Degree Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1986

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Sociology and Anthropology

Abstract

Since the mid 1970s, family violence has become a high priority social issue. Along with this rise in awareness of family violence as a major social problem, the police response to such situations was also evaluated and found to be deficient. Two perspectives have evolved in the literature for improving the effectiveness of police intervention. The first perspective argues for adequate police training while the second advocates mandatory arrest when violence occurs;This study examines the police response to domestic disturbances by developing and testing two models that have been extrapolated from the theoretical and empirical knowledge on police behavior. The first model, the organizational model, examines the influence the police organization has on the officer's response to domestic disturbances. The second model, the psychological predispositional model, looks at those characteristics of officers that influence their response to family fights;The questionnaire developed for this study was administered to police officers from four police departments. 242 Line officers (75 percent completion rate) filled out the survey;Tests of the organizational model indicated amount and type of training were very strong predictors of a service (counseling and referral) response, while organizational priorities and the officer's police role within the community were influential in determining a law enforcement (arrest) response;The psychological predispositional model explained 47 percent of the variance in the dependent variable for the service response. The values, attitudes, and perceptions of police officers toward the police role at family fights were influenced by the officer's education, sex, police experience and police peers.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-5761

Publisher

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University, http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/

Copyright Owner

Michael Gene Breci

Language

en

Proquest ID

AAI8627095

File Format

application/pdf

File Size

173 pages

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