Date of Award

5-2016

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Departmental Honors

Department

Psychology

Abstract

Most of the literature regarding intimate partner violence (IPV) focuses on heterosexual couples, with little emphasis on how same-sex couples are specifically and uniquely affected by IPV, especially in terms of how such cases are treated by the criminal justice system. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence the odds of intimate partner violence (IPV) cases being exceptionally cleared. This study analyzed 207,008 incidents of IPV that occurred in 2013. Using logistic regression, this study determined how weapon use, injury severity, and drug use affected the likelihood of a case being exceptionally cleared across heterosexual and same-sex couples in the United States. Analysis revealed drug use and presence of severe injury significantly decreased the likelihood of a case being exceptionally cleared for heterosexual couples. For same-sex couples, the presence of a severe injury also significantly decreased the likelihood of exceptional clearance, but drugs did not. This research contributes to the existing literature regarding IPV but is the first to compare same-sex and heterosexual couples in terms of factors impacting likelihood of a case being exceptionally cleared.

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Faculty Mentor

Jennifer Roark

Departmental Honors Advisor

Scott Bates