Kirk R. Williams

Perceptual Research on General Deterrence: A Critical Review

Recent perceptual studies of general deterrence have been guided by an unnecessarily narrow conception of general deterrence, despite the methodological advances in this type of research. These studies, moreover, have failed to recognize the complexity of the perceptual processes that intervene between the threat or experience of legal sanctions and behavioral outcomes. Consequently, the conclusions drawn from the findings about the process of general deterrence are questionable. This paper critically reviews perceptual studies of general deterrence with a view toward expanding the scope of deterrence theory and stimulating research in new directions. Suggestions are made about the kinds of data and analyses needed to test such theory more adequately.

The Social Production of Criminal Homicide: A Comparative Study of Disaggregated Rates in American Cities

The growing research on comparative studies of homicide in the United States reveals significant methodological advances but inconsistent findings. A major goal is to identify sources of inconsistency and accumulate more valid and reliable results. This analysis empirically examines a major problem with most previous comparative studies-the failure to disaggregate the overall homicide rate into more refined and conceptually meaningful categories of homicide. A theoretically integrated model is presented that guides the calculation of disaggregated rates and the derivation of hypothesized relationships. Using data from the Comparative Homicide File (CHF), the analysis shows that indicators of resource deprivation and social disintegration tend to have significant effects across subtypes of homicide, although the magnitude of the effects varies, while indicators of violent cultural orientation are confined to homicides resulting from interpersonal conflicts. The implications of the results for comparative research on homicide are discussed.

GENDER, INTIMACY, AND LETHAL VIOLENCE: Trends from 1976 through 1987

Only a few studies have disaggregated homicide rates by relationship type or gender, with little investigation of homicide trends in adult marital and other intimate relationships. The current study documents patterns of homicide between opposite gender relational partners for the twelve years of 1976 through 1987 based on Supplementary Homicide Report Data, comparing rates between couples in marital and nonmarital relationships. Analyses reveal that the homicide rate for married couples declined somewhat during this period, although the drop in the rate of wives killing husbands was greater than the drop in the rate of husbands killing wives. However, homicides involving unmarried couples followed a very different pattern. Whereas the lethal victimization rate for men in unmarried relationships varied unsystematically over time from 1976 through 1987, the rate of unmarried women being killed by their male partners increased significantly. Findings demonstrate the importance of disaggregating homicide data by gender and relationship type so that crucial differences can be detected.

Understanding Bullying and Victimization During Childhood and Adolescence: A Mixed Methods Study

In the present study, quantitative and qualitative data are presented to examine individual and contextual predictors of bullying and victimization and how they vary by age and gender. Two waves of survey data were collected from 2,678 elementary, middle, and high school youth attending 59 schools. In addition, 14 focus groups were conducted with 115 youth who did not participate in the survey. Changes in both bullying and victimization were predicted across gender and age by low self-esteem and negative school climate, with normative beliefs supporting bullying predicting increases in bullying only. Focus group comments provided insights into the dynamics of bullying, highlighting its connection to emergent sexuality and social identity during adolescence. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive antibullying interventions in schools.

Exploring the Effect of Resource Availability and the Likelihood of Female-Perpetrated Homicides

The research presented here examines the effect of legal and extralegal resources on the likelihood of female-perpetrated homicides. It looks at the relationship between gender-specific rates of partner homicide in the United States for 1976-79 and 1980-84, and the availability of legal and extralegal resources for abused women, using states as the unit of analysis. Results indicate that the availability of such resources is associated with a decline in the rates of female-, but not male-, perpetrated homicides in 1980-84, compared to the 1976-79 time period. These findings suggest that legal and extralegal interventions can provide nonviolent alternatives for victims of male partner abuse.

Social Bonding and the Cessation of Partner Violence Across Generations

This study examines the connection between violent family heritage and violence or nonviolence in adult intimate relationships using the social bonding theory approach. Data were obtained from Williams and Straus National Panel Survey of Deterrence Processes (NPS) a follow-up to the National Family Violence Resurvey. The NPS interviewed married and cohabiting respondents over the age of 18 years by telephone in 1986 and 1987. Measure of exposure to violence in the respondents family of origin were taken from the 1985 Resurvey while measures of the four dimensions of the social bonds (attachment commitment involvement and belief) and partner violence were taken from the 1987 NPS data. The findings show that despite their violent family histories men who developed strong attachments to and perceive negative sanction threats from significant others are more likely to be nonviolent with their female partners. Implications and recommendations for theoretical development are delineated.

Dependence, Political Exclusion, and Government Repression: Some Cross-National Evidence

We examine the hypotheses, derived from the dependencylworld-system literature, that the degree of penetration of peripheral countries by foreign capital contributes to the formal exclusion of nonelite political participation and to the greater frequency with which governments actively repress opposition. Analysis of cross-national data from the 1960s and 1970s provides only weak support for the first hypothesis. Further, no direct effects of dependence on repression are found. However, political exclusion has a significant positive effect on our measure of government repression, and this leaves open the possibility that dependence increases the repressive activity of governments indirectly, through its effect on political exclusion. We discuss these results in light of Bollens (1983) recent findings, and we point out an apparent paradox which future research must address.

Wife Assault, Costs of Arrest, and the Deterrence Process:

Drawing from a reconceptualization of deterrence, this article explores a measurement strategy that distinguishes between the social costs of illegal acts and those produced by legal sanctions. The validity of the measurement strategy is empirically evaluated using data from a national panel survey of violence between married or cohabiting partners. Respondents were asked to estimate the likelihood of assault costs (i.e., those resulting from the perpetration of assaultive acts against partners) compared to arrest costs (i.e., those resulting from an arrest for such behavior). Social costs include loss of attachments, loss of respect from significant others, and loss of self-respect. The preliminary evidence reported is consistent with the claim that perceived arrest costs, more than assault costs, significantly influence the deterrence process, at least for this type of illegal behavior. The implications of the findings for further research and policy are discussed.

Empirically Examining the Risk of Intimate Partner Violence: The Revised Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI-R)

Objective. This study extends recent research on assessing the risk of intimate partner violence by determining the concurrent and predictive validity of a revised version of the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument (DVSI-R) and whether evidence of such validity is sustained independent of perpetrator demographic characteristics and forms of intimate violence. The analyses highlight violent incidents involving multiple victims as an indicator of “severe” violence. Previous research did not address these issues. Methods. Data were analyzed on 14,970 assessments conducted in the State of Connecticut from September 1, 2004 through May 2, 2005. Hierarchical regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to address the objectives of this research. Results. The empirical findings support the concurrent and predictive validity of the DVSI-R and show that it is robust in its applicability. The findings further show that incidents involving multiple victims are highly associated with DVSI-R risk scores and recidivistic violence. Conclusion. Validating and demonstrating the robustness of a risk assessment instrument is only a first step in preventing violence involving intimate partners or others in family or family-like relationships. The challenge is to train professionals responsible for addressing the problem of such violence to link valid risk assessments to well-crafted strategies of supervision and treatment so that the victimized or other potential victims are protected and perpetrators are held accountable for their actions.

Controlling Male Aggression in Intimate Relationships

Legal control of aggressive acts within the family must be assessed against a background of other familial controls. This study identifies factors that control male aggression against female partners in intimate relationships. Hirschis (1969) theory of the social bond, applied almost exclusively to delinquency, is used to test the importance of attachments, commitments, involvement, and beliefs in controlling husband-to-wife assault. By looking at males who do not assault their partners, we gain some insight into the ways in which legal policies might be structured to reduce domestic violence against