Ethnic Group Differences in Police Notification About Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

We analyzed data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to test whether individuals from different ethnic groups differentially notify the police after incidents of partner violence. After finding that minority groups notified the police about intimate partner violence (IPV) events more than non-minorities, we found that socioeconomic status differences between minorities and non-minorities explained a statistically significant proportion of the reasons underlying the differences in notification. We suggest that the pattern of our results supports a structural perspective and has potential implications about the subjective and objective efficacy of police involvement in IPV.