CJA
Research Brief No. 25
NEW YORK CITY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY, Inc.
January 2011
A series of reports summarizing current research from CJA Executive Director, Jerome E. McElroy Director, Research Dept., Richard R. Peterson, Ph.D. Research Brief Editor & Deputy Director, Research, Mary T. Phillips, Ph.D. Graphics & Production, Raymond P. Caligiure Administrative Associate, Annie Su
CJA is a not-for-profit corporation that provides a variety of criminal justice services under a contract with the City of New York. CJA staff interview defendants arrested in New York City, make recommendations for pretrial release, and notify released defendants of upcoming court dates. Within the Agency, the Research Department conducts studies covering a broad array of criminal justice policy concerns. The Research Brief series summarizes the results of some of these studies. New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc. 52 Duane Street New York, NY 10007 PHONE: 646 213-2500 FAX: 646 213-2650 WEB: www.nycja.org © 2011 NYC Criminal Justice Agency, Inc.
Adolescent Male Domestic Violence Offenders By Richard R. Peterson, Ph.D.
Could criminal justice interventions deter domestic violence among adolescent males? This Research Brief examines adolescent males’ history of arrests for domestic violence (DV) in New York City and considers the potential for early intervention with those arrested for their first adult DV offense. A previous study found that nearly 30% of young males (age 16-24) arrested for DV already had a history of DV arrests (Research Brief #22). This suggests that identifying the first opportunity for criminal justice interventions with young male DV offenders requires a focus on the youngest DV arrestees. In this Research Brief, we examine the arrest histories of adolescents, in-
cluding those under age 16 (juveniles, whose cases are usually processed in family court) and those age 16 to 19 (adults, whose cases are usually processed in criminal court), to address three questions: ● How frequently are adolescent males arrested for DV offenses? ● Do juvenile arrests for DV increase the likelihood of adult DV arrests? ● What opportunities are there for criminal justice intervention in adult DV cases of adolescent males?
This Research Brief is adapted from Arrest Histories Of Adolescent Male Domestic Violence Offenders In New York City (2011) by Richard R. Peterson, Ph.D., Director, Research Department The full report is available on CJA’s web site: www.nycja.org/research/research.htm Research Assistance: Steve Mardenfeld, David James Hauser, Raymond P. Caligiure Systems Programming: Wayne Nehwadowich Address comments to the author at rrpcja@gmail.com Please cite as follows, adapted to your citation style: Peterson, Richard R. 2011. “Adolescent Male Domestic Violence Offenders.” Research Brief series, no. 25. New York: New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc.