511700 research-article2013
JIVXXX10.1177/0886260513511700Journal of Interpersonal ViolencePitts
Article
Latina Immigrants, Interpersonal Violence, and the Decision to Report to Police
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2014, Vol. 29(9) 1661–1678 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0886260513511700 jiv.sagepub.com
Kimberly Mathis Pitts, PhD1
Abstract Interpersonal violence (IPV) occurs across all ethnic and racial groups and affects women of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Battered women of Latin American descent are less likely to seek help from either formal or informal sources and these women are more likely to stay longer in an abusive relationship before seeking help. To contribute to the growing body of literature on IPV, this research will examine particular situational and individual-specific characteristics of IPV incidents experienced by Latina immigrant women living in a metropolitan area in the Southern United States. Based on a sample of 568 immigrant Latina women collected over a 6-year period, this research explains whether particular situational and individualspecific characteristics of IPV incidents affect the decisions of Latina victims to report to the police. Keywords Latina immigrants, reporting to police, interpersonal violence
Introduction Criminal justice perspectives are often in conflict with public health approaches in defining interpersonal violence (IPV; Kilpatrick, 2004). The criminal justice system emphasizes restoring order and the responses of law 1Campbellsville
University, KY, USA
Corresponding Author: Kimberly Mathis Pitts, Department of Social Sciences, Campbellsville University, DH 217A, Campbellsville, KY 42718, USA. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
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enforcement including arrest and prosecution (Grotpeter, Menard, & Gianola, 2009). Public health approaches ordinarily focus on injuries and not only include calls for ambulance of emergency medical services, physician or hospital emergency room visits, medical treatments for physical and mental health concerns but could also include a variety of other social services (Grotpeter et al., 2009). A third perspective is that of victims. Latina immigrant victims have shared that their personal conceptions of the definitions of IPV also include social characteristics such as social isolation, demeaning language and disrespectful attitudes, loss of personal control, and internalized feelings of worthlessness (Kyriakakis, Dawson, & Edmond, 2012). Furthermore, victims of IPV often seek informal solutions rather than interventions through either the criminal justice or public health systems. Although there are a variety of definitions and explanations for IPV, this article defines IPV as physical, verbal, or sexual violence between intimate partners within committed relationships. This research seeks to illuminate what factors affect the odds of Latina Immigrants’ reporting IPV to the police. In the last 20 years, migration research, especially Mexican migration, has become prevalent. Much of the research centers on theories and patterns of migration, and theories of IPV. Of the immigrant IPV literature, predictors of abuse or the likelihood of an immigrant woman being a victim of IPV is a heavily studied area. Most studies are on the characteristics of immigrant women victims of IPV, while others characterize the abuser. Numerous Mexican immigrant women have participated in interviews recounting their experiences with IPV. In trying to understand the severity of immigrant IPV, researchers have looked at aspects of Mexican society and American society that could be responsible for fostering immigrant IPV (Caetano, Schafer, Clark, Cunradi, & Raspberry, 2000; Grzywacz, Rao, Gentry, Marin, & Arcury, 2009). Other researchers have delved into the obstacles to reporting IPV to the police. Although there are some notable exceptions (Baumer, 2002; Goudriaan, Lynch, & Nieuwbeerta, 2004; Schnebly, 2008; Xie, Pogarsky, Lynch, & McDowall, 2006), there have been relatively few studies that have addressed why some Latina immigrants report abuse to the police and others do not. This research fills some gaps in immigrant IPV literature by looking at the likelihood of reporting to the police.
Reporting to the Police and Victim Decision-Making Reporting criminal victimization to the police can have intended or unanticipated consequences for IPV victims. Victims may receive referrals for services and perpetrators can be captured. Victims might also become ostracized by friends and family for seemingly betraying their intimate partner. Victims might
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
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Pitts
also face scrutiny for illegal behavior they have engaged in and perhaps be arrested as well. Often, reports to the police do not result in an arrest of an abuser and the risk to the victim may be heightened as a result of the report. The desired effects and actual results of reporting to the police are not always the same. Previous research has considered the dynamics of decision-making on crime-reporting behavior. Goudriaan et al. (2004) proposed a two-dimensional theoretical framework that considered situational and contextual influences on reporting decisions. Xie et al. (2006) investigated the relationship between victim reporting and police responses to previous reports. Research has consistently found that incident severity increases the likelihood that a report will be made to police (Baumer, 2002; Schnebly, 2008). A few studies have addressed the issues of victim decision-making by distinguishing between rational and normative reporting decisions (Felson, Messner, Hoskin, & Deane, 2002; Goudriaan et al., 2004). Rational reporting is explained as situations where the benefits of reporting a crime, such as recovery of property and reduction in victim vulnerabilities, outweigh the potential risks (i.e., retaliation) and investment of time and effort. Normative reporting behaviors are based on the individual’s personal beliefs or attitudes about the value of making a report. Other research has also considered normative crime reporting differences (Ruback, Ménard, Outlaw, & Shaffer, 1999). Kaukinen (2004) characterized help-seeking behaviors into three categories: minimal or no help seeking, family and friend help seeking, and substantial help seeking. Research has shown that help-seeking decisions vary by race (Kaukinen, 2004).
Method and Data Source1 This study is a secondary analysis of data collected by the Connections Project. Between January 2003 and December 2008, the Connections Project served 646 female victims of IPV. This study only includes cases of immigrant women born in Latin America who have experienced IPV as a result of the behavior of their intimate male partner. The original data set had 646 client records; however, 78 cases were removed for the following reasons: Victim is not of Latin American descent (n = 21), Latina victim is not foreignborn (n = 17), no evidence that Latina was victimized2 (n = 2), no evidence that Latina was victimized by an intimate partner (n = 12), all perpetrator data missing (n = 18), dependent variable missing3 (n = 4), or the majority of independent variables missing (n = 4). After excluding ineligible cases and removing others with substantial missing data, 568 records were available for analysis for this study. Slightly less than two thirds of the women in this sample were physically injured (n = 358) while 40% of the cases were reported to the police (n = 227).
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
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Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(9)
Referrals to the Connection Project come from a variety of sources. During the 6-year-study period, about one third of referrals for IPV came from friends and family of the victims (34.9%), and the second largest number of referrals came from criminal justice professionals like the police, prosecutors, and attorneys (13.4%). Other clients came as the result of advertising and outreach efforts (13.1%), social service agencies (8.4%), medical professionals (5.3%), the agency hotline (2.5%), and faith-based organizations (1.8%). In 2003, the Connections Project was established to address the unique needs of immigrant women victims of IPV in a large metropolitan area located in the Southern United States, an area that has a long history of ethnic conflict. This area is also a nontraditional migrant pole, and the network of culturally appropriate community resources has caused strains in the community because of the relatively few number of bilingual agencies. The Connections Project program serves primarily Latino women, and the staff members are native Spanish speakers. The impetus for the creation of the Connections Project was the increasing number of Latina victims seeking shelter at the agency’s abused women’s services program. The umbrella agency that administers the Connections Project also runs a women’s protection shelter and maintains a 24-7 crisis hotline, provides training and development services, leads community education groups, does court advocacy, and offers a variety of childcare and child development programs for women in the metropolitan area. Referrals to the Connections Project come from a variety of sources, including self-referrals. Victimization claims are not questioned and are not required to be substantiated in order for a participant to receive services. Any woman who presents herself to the Connections Project claiming to have experienced physical, verbal, or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a committed relationship is admitted as a victim of IPV. Individuals who are referred to the Connections Project complete an intake form, which includes a variety of demographic items and details about the alleged perpetrator. Incident-specific factors are also captured on the intake form such as victim injuries, the presence of witnesses/children, victim pregnant, weapons, and so on.
Measurements IPV. This article defines IPV as physical, verbal, or sexual violence between intimate partners within committed relationships. Police report. The dependent variable for this analysis, whether a police report was filed, was identified on the intake form. A police report was included in the case file in fewer than half of the case files that claimed to have reported
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1665
Pitts
to the police, and there was no reliable method for determining who made the initial call to report the event to law enforcement (i.e., the victim, an eyewitness, a neighbor, a medical professional, social services employee). Similarly, there was no strategy for reliably comparing the intake date, the police report date, or the actual IPV event. Demographics and cultural factors. Demographic data such as age, educational level, marital status, employment status, English-speaking ability, and pregnancy status at the time of the most recent offense were collected. The likelihood of domestic violence assault decreased significantly with each year of increasing age and that younger individuals are at more risk of being injured in a domestic assault than older victims (Frías & Angel, 2005). Latina women report more abuse during pregnancy than Anglo women (Edelson, Hokoda, & Romos-Lira, 2007). In addition, details about the victims’ and alleged perpetrators’ place of birth were gathered. Ammar, Orloff, Dutton, and AguilarHass (2005) found that Latina women from Central America were the most likely to call the police to report domestic violence (81.5%) followed by South Americans (11.3%) and those of Mexican origin at 7.5%. Victims’ reported length of time living in the United States was also compiled. Research has shown that the immigration status of Latina domestic violence victims is a significant barrier affecting the decision to report domestic violence to the police (Raj & Silverman, 2002). Length of stay in the United States was also found to be relevant by Ammar et al. (2005). Situational factors. Several situational factors were also considered, including having a driver’s license and access to reliable transportation, the presence of eyewitnesses and the presence of children, and whether or not the victim was injured. Ammar et al. (2005) previously found that the presence of children is a critical factor affecting the likelihood of crime reporting to the police. Substantial evidence in the literature has established a strong positive association between crime severity and likelihood that a crime report will be made (Baumer, 2002; Felson et al., 2002; Schnebly, 2008). In the next section, the analytical approach, which includes three models based on demographic, cultural, and situational factors, will be presented.
Data Analysis The data used for this case study provides an opportunity to build upon the available literature on immigration and IPV with specific focus on the experiences of Latin American women. The data set, although rudimentary in some regards, in that a lot of details about the violence incidents are not recorded,
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
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Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(9)
allows for some multivariate procedures that illuminate the situation of Latina immigrant women in this sample. See Table 1 for a demographic overview of the women in the sample. The dependent variable for this research is whether a police report was filed following the incident. As is often the case, the available data drives the analysis options. The dichotomous nature of the dependent variable, 0 = no police report filed and 1 = police report filed, makes ordinary least squares (OLSs) procedures nonsensical. A logistic regression strategy is appropriate for modeling categorical dependent variables, both binary and, more recently, polytomous categorical variables. As the dependent variable here is binary, a logistic regression model was chosen in an attempt to predict whether a victimized Latina immigrant woman has greater or lower odds of reporting her abuse to the police. Based on the univariate and bivariate analysis presented above, the independent factors under consideration will be considered in three separate models.
Calculating the Odds of a Report to Police The major objective of this research has been to determine under what conditions a report to the police is likely to be made in cases of IPV involving Latina immigrant women and their intimate partners. This section provides three logistic regression models that are detailed in Table 2. The models consider three broad topical areas. Model 1 considers the demographics of the victims including marital status, education, English language proficiency, pregnancy, age of the victim, and their employment status. Model 2 includes measures that are most closely associated with issues of culture including nationality of the victim and alleged abuser, as well as dummied variable to isolate the effects of country of origin or being from Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico (the reference group). Finally, length of time in the United States, a measure of acculturation, is included. The third model looks at situational factors—that is to say, issues that are specific to the violence incident itself. This includes independent variables such as the presence of an eyewitness, whether any children were present at the time of the incident, whether the woman reports having access to reliable transportation, and whether the victim was physically injured.
Model 1 The first logistic model considers the basic demographics of the victims regressed against the dependent variable. The model chi-square (χ2 = 22.954) is significant at p< .001 and, with degrees of freedom equal to six, is parsimonious. The R2 calculation using the Nagelkerke measure is a bit low at .054, Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
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Pitts Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample. Characteristics
% (N = 568)a
Mean age at intake 44 years old Marital status Married Not married Victim’s monthly income
JIVXXX10.1177/0886260513511700Journal of Interpersonal ViolencePitts
Article
Latina Immigrants, Interpersonal Violence, and the Decision to Report to Police
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2014, Vol. 29(9) 1661–1678 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0886260513511700 jiv.sagepub.com
Kimberly Mathis Pitts, PhD1
Abstract Interpersonal violence (IPV) occurs across all ethnic and racial groups and affects women of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Battered women of Latin American descent are less likely to seek help from either formal or informal sources and these women are more likely to stay longer in an abusive relationship before seeking help. To contribute to the growing body of literature on IPV, this research will examine particular situational and individual-specific characteristics of IPV incidents experienced by Latina immigrant women living in a metropolitan area in the Southern United States. Based on a sample of 568 immigrant Latina women collected over a 6-year period, this research explains whether particular situational and individualspecific characteristics of IPV incidents affect the decisions of Latina victims to report to the police. Keywords Latina immigrants, reporting to police, interpersonal violence
Introduction Criminal justice perspectives are often in conflict with public health approaches in defining interpersonal violence (IPV; Kilpatrick, 2004). The criminal justice system emphasizes restoring order and the responses of law 1Campbellsville
University, KY, USA
Corresponding Author: Kimberly Mathis Pitts, Department of Social Sciences, Campbellsville University, DH 217A, Campbellsville, KY 42718, USA. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1662
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(9)
enforcement including arrest and prosecution (Grotpeter, Menard, & Gianola, 2009). Public health approaches ordinarily focus on injuries and not only include calls for ambulance of emergency medical services, physician or hospital emergency room visits, medical treatments for physical and mental health concerns but could also include a variety of other social services (Grotpeter et al., 2009). A third perspective is that of victims. Latina immigrant victims have shared that their personal conceptions of the definitions of IPV also include social characteristics such as social isolation, demeaning language and disrespectful attitudes, loss of personal control, and internalized feelings of worthlessness (Kyriakakis, Dawson, & Edmond, 2012). Furthermore, victims of IPV often seek informal solutions rather than interventions through either the criminal justice or public health systems. Although there are a variety of definitions and explanations for IPV, this article defines IPV as physical, verbal, or sexual violence between intimate partners within committed relationships. This research seeks to illuminate what factors affect the odds of Latina Immigrants’ reporting IPV to the police. In the last 20 years, migration research, especially Mexican migration, has become prevalent. Much of the research centers on theories and patterns of migration, and theories of IPV. Of the immigrant IPV literature, predictors of abuse or the likelihood of an immigrant woman being a victim of IPV is a heavily studied area. Most studies are on the characteristics of immigrant women victims of IPV, while others characterize the abuser. Numerous Mexican immigrant women have participated in interviews recounting their experiences with IPV. In trying to understand the severity of immigrant IPV, researchers have looked at aspects of Mexican society and American society that could be responsible for fostering immigrant IPV (Caetano, Schafer, Clark, Cunradi, & Raspberry, 2000; Grzywacz, Rao, Gentry, Marin, & Arcury, 2009). Other researchers have delved into the obstacles to reporting IPV to the police. Although there are some notable exceptions (Baumer, 2002; Goudriaan, Lynch, & Nieuwbeerta, 2004; Schnebly, 2008; Xie, Pogarsky, Lynch, & McDowall, 2006), there have been relatively few studies that have addressed why some Latina immigrants report abuse to the police and others do not. This research fills some gaps in immigrant IPV literature by looking at the likelihood of reporting to the police.
Reporting to the Police and Victim Decision-Making Reporting criminal victimization to the police can have intended or unanticipated consequences for IPV victims. Victims may receive referrals for services and perpetrators can be captured. Victims might also become ostracized by friends and family for seemingly betraying their intimate partner. Victims might
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1663
Pitts
also face scrutiny for illegal behavior they have engaged in and perhaps be arrested as well. Often, reports to the police do not result in an arrest of an abuser and the risk to the victim may be heightened as a result of the report. The desired effects and actual results of reporting to the police are not always the same. Previous research has considered the dynamics of decision-making on crime-reporting behavior. Goudriaan et al. (2004) proposed a two-dimensional theoretical framework that considered situational and contextual influences on reporting decisions. Xie et al. (2006) investigated the relationship between victim reporting and police responses to previous reports. Research has consistently found that incident severity increases the likelihood that a report will be made to police (Baumer, 2002; Schnebly, 2008). A few studies have addressed the issues of victim decision-making by distinguishing between rational and normative reporting decisions (Felson, Messner, Hoskin, & Deane, 2002; Goudriaan et al., 2004). Rational reporting is explained as situations where the benefits of reporting a crime, such as recovery of property and reduction in victim vulnerabilities, outweigh the potential risks (i.e., retaliation) and investment of time and effort. Normative reporting behaviors are based on the individual’s personal beliefs or attitudes about the value of making a report. Other research has also considered normative crime reporting differences (Ruback, Ménard, Outlaw, & Shaffer, 1999). Kaukinen (2004) characterized help-seeking behaviors into three categories: minimal or no help seeking, family and friend help seeking, and substantial help seeking. Research has shown that help-seeking decisions vary by race (Kaukinen, 2004).
Method and Data Source1 This study is a secondary analysis of data collected by the Connections Project. Between January 2003 and December 2008, the Connections Project served 646 female victims of IPV. This study only includes cases of immigrant women born in Latin America who have experienced IPV as a result of the behavior of their intimate male partner. The original data set had 646 client records; however, 78 cases were removed for the following reasons: Victim is not of Latin American descent (n = 21), Latina victim is not foreignborn (n = 17), no evidence that Latina was victimized2 (n = 2), no evidence that Latina was victimized by an intimate partner (n = 12), all perpetrator data missing (n = 18), dependent variable missing3 (n = 4), or the majority of independent variables missing (n = 4). After excluding ineligible cases and removing others with substantial missing data, 568 records were available for analysis for this study. Slightly less than two thirds of the women in this sample were physically injured (n = 358) while 40% of the cases were reported to the police (n = 227).
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1664
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(9)
Referrals to the Connection Project come from a variety of sources. During the 6-year-study period, about one third of referrals for IPV came from friends and family of the victims (34.9%), and the second largest number of referrals came from criminal justice professionals like the police, prosecutors, and attorneys (13.4%). Other clients came as the result of advertising and outreach efforts (13.1%), social service agencies (8.4%), medical professionals (5.3%), the agency hotline (2.5%), and faith-based organizations (1.8%). In 2003, the Connections Project was established to address the unique needs of immigrant women victims of IPV in a large metropolitan area located in the Southern United States, an area that has a long history of ethnic conflict. This area is also a nontraditional migrant pole, and the network of culturally appropriate community resources has caused strains in the community because of the relatively few number of bilingual agencies. The Connections Project program serves primarily Latino women, and the staff members are native Spanish speakers. The impetus for the creation of the Connections Project was the increasing number of Latina victims seeking shelter at the agency’s abused women’s services program. The umbrella agency that administers the Connections Project also runs a women’s protection shelter and maintains a 24-7 crisis hotline, provides training and development services, leads community education groups, does court advocacy, and offers a variety of childcare and child development programs for women in the metropolitan area. Referrals to the Connections Project come from a variety of sources, including self-referrals. Victimization claims are not questioned and are not required to be substantiated in order for a participant to receive services. Any woman who presents herself to the Connections Project claiming to have experienced physical, verbal, or sexual violence by an intimate partner within a committed relationship is admitted as a victim of IPV. Individuals who are referred to the Connections Project complete an intake form, which includes a variety of demographic items and details about the alleged perpetrator. Incident-specific factors are also captured on the intake form such as victim injuries, the presence of witnesses/children, victim pregnant, weapons, and so on.
Measurements IPV. This article defines IPV as physical, verbal, or sexual violence between intimate partners within committed relationships. Police report. The dependent variable for this analysis, whether a police report was filed, was identified on the intake form. A police report was included in the case file in fewer than half of the case files that claimed to have reported
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1665
Pitts
to the police, and there was no reliable method for determining who made the initial call to report the event to law enforcement (i.e., the victim, an eyewitness, a neighbor, a medical professional, social services employee). Similarly, there was no strategy for reliably comparing the intake date, the police report date, or the actual IPV event. Demographics and cultural factors. Demographic data such as age, educational level, marital status, employment status, English-speaking ability, and pregnancy status at the time of the most recent offense were collected. The likelihood of domestic violence assault decreased significantly with each year of increasing age and that younger individuals are at more risk of being injured in a domestic assault than older victims (Frías & Angel, 2005). Latina women report more abuse during pregnancy than Anglo women (Edelson, Hokoda, & Romos-Lira, 2007). In addition, details about the victims’ and alleged perpetrators’ place of birth were gathered. Ammar, Orloff, Dutton, and AguilarHass (2005) found that Latina women from Central America were the most likely to call the police to report domestic violence (81.5%) followed by South Americans (11.3%) and those of Mexican origin at 7.5%. Victims’ reported length of time living in the United States was also compiled. Research has shown that the immigration status of Latina domestic violence victims is a significant barrier affecting the decision to report domestic violence to the police (Raj & Silverman, 2002). Length of stay in the United States was also found to be relevant by Ammar et al. (2005). Situational factors. Several situational factors were also considered, including having a driver’s license and access to reliable transportation, the presence of eyewitnesses and the presence of children, and whether or not the victim was injured. Ammar et al. (2005) previously found that the presence of children is a critical factor affecting the likelihood of crime reporting to the police. Substantial evidence in the literature has established a strong positive association between crime severity and likelihood that a crime report will be made (Baumer, 2002; Felson et al., 2002; Schnebly, 2008). In the next section, the analytical approach, which includes three models based on demographic, cultural, and situational factors, will be presented.
Data Analysis The data used for this case study provides an opportunity to build upon the available literature on immigration and IPV with specific focus on the experiences of Latin American women. The data set, although rudimentary in some regards, in that a lot of details about the violence incidents are not recorded,
Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1666
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29(9)
allows for some multivariate procedures that illuminate the situation of Latina immigrant women in this sample. See Table 1 for a demographic overview of the women in the sample. The dependent variable for this research is whether a police report was filed following the incident. As is often the case, the available data drives the analysis options. The dichotomous nature of the dependent variable, 0 = no police report filed and 1 = police report filed, makes ordinary least squares (OLSs) procedures nonsensical. A logistic regression strategy is appropriate for modeling categorical dependent variables, both binary and, more recently, polytomous categorical variables. As the dependent variable here is binary, a logistic regression model was chosen in an attempt to predict whether a victimized Latina immigrant woman has greater or lower odds of reporting her abuse to the police. Based on the univariate and bivariate analysis presented above, the independent factors under consideration will be considered in three separate models.
Calculating the Odds of a Report to Police The major objective of this research has been to determine under what conditions a report to the police is likely to be made in cases of IPV involving Latina immigrant women and their intimate partners. This section provides three logistic regression models that are detailed in Table 2. The models consider three broad topical areas. Model 1 considers the demographics of the victims including marital status, education, English language proficiency, pregnancy, age of the victim, and their employment status. Model 2 includes measures that are most closely associated with issues of culture including nationality of the victim and alleged abuser, as well as dummied variable to isolate the effects of country of origin or being from Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico (the reference group). Finally, length of time in the United States, a measure of acculturation, is included. The third model looks at situational factors—that is to say, issues that are specific to the violence incident itself. This includes independent variables such as the presence of an eyewitness, whether any children were present at the time of the incident, whether the woman reports having access to reliable transportation, and whether the victim was physically injured.
Model 1 The first logistic model considers the basic demographics of the victims regressed against the dependent variable. The model chi-square (χ2 = 22.954) is significant at p< .001 and, with degrees of freedom equal to six, is parsimonious. The R2 calculation using the Nagelkerke measure is a bit low at .054, Downloaded from jiv.sagepub.com at UNIV OF NORTH DAKOTA on June 2, 2015
1667
Pitts Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample. Characteristics
% (N = 568)a
Mean age at intake 44 years old Marital status Married Not married Victim’s monthly income
