer Owen,

    Wendy Isom, and Scott Curry for their assistance with data collection; Jacquee Williamson for

    assistance with data analysis; and Heather Keenan and Mark Ogea for their reviews of the

    manuscript and insightful feedback prior to submission. They also gratefully acknowledge the

    contribution of the Honorable Judge John Baxter for allowing us access to court staff and court

    records. This work was partially supported by The Salt Lake Area Safe at Home Coalition

    which is supported by Grant No. 2005-WE-AX0025 awarded by the Office on Violence

    Against Women, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or

    opinions in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the officialposition or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The majority of work conducted by Ms.

    Kindness on this project occurred when she was employed by the Salt Lake City Police

    Department. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lenora M. Olson,

    University of Utah School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, 295 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake

    City, UT 84108; e-mail: [email protected].

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    partners such as probation supervisors, treatment providers, and victim advo-

    cates (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003; Casey & Rottman, 2005; Gover, MacDonald,

    & Alpert, 2003). The goal of this collaborative approach is to increase theeffectiveness of the criminal justice response in preventing further violence

    and victimization through improved monitoring of defendant behavior and

    swift intervention when recurrence of violent behavior is detected.

    Research on the efficacy of domestic violence interventions is still fairly

    new, and effectiveness varies by type of intervention and participant character-

    istics. While many studies have examined the impact of domestic violence treat-

    ment on offender behavior (Casey & Rottman, 2005; Cattaneo & Goodman,

    2005), few have demonstrated a significant impact of treatment alone on reduc-ing recidivism (Babcock, Green, Robie, 2004; Babcock & Steiner, 1999;

    Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003; Casey & Rottman, 2005; Labriola, Rempel, &

    Davis, 2005). Research focusing on specialized court programs that combine

    strict court supervision measures with specialized domestic violence treatment

    has shown more promising results (Gover et al., 2003; Hendricks, Werner,

    Shipway, & Turinetti, 2006; Stover, 2005). Exploratory studies of defendant

    involvement in multiple justice system components (e.g., prosecution, proba-

    tion, and counseling) indicate a possible cumulative effect of a multidimen-sional intervention associated with lower rates of postadjudication recidivism

    (Jordan, 2004; Murphy et al., 1998). In addition, the collaborative approach of

    domestic violence courts provides support and resources to victims and their

    families, which can potentially increase their safety and security regardless of

    court outcomes (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003; Casey & Rottman, 2005).

    Recognizing that no intervention has been shown to be completely effec-

    tive in preventing domestic violence recidivism, researchers and practitioners

    have developed assessment tools that evaluate the potential for reoffense

    which can enable victims and their advocates to develop appropriate safety

    plans as a secondary violence prevention measure (Heckert & Gondolf, 2002;

    Hilton, Harris, Rice, Cormier, & Lines, 2004; Maxwell, Garner, & Fagan,

    2002). Most assessments currently in use require the involvement of a trained

    evaluator and direct contact with the victim, the perpetrator, or both to obtain

    detailed summaries of past or current behavior (Campbell, 2005). In addition

    to being resource intensive and requiring offender or victim cooperation, the

    predictive power of these instruments is variable (Cattaneo & Goodman,

    2005; Heckert & Gondolf, 2002; Hilton & Harris, 2005; Hilton et al., 2004).Other studies assessing predictors of further violence in domestic vio-

    lence defendants have focused on behavioral and demographic factors such

    as alcohol use, employment status, and criminal history (Bowen, Gilchrist,

    & Beech, 2005; Heckert & Gondolf, 2002; Kaukinen, 2004; Kingsnorth,

    1224 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

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    2006; Kyriacou et al., 1999). Prior criminal history is one critical factor that

    has been shown in several studies to be a predictor of recidivism for domes-

    tic violence defendants (Bowen et al., 2005; Gondolf, 2004; Hilton &Harris, 2005; Maxwell et al., 2002; Ventura & Davis, 2005), but past

    offense information is often unavailable to law enforcement, to the victim,

    or to those who are assisting the victim in determining risk and safety plan-

    ning. Obtaining information on prior criminal behavior is particularly prob-

    lematic if the defendant has not maintained a stable residence or has lived

    in multiple jurisdictions (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003).

    Based on a review of the research cited above, we found a need to iden-

    tify additional predictors of reoffense that were not reliant on availability ofcriminal justice records from multiple jurisdictions or participants willing-

    ness to disclose personal background information. While such information

    is often not available to victims, advocates, and court personnel, records of

    compliance with court requirements while under supervision can be moni-

    tored and evaluated through a coordinated community response. To our

    knowledge, this is one of the first published studies to examine compliance

    with court orders as a predictor of postadjudication recidivism.

    The specific objective of this study was to evaluate whether defendantsbehavior while under the supervision of a specialized domestic violence

    court-based intervention is predictive of further violent or harassing behav-

    ior. We hypothesized that we would find a positive correlation between fre-

    quency of noncompliance reports during the period of time prior to

    adjudication and the frequency of reoffense reports during the year follow-

    ing adjudication. Victim advocates, probation supervisors, judges, and oth-

    ers working with defendants and victims can use the resulting information

    to help assess the potential for reoffense in domestic violence defendants.

    This information will also be beneficial to researchers and practitioners in

    developing and evaluating offender management strategies aimed at reduc-

    ing the risk of further harm to victims of domestic violence.

    Method

    Study Population

    The 220 cases in this study involved male defendants charged with a mis-

    demeanor level offense that was prosecuted in the specialized Domestic

    Violence Court program of the Salt Lake City Justice Court between the dates

    of January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004. Salt Lake City is the capital of

    Kindness et al. / Court Compliance as Predictor of Postadjudication Recidivism 1225

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    Utah, with a population of approximately 180,000 and a racial distribution of

    79% White, 4% Asian, 2% Black or African American, 2% Native Hawaiian

    or other Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian or Native Alaskan, with19% of Hispanic or Latino origin. We did not gather race or ethnicity infor-

    mation on individual subjects as this data was not consistently available from

    Salt Lake City Police Department Records. Age of defendants ranged from

    18 to 89 years old, with a median age of 32 years.

    The following partners are involved in the operation of the specialized

    court program: court staff, law enforcementbased victim advocates,

    prosecution-based victim/witness coordinators, domestic violence treatment

    providers, and probation supervision agents. Domestic violence defendantswho are found guilty by plea or trial are placed on probation for a period of

    12 months and required to complete a treatment program with a certified

    domestic violence treatment provider. Defendants are required to return to

    court periodically for review hearings at which their compliance with court

    orders is assessed. Indications of noncompliance including lack of partici-

    pation in treatment or nonappearance for review hearings can result in court

    sanctions issued against the defendant. Sanctions include extension of the

    probation period, warrants issued for the defendants arrest, and jail time.Adjudication is defined as the closure of a case, after which point the court

    has no further authority over the defendant.

    During the study period, the Domestic Violence Court program processed

    all charges filed at the infraction or misdemeanor B or C level in the Salt

    Lake City Justice Court in which the relationship between the defendant and

    victim qualified as cohabitant under the Utah State Code definition. Case

    selection was based on date of original charge, gender of defendant (male)

    and victim (female), and nature of the relationship between defendant and

    victim (intimate partner cohabitating, married, or separated). Because the

    focus of our study was men who offended against their female intimate part-

    ner, we excluded cases involving violence between roommates, blood rela-

    tives, or in-laws, which currently are charged as domestic violence offenses

    under state code. Cases that did not result in conviction or had not been

    adjudicated by February 28, 2006 were excluded from the sample.

    This study was approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review

    Board.

    Measures

    Data were collected from Salt Lake City Justice Court records by trained

    court staff and from Salt Lake City Police Department records by trained

    1226 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

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    police department staff. Two of the studys co-authors (LMO, AK)

    reviewed the abstracted data.

    Conviction was defined as determination of guilt based on the defen-dants plea or trial outcome. Date of adjudication was defined as the date

    the case was disposed of by the judge and no longer subject to further

    action of the court. The defendants first domestic violencerelated charge

    in Salt Lake City Justice Court during the specified time frame was labeled

    as the original offense (or index case) regardless of whether the subject had

    prior cases that pre-dated the study period.

    The outcome variable of recidivism was defined as report to law

    enforcement of defendant involvement in criminal or harassing behavior(excluding minor traffic offenses) during a 1-year period following adjudi-

    cation. Information on recidivism was gathered from Salt Lake City Police

    records and included any report (domestic violence or not domestic vio-

    lence related) filed during the specified time frame in which the defendant

    was listed as a suspect or subject responsible for the threatening or harass-

    ing behavior, regardless of whether the report resulted in formal charges.

    See the appendix for a list of offenses included in the reports.

    Three separate measures of noncompliance with court mandates prior toadjudication were used to define the predictor variable. These measures

    included the following: one or more failures to comply with domestic violence

    counseling (as reported to the court by treatment providers), one or more war-

    rants issued by the court for failure to comply with court orders or conditions

    of probation, and one or more new offenses reported to the Salt Lake City

    Police Department in which the defendant was listed as subject or suspect.

    Other information abstracted included date of case filing, date of sentencing,

    date of adjudication (case closure), dates of new offenses pre- and postsen-

    tencing, and time, date, and location of new offenses within 1 year following

    adjudication within Salt Lake City Police Departments jurisdiction.

    Statistical Analysis

    Case characteristics of the sample were compared between recidivism-

    based groups using Fishers Exact Test and logistic regression. Characteristics

    found to be significantly different between the two groups were tested for

    associations with any preadjudication noncompliance. These variables wereconsidered as potential confounders in further multivariable logistic models;

    to control for correlated covariates, only one confounder was included.

    Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of recidivat-

    ing for those who exhibited any preadjudication noncompliance compared to

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    the odds of recidivism in those who did not. The measures of preadjudication

    noncompliance found to be significantly associated with recidivism were

    grouped by frequency of noncompliant events and regressed to determinewhether increased incidence of noncompliance was associated with increased

    likelihood of recidivism. Data were managed in Excel and analyzed using

    SAS 9.1.

    Results

    Table 1 illustrates the distribution of case characteristics by recidivismstatus. Among a total of 220 cases, the majority (82%, n = 180) did not recidi-

    vate. Those defendants that did recidivate (18%, n = 40) spent more than the

    standard 12 months ordered under court supervision (p = .044) and had more

    review hearings scheduled (p = .012) compared to those who did not recidi-

    vate. Defendants who recidivated were also more likely to have had more

    than one report of treatment noncompliance (p = .014), more than one war-

    rant issued (p = .03), and more than one law enforcement offense (p < .0001)

    prior to adjudication than those who did not recidivate. The majority of casesin each group were sentenced between 1 and 6 months from the date of report

    for the offense for which they were charged (78% recidivating, 84% nonre-

    cidivating). We did not find any significant differences in age of the defen-

    dants or months from index case to sentencing between the two groups.

    Table 2 shows the association between the predictor variable of having

    at least one indicator of any of the three types of preadjudication noncom-

    pliance and the outcome variable of recidivism. After adjusting for the

    number of hearings, the odds of recidivating for defendants who exhibited

    any measure of noncompliance prior to adjudication was four times the

    odds of recidivating for defendants who exhibited no indicators of preadju-

    dication noncompliance (aOR = 4.2; 95% CI = 1.2-14.6).

    As shown in Table 3, when each of the three separate measures of pread-

    judication noncompliance was stratified according to number of noncom-

    pliant incidents recorded, we found that the odds of recidivism for

    defendants who had two or more incidents of law enforcement preadjudi-

    cation noncompliance were over seven times the odds of recidivism for

    defendants who had none (95% CI = 3.0-19.7), when controlling for thenumber of hearings. Defendants who had two or more incidents of treat-

    ment noncompliance and who had two or more warrants issued by the court

    while on probation were not more likely to recidivate as those who had no

    incidents of treatment noncompliance or warrants issued during that time.

    1228 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

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    Kindness et al. / Court Compliance as Predictor of Postadjudication Recidivism 1229

    Table 1

    Case Characteristics (N= 220)

    Recidivating Nonrecidivating

    (n = 40) (n = 180)

    n % n %

    Variable

    Age of defendant (years)

    25 and Under 9 22.5 51 28.3

    26-30 3 7.5 29 16.1

    31-35 8 20.0 33 18.3

    36-40 9 22.5 24 13.3

    41-45 6 15.0 21 11.6

    Over 45 5 12.5 22 12.2

    Months from index case to sentencing

    0 3 7.5 5 2.8

    1-3 22 55.0 84 46.7

    4-6 9 22.5 67 37.2

    7-9 5 12.5 10 5.6

    10 or more 1 2.5 14 7.8

    Months from sentencing to adjudication*

    Less than 12 9 22.5 38 21.1

    12 13 32.5 94 52.2

    More than 12 18 45.0 48 26.7

    Number of review hearings*

    0 2 5.0 13 7.2

    1-3 4 10.0 35 19.4

    4-6 16 40.0 98 54.5

    7-9 15 37.5 25 13.9

    10 or More 3 7.5 9 5.0

    Measures of preadjudication noncomplianceTreatment noncompliance*

    (Reported by treatment providers to Salt Lake City Justice Court)

    0 25 62.5 136 75.6

    1 5 12.5 30 16.7

    2 5 12.5 9 5.0

    3 4 10.0 2 1.1

    4 or more 1 2.5 3 1.7

    Number of warrants issued*

    (Reported by Salt Lake City Justice Court)

    0 13 32.5 102 56.71 12 30.0 43 23.9

    2 8 20.0 16 8.9

    3 3 7.5 11 6.1

    4 or more 4 10.0 8 4.4

    (continued)

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    1230 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

    Table 3

    Logistic Regression Predicting Postadjudication Recidivism byDegree of Preadjudication Noncompliance (n = 220)

    Variable OR 95% CI

    Treatment noncompliance

    0 1.0 Ref

    1 0.8 (0.3-2.3)

    2 or more 2.7 (0.9-8.3)

    Number of warrants

    0 1.0 Ref 1 1.9 (0.8-4.8)

    2 or more 2.6 (0.9-7.0)

    Law enforcement offenses preadjudication

    0 1.0 Ref

    1 2.1 (0.7-6.6)

    2 or more 7.7 (3.0-19.7)

    Table 1 (continued)

    Recidivating Nonrecidivating

    (n = 40) (n = 180)

    n % n %

    Law enforcement offenses preadjudication*(Reported by Salt Lake City Police Department)

    0 7 17.5 97 53.91 6 15.0 39 21.72 8 20.0 18 10.03 5 12.5 9 5.0

    4 or more 14 35.0 17 9.4

    *Significant association with outcome variable of recidivism atp < .05.

    Table 2

    Adjusted Odds of Recidivism for Cases Showing Any

    Form of Preadjudication Noncompliance (n = 220)

    Recidivating (n = 40) Nonrecidivating (n = 180)

    n % N %

    Preadjudication

    Noncompliance =Yes 37 92.5 127 70.6

    Preadjudication

    Noncompliance = No 3 7.5 53 29.4

    Note: aOR = 4.2 95%; CI = (1.2-14.6).

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    Discussion

    Our study has three main findings regarding the value of monitoringpreadjudication noncompliance as a predictor of risk for postadjudication

    recidivism in domestic violence defendants. First, defendants who were

    reported to have had at least one incident of any form of preadjudication

    noncompliance were more likely to recidivate than those for whom no non-

    compliance was reported. Second, we found that defendants who had two

    or more reports of law enforcement noncompliance preadjudication were

    the most likely to have reports of law enforcement involvement postadjudi-

    cation, and this likelihood increased with the number of law enforcementrelated noncompliance incidents observed. Finally, we found a trend that

    was not statistically significant for defendants with two or more reports of

    noncompliance related to treatment and number of warrants to be more

    likely to recidivate. These findings indicate the potential value of docu-

    menting the frequency and type of noncompliance with court orders, espe-

    cially in the area of law enforcement noncompliance and including these

    factors in the development of risk assessments for defendants under super-

    vision. Our results also illustrate the importance of considering multiplesources of information on defendants noncompliant behavior and of com-

    municating this information to all agencies that have a role in maintaining

    offender accountability and increasing victim safety.

    Defendants who were reported to have had at least one incident of any

    form of preadjudication noncompliance were four times as likely to recidi-

    vate as those for whom no noncompliance was reported. While prior stud-

    ies assessing predictors of further violence in domestic violence offenders

    have focused on either demographic factors or past offender behavior out-

    side of the court setting (Bowen et al., 2005; Heckert & Gondolf, 2002;

    Hilton et al., 2004; Kaukinen, 2004; Kingsnorth, 2006; Kyriacou et al.,

    1999), our findings indicate that when a coordinated community response

    is employed in the form of a specialized domestic violence court program,

    the potential for reoffense can be evaluated by observing defendant behav-

    ior during the course of their participation in the court system. For instance,

    the court and court advocates could be alerted when a second warrant is

    issued or new police reports are filed indicating a defendants involvement

    in criminal or harassing behavior. These reports can then be considered indetermining the necessary level of defendant supervision. This method of

    evaluation requires thorough tracking of defendants behavior, and commu-

    nication between police agencies, prosecuting agencies, and the court. Such

    communication could increase victim safety by supporting an institutional

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    shift away from relying on victim participation to hold perpetrators

    accountable. This is important because victims may not know how to notify

    the court of new offenses, may be fearful of doing so because of safety con-cerns, or may be unaware of new offenses that do not directly involve them.

    Our analyses indicated that when observing noncompliance indicators

    separately, having two or more reports of any single measure of noncom-

    pliance could indicate an increased likelihood of recidivism, while having

    only one incident reported was not. While the majority of defendants were

    observed to have one report of treatment noncompliance, one warrant issued

    for noncompliance with court orders, or one report of involvement with law

    enforcement, having one indicator of noncompliance alone did not indicate atrend or appear to be associated with recidivism. One possible interpretation

    of this finding that merits continued study is that additional incidents of non-

    compliance were prevented by sanctions imposed by the court in response to

    the defendants initial incident of noncompliant behavior. We found that

    defendants with two or more reports of law enforcement noncompliance

    preadjudication were the most likely to have reports of law enforcement

    involvement postadjudication, and that this likelihood increased with the

    number of law enforcementrelated noncompliance incidents observed. Whilethere are several possible interpretations of this observation, the explanation

    most strongly supported by prior criminal justice research is that the best pre-

    dictor of future criminal behavior is past criminal behavior (Bowen et al.,

    2005; Casey & Rottman, 2005; Hanson & Wallace-Capretta, 2004).

    While the findings of our study are significant, there are limitations that

    must be considered. Demographic factors unique to the population of Salt

    Lake City and systematic factors unique to the citys Justice Court and

    Police Department may limit the applicability of these results to other pop-

    ulations. Another limitation is that while we defined recidivism as any

    report of law enforcement involvement, we know that law enforcement

    records tend to underestimate the actual occurrence of new criminal behav-

    ior, and thus we may have conservatively estimated this effect on defendant

    behavior. We were also limited in our data collection on noncompliance

    indicators and postadjudication recidivism to cases within one jurisdiction,

    therefore open cases in other jurisdictions were not captured. In addition,

    the parameters for types of offenses included in our law enforcement recidi-

    vism measure both pre- and postadjudication were fairly broad, whichcould account for this being the category of noncompliance with the high-

    est incidence rates. We also did not differentiate between those offenses

    included in the outcome variable that were domestic related and those

    which were not, or those which were violent offenses and those which were

    1232 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

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    nonviolent violations of the law. This could potentially yield more specific

    information regarding risk of violence to past or new victims, although

    prior research indicates that involvement in any unlawful behavior is posi-tively associated with perpetration of violence in domestic violence offend-

    ers. Finally, our sample size was limited by the number of defendants seen

    in the domestic violence court during our study period. It is possible that a

    larger sample size would show a statistically significant finding regarding

    noncompliance for number of warrants and treatment.

    Conclusion

    Our study results illustrate the importance of establishing protocols for

    tracking treatment and probation compliance as well as conveying this infor-

    mation to victims and victim service providers. The coordination of defen-

    dant tracking activities across multiple agencies and jurisdictions often

    requires additional personnel and resources that many courts do not have

    access to (Buzawa & Buzawa, 2003; Gover et al., 2003), but our study shows

    that coordination is critical to maintaining current information on risk factorsfor reoffense which can assist victims and their advocates in safety planning.

    Further studies are justified to enhance our understanding of the interac-

    tion of various defendant and case characteristics in predicting further

    offenses. For instance, following this same population for longer than 1

    year postadjudication would show whether predictions would hold true

    over a longer period of time. In addition, the validity of the current findings

    could be extended by collecting additional demographics and background

    information through victim and offender surveys such as residential history,

    evidence of substance abuse, type of relationship with victim, level of edu-

    cation, and employment status. This information could be used to assess

    whether the strength of our predictor variables are consistent between

    offenders with differing characteristics. Follow-up interviews with victims

    to assess their feelings of safety to determine whether or not victims per-

    ceptions are associated with indicators of reoffense could yield valuable

    information. The development and validation of new tools designed specif-

    ically to predict risk in offenders that have been sentenced and are under

    court supervision is important as victim advocates could use this informa-tion to help victims assess their level of danger when limited information is

    available on defendant background and history. With further research and

    validation, the behavioral factors identified in this study could be instru-

    mental in strengthening the predictive power of existing risk assessments.

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    1234 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

    Meta-analysis of existing research on criminal justice and therapeutic

    interventions with domestic violence offenders indicates the need for fur-

    ther research on interaction between dynamic factors such as court sanc-tions while defendants are on probation and other independent variables

    such as defendant history in determining future recidivism (Bowen et al.,

    2005; Cattaneo & Goodman, 2005; Gondolf, 2004; Stover, 2005). While

    this study does not measure the impact of intervention, it does illustrate the

    association between preadjudication noncompliance and postadjudication

    indicators of recidivism and presents the groundwork for further analysis of

    the interaction between variables that may affect defendant behavior.

    AppendixSalt Lake City Offense Codes and Descriptions

    Code Description

    Rape/sexual assault

    1103-0 Sexual assaultRape strong-arm

    Robbery

    1202-0 RobberyBusiness Id weapon1205-0 RobberyStreet Id weapon

    Assault

    1301-0 Assault aggravatedFamily gun

    1302-0 Assault aggravatedFamily Id weapon

    1305-0 Assault aggravatedNonfamily Id weapon

    1312-0 Assault aggravatedPolice officer strong-arm

    1313-0 Assault aggravatedFamily strong-arm

    1316-1 AssaultIntimid/written/electronic

    1316-2 AssaultIntimid/threats/physical

    1316-3 AssaultIntimid/threats/telephonic1316-4 AssaultIntimidation/stalking

    1316-15 AssaultThreat to bomb

    1316-16 AssaultThreat to burn

    1399-0 AssaultThreats free text

    1399-2 AssaultWorkplace violence/threats

    1399-4 AssaultViolation of a stalking injunction

    Burglary

    2203-0 BurglaryForce entry nonresident

    2205-0 BurglaryNo force entry nonresident

    Larceny

    2303-0 LarcenyShoplifting

    2305-0 LarcenyFrom motor vehicle

    2308-0 LarcenyFrom building

    2399-0 LarcenyFree text

    (continued)

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    Kindness et al. / Court Compliance as Predictor of Postadjudication Recidivism 1235

    Appendix (continued)

    Code Description

    Auto theft

    2499-16 Stolen vehicleBreach of trust

    Fraud

    2604-0 FraudImpersonation

    Damaged property

    2902-0 Damaged propertyPrivate vehicle

    2902-1 Damaged propertyPrivate

    2999-0 Damaged propertyFree text

    Drugs3512-0 DrugHeroin possession

    3532-0 DrugCocaine possession

    3542-0 DrugSynthetic narcotic possession

    3543-0 DrugSynthetic narcotic free text

    3550-0 DrugNarcotic equipment possession

    3562-0 DrugMarijuana possession

    3599-1 DrugFound narcotics equipment

    3599-2 DrugFound/surrendered

    Sex offenses

    3605-1 Sex offenseIndecent exposure child3699-0 Sex offenseFree text

    Family offenses

    3801-0 Family offenseNeglect of family

    3802-0 Family offenseCruelty to child/abuse

    3802-1 Family offenseAbuse adult

    3806-0 Family offenseNeglect child

    3899-0 Family offenseFree text

    3899-8 Family offenseFile of protective order

    3899-9 Family offenseViolation of protective order

    3899-10 Family offenseDomestic criminal nature3899-11 Family offenseDomestic violence noncriminal

    3899-12 Family offenseViolation of no contact order

    Liquor violations

    4104-0 LiquorPossess illegally

    Obstructing police

    4801-1 Obstructing policeFailure to stop for police

    4802-0 Obstructing policeCriminal investigation

    4803-0 Obstructing policeMaking false report

    4805-0 Obstructing policeDissuade witness

    Flight/escape4902-0 EscapeWarrants all in state

    Weapons offenses

    5203-0 WeaponsExplosive use

    (continued)

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    1236 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

    Appendix (continued)

    Code Description

    Public peace

    5309-0 Public peaceHarassing communication

    5311-0 Public peaceDisorderly conduct

    5399-12 Public peaceDisturbing the peace

    5399-23 Public peaceMentally ill subject

    5399-28 Public peaceSuspicious activity

    Traffic offenses

    5401-0 TrafficHit and run

    5499-5 TrafficMoving traffic violation5499-7 TrafficReportable accident

    5499-12 TrafficImpound/abandon vehicle

    5499-44 TrafficAlcohol in or about a vehicle

    Invasion of privacy

    5707-0 PrivacyTrespass

    Public order crimes

    7399-1 Public orderAmbulance sick calls

    7399-3 Public orderCivil cases

    7399-5 Public orderFound property

    7399-11 Public orderSuicide attempt7399-17 Public orderBusiness license

    7399-26 Public orderPublic intoxication

    7399-28 Public orderCommunity action team

    7399-40 Public orderCitizen assist

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    Alana Kindness, MSPH, is currently the executive director of the Utah Coalition Against

    Sexual Assault. Previously she was the program coordinator for the Victim Resource Center

    of the Salt Lake City Police Department. She has 10 years of experience as an advocate for

    victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and as a trainer on criminal justice response

    to violent crime.

    Han Kim, PhD, MSPH, is an epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Public Health

    Program, department of family and preventive medicine, University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

    He received his doctorate in epidemiology at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2002.

    His research interests include social factors of disease, particularly malaria and HIV/AIDS, as

    well as global health issues, public health education, and epidemiologic methods.

    Stephen Alder, PhD, is the associate director of the Public Health Program at the University

    of Utah School of Medicine. He has a background in social ecology with a specific focus on

    biostatistics and epidemiology.

    Alison Edwards, MStat, is a statistician at the Intermountain Injury Control Research Center

    located at the University of Utah, department of pediatrics.

    Asha Parekh, LCSW, is the director of the Salt Lake Area Safe at Home Coalition Project

    administered by the YWCA of Salt Lake City. She has 10 years of experience in the domestic

    violence field, providing advocacy and case management services and special expertise work-

    ing with diverse populations.

    Lenora M. Olson, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the

    University of Utah and codirector at the Intermountain Injury Control Research Center at the

    University of Utah. She has been an author/coauthor on more than 50 peer-reviewed articles

    in injury control and intimate partner violence.

    1238 Journal of Interpersonal Violence

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