Contextual factors impacting battered women's intentions to reuse the criminal legal system

While a small number of past studies have examined either situational, relational, or systems-level factors that influence battered women's use of either the police, prosecutorial, or court systems, no study to date has examined how these factors each influence women's intentions to reuse these systems. To address this gap, in-person interviews were conducted with 178 women whose assailants had been charged with a domestic violence–related crime against them. Survivors of intimate partner violence were asked about the violence itself, their relationship with the perpetrator (including financial dependence on him), community supports, their expectations, and desires regarding the criminal legal response, and their prior experiences with the police, prosecutors, legal advocates, and the courts. Regression analyses were conducted to examine women's intentions to reuse the criminal legal system in the event of future violence. Consistent with an ecological perspective on behavior (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979), the context of women's lives, the violence they had experienced, and their experiences with the police and the legal system all impacted their intentions. Specifically, women were more likelyto want further involvement with these systems if they were employed, felt supported by their communities, had received information about services from the police, had experienced case outcomes consistent with their desires, and had been treated well by the criminal legal system. Women were less inclined to intend to use the system in the future if they were legally or financially tied to their perpetrators, if they had been assaulted again before the court case was closed, if court proceedings had been cancelled at least once, and if they had been pressured rather than supported by the criminal legal system. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.