Reliability in NIBRS Reporting of Substance Use in Incidents of Intimate Partner Violence

• Author: Meaghan Scearbo,David Hirschel,April Pattavina
• DOI: 10.3818/JRP.15.2.2013.21
• Published date: 01 December 2013
• Date: 01 December 2013
• Subject Matter: Article

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Reliability in NIBRS Reporting of Substance Use

in Incidents of Intimate Partner Violence

April Pattavina

David Hirschel

Meaghan Scearbo

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology

University of Massachusetts Lowell

JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2013

© 2013 Justice Research and Statistics Association

DOI: 10.3818/JRP.15.2.2013.21

* Abstract

This article examines the reliability and validity of National Incident-Based Reporting

System (NIBRS) data pertaining to substance use in incidents of intimate partner vio-

lence. The study sample included 2,441 incidents of intimate partner violence involving

intimidation, simple assault, and aggravated assault submitted to the FBI from 25 agen-

cies across four states. We compared variables from the NIBRS federal data source with

those gathered independently from the originating local police agency reports. Our

independent data collection effort found more substance use in incidents of domestic

violence than the NIBRS data reported. Reasons for this variation were examined and

an assessment was made of how reliability in substance use reporting may be related to

arrest outcomes. A weaker association between substance use and arrest was found in

agencies judged to be highly reliable in reporting substance use than in agencies with

low reporting reliability. The policy implications of the f‌indings are discussed.

This project was supported by Grant No. 2001-WT-BX-0501 awarded by the National Insti-

tute of Justice, Off‌ice of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this

document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the off‌icial position or poli-

cies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Please direct questions to April_Pattavina@uml.edu.

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Over the past few decades great strides have been made by both the social science

community and service providers to promote an understanding of the causes and

consequences of domestic violence. For criminal justice researchers and practi-

tioners, the role of police in dealing with incidents of domestic violence has become

a major focus. Much of the credit for this belongs to women’s advocacy groups,

who directed national attention to the issue and demanded that the government

response should be to protect and support victims (see, e.g., Buzawa, Buzawa, &

Stark, 2012; Hirschel, Hutchison, Dean, & Mills, 1992). Today it is widely ac-

knowledged that domestic violence is an important aspect of police business. The

proposition that police treat domestic violence incidents seriously is no longer a

subject of debate (Stanko, 2008).

Government efforts to address the role of law enforcement in dealing with

domestic violence cases have led to some important policy initiatives, including:

1) passage of state legislation mandating arrest in such cases; 2) support of better

data collection procedures in incidents reported to the police; and 3) an increase in

government-funded research to examine police response to these incidents.1 While

there is some debate on the positive outcomes of legislative changes for victims of

domestic violence (see, e.g., Buzawa et al., 2012), together these efforts demon-

strate the growing involvement of the criminal law in addressing domestic violence

cases and a recognition of the need to document and understand police responses.

Some noteworthy progress has been made in domestic violence data collection.

The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), the f‌irst off‌icial source of

domestic violence data, is being used by a growing number of researchers (see, e.g.,

Eitle, 2005; Hirschel, Buzawa, Pattavina, & Faggiani, 2007; Krienert & Walsh,

2011; Pattavina, Buzawa, Hirschel, & Faggiani, 2007; Thompson, Saltzman, &

Bibel, 1999; Vazquez, Stohr, & Purkiss, 2005; Warner, 2010). These standardized

data can be used to generate estimates for incidents reported to police across ju-

risdictions, and they are detailed enough to use for examining important domestic

violence policy questions. Of particular interest to researchers is the recording of

incident, victim, and offender characteristics, which allows for the study of how

these factors impact the likelihood of arrest.

Prior research has identif‌ied substance use as an important factor that inf‌lu-

ences police behavior in domestic violence cases (see, e.g., Baird & Clayton, 2002;

Berk & Loseke, 1980-81; Eitle, 2005; Engel, Sobol, & Worden, 2000; Hirschel &

Hutchison, 2011; Hirschel, Buzawa, Pattavina, Faggiani & Reuland, 2007; Houry,

Reddy, & Parramore, 2006; Kingsnorth & Macintosh, 2004; Logan, Walker, &

Leukefeld, 2001; Mastrofski, Worden, & Snipes, 1995; Novak, Frank, Smith, &

Engel, 2002; Robinson & Chandek, 2000a, 2000b). NIBRS does include a mea-

sure of substance use and two research studies have used those data.

Thompson,

1 Consider, for example, the Minneapolis experiment (Sherman & Berk, 1984a, 1984b) and

the subsequent spouse assault replication projects (see, e.g., Garner, Fagan & Maxwell, 1995).