Predictors of child abuse charges within the context of domestic violence arrests
- Roark, Jennifer [ Social Work Program, Utah State University, Logan, UT, US jennifer.roark@usu.edu ]
- Knight, Kelly E [ Montana State University: Sociology & Anthropology ]
- Olson, Heather [ Montana State University: Sociology & Anthropology ]
- DeSandre, Heidi [ Utah State University, Logan, UT, US ]
This article investigates how different factors of a domestic violence incident impact the likelihood of a child abuse charge within the context of domestic violence arrests. Data from 5,148 domestic violence arrests were used to test whether domestic violence-, incident-, and child-based predictors increased the likelihood of a child abuse charge. Logistic regression models of gender-stratified samples were employed to test for gender differences among domestic violence arrestees. The results demonstrated predictors affected men’s odds of a child abuse charge when compared with women. For men and women, children witnessing the domestic violence incident had the largest impact on a child abuse charge. These results contribute to the underdeveloped area of police response to child abuse in domestic violence cases.