Annotation of domestic violence abusers article by Etter and Birzer

Domestic Violence Abusers

The purpose of the study by Etter and Birzer was to characterize defendants in case of protection from abuse (PFA) orders in one Kansas county. The results of the study were published in a peer-reviewed journal. Both researchers are affiliated with universities and cited extensively from academic literature on this topic. As they pointed out, domestic violence is a widespread problem in the U.S., occurring every eighteen seconds (Paisner, 1989, cited in Etter and Birzer, 2007, p. 113) and across all socioeconomic classes and racial groups (Gilbert, 2001, cited in Etter and Birzer). A PFA order, unfortunately, does not necessarily stop the abuse.

The researchers reviewed data collected from PFA court filings for a period of approximately one year from Sedgwick County, Kansas, a metroplex with a population of over half a million and the largest urban area in the state. The study was descriptive in nature; the researchers wanted to examine general demographic characteristics of accused domestic violent offenders, review their arrest records, and determine whether there was a difference in the records of female vs. male abusers.

According to the study, accused abusers were overwhelmingly (80.8%) male. Most were white (72.7%) with a man age of 33.2 years. The study reviewed the records of 1,873 perpetrators of abuse, of both genders, and found that most had been arrested in the past for misdemeanor crimes. A smaller number had felony arrests. Accused male offenders were more likely to have a history of arrests than females. Many of the accused abusers, of both genders, were recidivists (Etter and Birzer, 2007, p. 117).

There were several limitations to the study. The researchers only had access to Sedgwick County records, and therefore any felony or misdemeanor arrests outside the community could be considered. The researchers did not have access to information about substance abuse, income, or employment status of abusers. These factors could be important in characterizing abusers. Finally, the researchers could only characterize the abusers who were caught. They pointed out that individuals who got away with abuse might have very different characteristics.