Citation

Connors KA, Heisner L, Trickett P. J. Fam. Violence 1992; 7(4): 321-334.

Affiliation

CVC Associates, Inc., 5866 Glenridge Drive N.E., 30328 Atlanta, Georgia; Maryland Department of Human Resources, USA; Lida Lee Tall Experimental School, USA

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00994622

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Both research and public policy efforts to determine levels of spouse abuse have been compromised, with significant incidence either uncounted or undercounted, owing to numerous factors: social stigma, victim guilt, evasive public policy, and sparse and/or technically inadequate research attempts. The CAPINDEX (Crimes-Against-Persons Index) is an estimation technique that tackles this persistent problem by using rates of well-reported violent crimes to predict the incidence of poorly reported violent crimes like spouse abuse. The numerical bases of the CAPINDEX, murder and aggravated assault, are well-reported and not subject to social class skewing. The relational approach of the technique is consistent with structural, cultural consistency, and ecological theories of violence. The technique is not only efficacious in estimating spouse abuse, but applicable to estimating sexual assault rates.