Domestic violence arrests may be counterproductive
Women more likely to die in years following partners’ jailings
By Bruce Bower
After a minor assault, a woman who reports domestic violence to the police may do worse in the long run if her partner is arrested rather than warned. Women whose partners get taken into custody even briefly stand a much greater chance of dying early from heart disease and other ailments compared with women whose partners get a warning from police officers, a new study finds.
That surprising trend applies most strongly to employed black women, say criminologists Lawrence Sherman of the University of Cambridge and Heather Harris of the University of Maryland in College Park.