Citation

Pinchevsky GM. Violence Against Women 2017; 23(6): 749-771.

Affiliation

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA gillian.pinchevsky@unlv.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1077801216648792

PMID

27216474

Abstract

This study fills a gap in the literature by exploring the utility of contemporary courtroom theoretical frameworks-uncertainty avoidance, causal attribution, and focal concerns-for explaining decision-making in specialized domestic violence courts. Using data from two specialized domestic violence courts, this study explores the predictors of prosecutorial and judicial decision-making and the extent to which these factors are congruent with theoretical frameworks often used in studies of court processing.

FINDINGS suggest that these theoretical frameworks only partially help explain decision-making in the courts under study. A discussion of the findings and implications for future research is provided.

© The Author(s) 2016.

Language: en