Organizational Affiliation: Domestic Violence Training and Monitoring Unit, Rhode Island Judiciary
Author: N/A
Contact Info: Janice Dubois (401) 729-4484
Date: April 16 2003
Pages: 1
Content Summary
This report is a compilation of data collected by the RI Supreme Court Domestic Violence Training and Monitoring Unit between Jan 01, 2001 and December 31, 2002.
The report is in the form of a chart, and displays data from all of the Police Departments in Rhode Island. For each Department, the total number of Domestic Violence Forms recorded is listed; also listed are the number of suspects and the number of arrests for each of the following ethnic groups: White, African American, Asian, Native American, White Hispanic, Black Hispanic, Other. For example, the Providence Police Department recorded 3136 Domestic Violence forms in total. There were 823 White suspects and 823 arrests were made; there were 525 African American suspects and 752 arrests were made; there were 53 Asian suspects and 45 arrests were made; there were 15 Native American suspects and 12 arrests were made; there were White Hispanic suspects and 633 arrests were made; there were 240 Black Hispanic suspects and 175 arrests were made; and there were Other suspects and 27 arrests were made.
Major Findings
Many conclusions can be drawn from this data which indicate interesting trends within each Department and within the State as a whole. In Providence, for example, the highest number of Domestic Violence suspects were White Hispanic, though the disparity between suspects and arrests for that ethnic group are significant. African Americans are the only ethnic group in Providence for which the number of arrests exceeds the number of suspects, which is very interesting. The ethnic group with the lowest number Domestic Violence suspects is Native American.
State-wide, the ethnic group with the highest number of both suspects and arrests is the Whites. With the exception of Central Falls and Providence, where White Hispanics ranked highest in number suspects, Whites consistently ranked highest in number of suspects. It is notable that in Providence and in every other municipality in the state, the Whites are the only ethnicity group for which the number of suspects and the number of arrests made are always consistent.
Unaddressed issues or/concerns
This information and the way that it is represented provide an interesting look into the ethnic make-up of each community – one could conclude that the absence of suspects and arrests in a certain ethnic group indicates a lack of presence of that ethnic group in the given municipality. However, this information is difficult to properly analyze and use, because no information is provided indicating population breakdown with regards to race/ethnicity. Thus analyzing possible disparities in data collection or arrests made, or drawing any kinds of conclusions about each ethnicity’s involvement with Domestic Violence in any given municipality is difficult. It is also important to consider how often times minority communities do not tell law enforcement officials about their experiences with domestic violence for several reasons such as cultural beliefs and fear of social stigmatization. It is extremely important to take into account the type of culture an individual that is or has experienced domestic violence is coming from. This observation is an important if one seeks to effectively deal with the problem. A good analysis of the impact of culture on domestic violence can be found in an article written about Southeast Asian Women in Lowell by Pho Tuyet-Lan and Anne Mulvey.
Reference List
Tuyet-Lan, Pho and Anne Mulvey. “Southeast Asian Women in Lowell.” Frontiers: A Journal of Womens Studies 24.1 (2003): 101-129
How to Access Report
http://www.courts.state.ri.us/domesticnew/dvsa/
reports/dv19.pdf