Drawing on repeat victimisation studies, and analysing police data on domestic violence incidents, the current study examined the prevalence and correlates of short-term reoffending. The results showed that a significant proportion of offenders reoffended in the weeks and months following a domestic violence incident. Individuals who reoffended more quickly were more likely to be involved in multiple incidents in a short period of time. Offenders with a history of domestic violence—particularly more frequent offending—and of breaching violence orders were more likely to reoffend. Most importantly, the risk of reoffending was cumulative, increasing with each subsequent incident. The findings have important implications for police and other frontline agencies responding to domestic violence, demonstrating the importance of targeted, timely and graduated responses.
References
Agnew-Pauley W & Poynton S 2017. The Domestic Violence Safety Action Tool (DVSAT): Results from the first 12 months of implementation. Crime and Justice Statistics Bureau Brief no. 128. https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Publications/BB/Report-2017-The-Domestic-Violence-Safety-Action-Tool-BB128.pdf
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2017. Recorded crime - offenders, 2015-16. ABS cat. no. 4519.0. Canberra: ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4519.0Main+Features12015-16?OpenDocument=
Barnham L, Barnes GC & Sherman L 2017. Targeting escalation of intimate partner violence: Evidence from 52,000 offenders. Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing: 1(2–3): 116–142
Bland M & Ariel B 2015. Targeting escalation in reported domestic abuse: Evidence from 36,000 callouts. International Criminal Justice Review 25(1): 30–53
Bowen E, Heron J, Waylen A, Wolke D & the ALSPAC study team 2005. Domestic violence risk during and after pregnancy: Findings from a British longitudinal study. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 112(8): 1,083–1,089. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2005.00653.x
Boxall H, Payne J & Rosevear L 2015. Prior offending among family violence perpetrators: A Tasmanian sample. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 493. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi493
Boxall H, Rosevear L & Payne J 2015. Identifying first-time family violence perpetrators: The usefulness and utility of categorisations based on police offence records. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 487. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi487
Braaf R & Sneddon C 2007. Family Law Act reform: The potential for screening and risk assessment for family violence. Issues Paper no. 12. Sydney: Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse
Breckenridge J, Chung D, Spinney A & Zufferey C 2016. National mapping and meta-evaluation outlining key features of effective “safe at home” programs that enhance safety and prevent homelessness for women and their children who have experienced domestic and family violence: Final report. Horizons Research Report no. 1. Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety
Cattaneo LB & Goodman LA 2005. Risk factors for reabuse in intimate partner violence: A cross-disciplinary critical review. Trauma Violence Abuse 6(2): 141–175
Chalkley R & Strang H 2017. Predicting domestic homicides and serious violence in Dorset: A replication of Thornton’s Thames Valley analysis. Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing: 1(2–3): 81–92
Day A et al. 2010. Integrated responses to domestic violence: Legally mandated intervention programs for male perpetrators. Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 404. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi404
Devries KM et al. 2010. Intimate partner violence during pregnancy: Analysis of prevalence data from 19 countries. Reproductive Health Matters 18(36): 158–170
Dowling C, Morgan A, Boyd C & Voce I forthcoming. Policing domestic violence: A review of the evidence. Research Report. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rr/rr13
Farrell G, Phillips C & Pease K 1995. Like taking candy: Why does repeat victimisation occur? British Journal of Criminology 35(3): 381–399
Farrell G, Sousa WH & Weisel DL 2002. The time-window effect in measurement of repeat victimisation: A methodology for its examination, and an empirical study, in Tilley N (ed), Analysis for crime prevention. Monsey, NY: Criminal Justice Press: 15–27
Felson RB, Ackerman JM & Gallagher CA 2005. Police intervention and the repeat of domestic assault. Criminology 43(3): 563–588
Fentiman S 2017. New team to tackle domestic violence in Far North Queensland. Media release (Minister for Communities, Women and Youth, Minister for Child Safety and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence) 11 Jul. https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/81874
Ferrante A, Loh N & Maller M 2009. Assessing the impact of time spent in custody and mortality on the estimation of recidivism. Current Issues in Criminal Justice 21(2): 273–287
Fitzgerald R & Graham T 2016. Assessing the risk of domestic violence recidivism. Crime and Justice Bulletin no. 189. https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_publication/Pub_Summary/CJB/cjb189-Assessing-the-risk-of-domestic-violence-recidivism.aspx
Gracia E 2004. Unreported cases of domestic violence against women: Towards an epidemiology of social silence, tolerance, and inhibition. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 58(7): 536–537
Grant 2016. Repeat domestic violence perpetrators targeted. (Minister for Police) 8 Nov. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20170301031037/https://www.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/news/repeat-domestic-violence-perpetrators-targeted/
Grove L & Farrell G 2012. Once bitten, twice shy: Repeat victimisation and its prevention, in Farrington DP & Welsh BC (eds) The Oxford handbook of crime prevention. New York: Oxford University Press: 404–422
Grove L, Farrell G, Farrington DP & Johnson SD 2012. Preventing repeat victimisation: A systematic review. Stockholm: Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention
Hanmer J, Griffiths S & Jerwood D 1999. Arresting evidence: Domestic violence and repeat victimisation. Police Research Series, Paper no. 104. London: Home Office, Policing and Reducing Crime Unit
Hanson RK, Helmus L & Bourgon G 2007. The validity of risk assessments for intimate partner violence: A meta-analysis. Ottowa: Public Safety Canada
Hilton NZ et al. 2004. A brief actuarial assessment for the prediction of wife assault recidivism: The Ontario domestic assault risk assessment. Psychological Assessment 16(3): 267–275
Johnson MP 2006. Conflict and control: Gender symmetry and asymmetry in domestic violence. Violence Against Women 12(11): 1,003–1,018
Kerr J, Whyte C & Strang H 2017. Targeting escalation and harm in intimate partner violence: Evidence from Northern Territory Police, Australia. Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing: 1(2–3): 143–159
Klein AR & Tobin T 2008. A longitudinal study of arrested batterers, 1995-2005: career criminals. Violence Against Women 14(2): 136–157
Krishnan S et al. 2010. Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India. Social Science & Medicine 70(1): 136–143
Lloyd S, Farrell G & Pease K 1994. Preventing repeated domestic violence: A demonstration project on Merseyside. Crime Prevention Unit Series, paper no. 49. London: Home Office Police Research Group
Mackay E, Gibson A, Lam H & Beecham D 2015. Perpetrator interventions in Australia: Part one - literature review. State of Knowledge Paper no. 1. Sydney: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety
McPhedran S & Baker J 2012. Lethal and non-lethal violence against women in Australia: Measurement challenges, conceptual frameworks, and limitations in knowledge. Violence Against Women 18(8): 958–972
Marcus G & Braaf R 2007. Domestic and family violence studies, surveys and statistics: Pointers to policy and practice. Sydney: Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse
Martinez NN, Lee Y, Eck JE & O S 2017. Ravenous wolves revisited: A systematic review of offending concentration. Crime Science 6(10): 1–16
Mason R & Julian R 2009. Analysis of the Tasmania police risk assessment screening tool (RAST): Final report. Hobart: Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies. https://www.safeathome.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/567450/RAST_Report_Analysis_of_Risk_Assessment_Screening_Tool.pdf
Mele M 2009. The time course of repeat intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence 24(8): 619–624
Messing JT, Campbell J, Sullivan Wilson J, Brown S & Patchell B 2015. The lethality screen: The predictive validity of an intimate partner violence risk assessment for use by first responders. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 32(2): 205–226
Messing JT & Thaller J 2013. The average predictive validity of intimate partner risk assessment instruments. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 28(7): 1,537–1,558
Millsteed M & Coghlan S 2016. Predictors of recidivism amongst police recorded family violence perpetrators. Crime Statistics Agency In Brief no. 4. https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/research-and-evaluation/predictors-of-recidivism-amongst-police-recorded-family-violence-0
Morgan F 2004. The NDV Project final evaluation. Perth: Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia
National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2009. Time for action: The National Council’s plan for Australia to reduce violence against women and their children, 2009–2021. Canberra: Australian Government
NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team 2015. Annual report, 2013–15. Sydney: NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team. https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/documents/reports/DVDRT_2015_Final_30102015.pdf
NSW Government 2016. Repeat domestic violence perpetrators targeted. Media release (Family and Community Services, Police and Justice) 8 Nov. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20170301031037/https://www.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/news/repeat-domestic-violence-perpetrators-targeted/
O S, Martinez NN, Lee Y & Eck JE 2017. How concentrated is crime among victims: A systematic review from 1977 to 2014. Crime Science 6(9): 1–16
Pease K and Roach J 2017. How to morph experience into evidence, in Knutsson J & Tompson L (eds), Advances in Evidence-Based Policing. London: Routledge: 84–97
Poynton S, Stavrou E, Marott N & Fitzgerald J 2016. Breach rate of apprehended domestic violence orders in NSW. Crime and Justice Statistics Bureau Brief no. 119. https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_publication/Pub_Summary/BB/bb119-Breach-rate-of-Apprehended-Domestic-Violence-Orders-in-NSW.aspx
Riger S & Staggs SL 2004. Welfare reform, domestic violence, and employment: What do we know and what do we need to know? Violence Against Women 10(9): 961–990
Ringland C 2013. Measuring recidivism: Police versus court data. Crime and Justice Bulletin no. 175. https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_publication/Pub_Summary/CJB/cjb175-Measuring-recidivism-Police-versus-court-data.aspx
Roberts AL, McLaughlin KA, Conron KJ & Koenen KC 2011. Adulthood stressors, history of childhood adversity, and risk of perpetration of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 40(2): 128–138
Sherman LW 1992. The chronic cases dilemma: Privacy or prevention? in Sherman LW (ed), Policing Domestic Violence: Experiments and Dilemmas. New York: The Free Press
Sherman LW, Bland M, House P & Strang H 2016. Targeting family violence reported to Western Australia Police, 2010–2015: The Felonious Few vs. the Miscreant Many. Somersham: Cambridge Centre for Evidence-Based Policing
State of Victoria 2016. Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations. Melbourne: Victorian Government. http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/Final/RCFV-Summary.pdf
Trimboli L 2017. Outcome evaluation of NSW’s Safer Pathway Program: Victims’ experiences. Crime and Justice Bulletin no. 202. https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Publications/CJB/Report-2017-Outcome-evaluation-of-NSWs-Safer-Pathway-Program-Victims-Experiences-CJB202.pdf
Van Tongeren C , Millsteed M & Petry B 2016. An overview of family violence in Victoria: Findings from the Victorian Family Violence Database 2009–10 to 2013–14. Melbourne: Crime Statistics Agency. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20190305222632/http://www.rcfv.com.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/Final/RCFV-Vol-VII-Commissioned-research.pdf
Wheller L & Wire J 2014. Domestic abuse risk factors and risk assessment: Summary of findings from a rapid evidence assessment. London: College of Policing