Race and the Likelihood of Intimate Partner Violence Arrest and Dual Arrest

• Author: Philip D. McCormack,David Hirschel
• DOI: 10.1177/2153368718802352
• Date: 01 October 2021
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

Race and the Likelihood

of Intimate Partner Violence

Arrest and Dual Arrest

Philip D. McCormack

1

and David Hirschel

2,3

Abstract

Researchon the impact of race on the likelihoodan incident of intimatepartner violence

will result in arrest is mixed. Some scholars find racial minorities to be at lower risk of

arrest, some find racial minorities to be at higher risk of arrest, and some find no dif-

ference in arrest likelihood based on race of the involved parties. Using a data set

comprising 10 years of National Incident-Based Reporting System data (2000–2009)

from 5,481 jurisdictions in 36 states and the District of Columbia, the authorsexamine

the impact of victim and offender race on the likelihood of arrest and dual arrest.

Accounting for such factors as seriousness of offense, location, and sex, the authors

found that there are significant differences in the likelihood of arrest and dual arrest

based on the victim and offender racial dyad. Generally, regardless of offender race,

incidents with a White victim evince the highest likelihood of arrest, while interracial

incidents involving a Black offender and White victim evince the lowest likelihood of

dual arrest. Research and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

race and policing, African/Black Americans, race/ethnicity, White, Americans,

interracial crime, victimization, intraracial, crime, domestic violence

In recent decades, the topic of intimate partner and domestic violence (IPV/DV) has

drawn increased attention from policy makers, practitioners, and academics alike.

Research in this area has consistently shown racial differences in the experiences of

1

Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA, USA

2

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA

3

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Philip D. McCormack, Fitchburg State University, 160 Pearl Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420, USA.

Email: pmccorm3@fitchburgstate.edu

Race and Justice

ªThe Author(s) 2018

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2021, Vol. 11(4) 434–\ 453

Article

IPV/DV victims with respect to elements of the victimization (Catalano, 2012; Tru-

man & Morgan, 2014), rates of reporting (Catalano, 2007; Women of Color Network,

2006), and resource availability and utilization by victims (Lipsky, Caetano, Field, &

Larkin, 2006). For example, data gathered from the National Crime Victimization

Survey indicate the victimization rate of IPV for individuals identifying as monoracial

is highest for Black individuals (Catalano, 2012; Truman & Morgan, 2014).

1

Simi-

larly, it has also been found that the reporting rate of IPV victimizations is highest for

Black females (Catalano, 2007). However, an area that has received little attention—

often, when done, only by way of statistical control—has been the examination of

racial differences in the likelihood of arrest. In fact, only a limited number of studies

specifically examine IPV incidents based upon the racial dyad of those involved in the

incident (see Brownridge, 2016; Caetano, Field, Ramisetty-Milker, & McGrath, 2005;

Carbone-Lopez, 2013; Fusco, 2010; Martin, Cui, Ueno, & Fincham, 2013). Even more

limited is the analysis of these incidents to determine predictors of an official response

such as arrest. This study examines the impact of the dyadic composition of victim and

offender race on the likelihood an incident of IPV will be cleared by an arrest.

Literature Review

Race and Arrest

A considerable amount of research has examined the impact of race on the likelihood a

reported or observed criminal incident will result in an arrest (see Kochel, Wilson, &

Mastrofski, 2011; Lytle, 2014, for reviews). Despite those examinations, there is no

consensus on what this impact is or when it may be seen. Early research indicated a

consistent pattern of racial disparity in the likelihood a crime would result in arrest,

usually on the basis of the offender’s race.

2

Studies by Black and Reiss (1967) and

Hepburn (1978) found Black offenders were more likely to be arrested than White

offenders. In Black and Reiss’s seminal study, they found that Black offenders were

more than twice as likely to be arrested than White offenders. Black offenders were

arrested in 28%, and White offenders were arrested in 12%, of incidents. These

patterns persisted even when controlling for offense seriousness.

Subsequent research obtained similar results. Hindelang (1978) found that Black

offenders were overrepresented in arrest data for three of the four different offense

types he examined, specifically assaultive crimes. Comparing the racial distributions

of the Uniform Crime Reports (UCRs) and the National Crime Panel (NCP), Hin-

delang found Black offenders were overrepresented in arrest data by 8 percentage

points in cases of simple assault and by 11 percentage points in cases of aggravated

assault. This indicated that, relative to their participation in and reports of offending

for these crimes, Black offenders were more likely to be arrested than White offen-

ders. This pattern has been found consistently. In two separate meta-analyses, the

effect of offender race was both significant and positive, indicating an increased

likelihood of arrest for Black offenders. In his review of 42 studies, Lytle (2014) found

race to have one of the strongest associations with the decision to arrest. Black

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McCormack and Hirschel