Criminology

In recent times, prosecution and arrests have been put into use against culprits of domestic violence with rising severity, representing a valuable step in paying attention to the crime of domestic violence. a good number of jurisdictions have taken further steps through the employment of aggressive modes of mandatory arrest. The policy has been greeted with mixed reactions as advocates and law enforcement agencies tussle over the issue. However, a sticky point concerns the welfare of the victims after the use of the policy in the emerging cases. The study seeks to find out whether the use of mandatory arrest is congruent with the needs of the victims.  

Domestic violence is a problem that is deeply entrenched within the American society. As all efforts center on reforming society especially on this front, it is believed that the mandatory approach though playing a useful role should be changed so as o tally with the well being of the victims.

This research is important since domestic violence has arisen to a point of prominence in society. The adoption of mandatory arrest policy served to heighten debate in the discourse and thus necessitating a study to determine the efficacy of using it as a deterrent measure. The topic is feasible and should provide important insight into the issue which is socially remains sensitive. Through the use of the time series approach, observations are to be made regarding the changes in victims and culprits of domestic violence. This data will be analyzed using statistical approaches to determine their validity and reliability.

Literature review
Mandatory arrest is a representation of policies which empower the police to confine a suspect in any circumstance where there is belief of probable cause. This is purely related to cases of battery or assault. It doesn t matter whether the police officer has a warrant or not. Before the enactments of the mandatory arrest legislation were passed in most states, the police still held the powers to arrest without warranties in domestic violence cases. This law removes the discretionary power which the police may exercise to avoid taking action (Fagan, 2005).

The use of mandatory arrest is criticized for disempowering victims (Waltz, 2000). This holds true because the victim is denied the chance to institute a punitive measure against the batterer that meets the desired end. By taking away this choice, critics argue that the state acts like the batterer. This is wrong as it sends a negative message that the victim is not safe unless offered protection by a stronger party.

Since a controversial study carried out in 1984 linked domestic violence to reduced recidivism in battering culprits there has been a rise in mandatory arrest measures (Fagan, 2005). It is discernable that mandatory arrests have helped in subjecting domestic violence cases to great public scrutiny though the policies were adopted for the purposes of law enforcement with an aim of reducing recidivism in batterers.  

Apart from the above negativity associated with mandatory arrests, there are several other vulnerabilities that victims are exposed to (Robert, Lebow and Stein, 2005). To cite an example, while responding to domestic violence calls, it is difficult for a police officer to identify who the primary aggressor is. This holds if both parties claim that violence has been meted against them and there are injuries to ascertain the allegations. This is quite convincing as victims of battering are likely to fight back in self defense. In such cases it is difficult to ascertain who the primary aggressor is as any of the disputing parties can be the primary one. In these cases the police officers arrest both parties. However, such arrest may be detrimental to both parties as one is held responsible for ruining a relationship. If in self defense, the victim fails to adduce convincing evidence in support of the act, severe consequences may follow.  

Children within these relationships are bound to suffer. This follows if a court decides that one spouse is denied access or custody toof the children. Equally important is the idea of getting exposed to interventions by the Department of Social Services. This is despite the ruinous effect such an intervention mat visit on a batterer individual. The DSS normally forces the victims to make a choice between keeping their children and staying with the batterer. This offers a tricky proposition to victims as leaving may place children and the victim in more danger as opposed to temporary stay. Critics point to the idea of forcing this choice as equal to disempowering the victims by initiating change on the victim rather than on the perpetrator.

On the evidence of this literature review, it is plausible that the use of mandatory arrest helps check the emergence of domestic violence. However, the effects of the mode remain challenged on a number of issues. The effects the mode visits on the culprits and the victims is undesirable. On this basis, it is proposed that changes be made to make the method more responsive to the needs of the parties in question.

Theory
The deterrence theory is a reflection of a military strategy developed during the cold war period. However the term is more widely used in the field of criminal psychology. Simply put, deterrence is useful in a potential conflict area where one party has the ability to inflict injury on an aggressor and ensuring that the aggressor is pretty aware of the risk. The establishment of consequences faced after commission or omission leading to an offence is what constitutes deterrence.

Deterrence is a method used to persuade individuals from engaging in crime by making the people aware of what they face in reference to punishment faced in instances of law breaking. Such punishments are made public way ahead so that each individual is in a position to know the consequences of their actions. The intent of making the consequences known before hand is expected to serve as a scare to potential law breakers. It is thought that such instilling of fear in people would make them desist from engaging in unlawful acts. Studies have indicated that deterrence measures serves to lower crime rates (Fagan, 2005).  However, according to Fagan, (2005), these studies were fraught with mistakes relating to technicalities and conceptualization. The studies also failed to use appropriate statistical analysis methods and did not consider all relevant factors. They did not carry out a direct deterrence test (Fagan, 2005).

Deterrence is a strategy which governments or governmental agencies use to issue threats if an offence is committed. In this case, the use of mandatory arrest is presumed to serve as a deterrence measure against battering and domestic violence in general. As found out in the literature review, mandatory arrest has adverse effects on both parties to a relationship. For example, the loss of access to children, the separation of spouses and the effects on the children present undesirable elements in the whole process. If individuals understand their violent acts may lead them to fall victims of mandatory arrest, they are likely to take caution and desist from engaging in a violent manner (Robert, Lebow and Stein, 2005). Towards this end, it is held that violent behavior has been put on hold as a result of mandatory arrest, an aspect that serves as a deterrent measure.
      
The best form of punishment is never easy to determine. Each punishment has its positives and negatives if a method is positive, it must be good in a sense that it helps victims realize their wrongdoing and aspire or make steps towards changing. On the converse, the victim may turn out to be a worse criminal, an instance that captures the negative aspect of a punitive measure of the justice system. Imprisonment has been seen in the same light as in caging animals as it serves to deny people access to their families on a regular basis. This may in the long run hamper the normalcy in relating to people as imprisoned individuals often turn into introverts. In cases where victims are family heads, the situation is even trickier as the victim is disoriented on a variety of ways. This affects a good number of people who depend on them. The death penalty is the best deterrent measure, morality is also important in curbing crime and perhaps the best in that case (Fagan, 2005).

After looking at the phenomenon, domestic violence, the use of mandatory approach to dealing with victims and culprits should be changed to reflect fairness in terms of mitigating the offences.

Methodology
Time series design
This study intends to find out whether the use of deterrence measures like mandatory arrest achieves the intended goal. This method employs the use of variations in multiple observations in a group over time or at given points in time. This method will enable this research to examine behavior of an individual immediately at and after violence acts so as to determine whether the mandatory arrest achieves its goal and the extent to which it does (Baumol, Panzar and Willig, 2002). In this study, an examination of victims is proposed at Oregon, a relatively small city. This will take a period of over a year in order to get a clear picture of unfolding events regarding the effect of mandatory arrest.
Time series designs are known for their usefulness in looking into trends over a given time and how the trends are affected by sorts of interventions, however, researchers have noted that the design is far from valuable in reference to its inability to offer a control for all spurious effects (Baumol, Panzar and Willig, 2002). To cite an example if a researcher is examining the effect of rehabilitation of mandatory rehabilitation centers and makes an observation that the well being of the victims and culprits has changed for the better after facing mandatory arrest as a result of domestic violence. The researcher may however fail to capture the actual events regarding the issue being studied. What this calls for is caution while using the time series approach. To that end, the researcher must be considerate to include as much information as possible and employ the use of both empirical and non empirical measures in the studies conducted.

The sample
The study shall randomly pick on 50 individuals at Oregon, a remote city in the United States. The number is chosen randomly so as to increase on representation. A random sample is to be chosen well to escape cyclical errors that underlie some studies so as to better the reliability and validity of the results.  

Oregon being a remote part in the United States is expected to offer a good avenue to find individuals affected by domestic violence (John, 2009). This offers the reasoning behind making the choice to use the location. The fact that human beings behave differently depending on circumstances may call for this study to use the observational method in coming up with the intended information.

The characteristics which are to be observed in this study are based on aggressiveness and the ease in interacting. This is because the study aims to find out whether mandatory arrests leave an individual worse of or better off. An individual is left better off if such person associates with people freely and feels at liberty to engage publicly with others. On the converse, an individual is worse off after a mandatory arrest if the person in question is made to flee from the public and likes dealings that take place in isolation. The other feature observed is whether separation is forced between the conflicting parties and access to children denied. If this happens, the parties to the dispute are considered to have lost.

Sampling Procedure
According to Frase, (2002), the identification of the correct or suitable sampling procedure is positively correlated to the accuracy of the research findings. From the onset, it should be noted that this research is qualitative in nature and therefore the use of an appropriate sampling procedure shall be emphasized. Hence, this research study shall use systematic random sampling procedure to determine the sample for this study. This method has the merit of being easy to use while at the same time ensuring for accuracy during in determining the sample size.

Data Collection and Analysis
This study shall involve the use of both primary and secondary methods of data collection. The use of observation as the primary method of collecting data in relation to the research question is proposed. This shall be supplemented by the use of probing to allow for the collection of accurate and valid data. Additional information shall also be obtained from secondary sources such as books and related previous studies into this area. The use of secondary source of information has the merit of providing in-depth information on the topic under study which in turn helps the researcher to come up with responsive recommendations.  The collected data shall be analyzed and represented through the use of score tables, pie-Charts and graphs.

Research Plan
This research study shall be based on the following work plan.
Activity Time Frame (in Months) Reconnaissance and Sampling1st Month-2nd Month Preparation for observing the characteristics mentioned in the paper2nd Month Making observations and Data collection3rd Month to 4th MonthData Analysis and review of findings5th Month to 7th Month Preparation of Report 8th Month Discussion of Study Findings with Stakeholders and development of Recommendations 9th Month to 12th Month
Conclusion

This study intends to point out the deficiencies associated with using the mandatory arrest approach to serve as a deterrent measure against the engagement in domestic violence. The study, on the basis f the literature review points to a strong case against the mode albeit in its current form. The mode though very useful in checking the emergence of the problem of domestic violence, it still falls short in as far as results are concerned. The mode poses risks to the victims and the families of the victims as well as the culprits.  

The study is bound to be very useful in a number of ways. To begin with, the study is addressing a recent phenomenon mandatory arrest in reference to domestic violence. It stands to lead to benefits to the policy makers as it intends to point shortcomings of the approach. By pointing shortcomings in the approach, the study will equally help parties to such conflicts as it will help in the development of policies that are tenable with their interests. Students and scholars in the field of criminology and other related disciplines equally stand to benefit out of the findings of this research.

Based on this study, important aspects arise concerning the state of this issue. On this evidence, the paper proposes that further studies be conducted to determine how mandatory arrest policies aid the deterrent motif in the issue of domestic violence. It is also suggested that further research be done to ascertain whether indeed the ode holds adverse effects to both the victims and the culprits. If it is established to be the case, it is then proposed that further research be done to develop mechanisms to redress the situation.