Racial Disparity in Domestic Violence Offenders Treatment Recidivism Brittany Pernell Amie Zarling, PhD Meg Berta, Graduate Student Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Outline Background Question Methods Results Implications

Incarceration Background Incarceration rates Black men 6.5 times more likely than White men Black men who drop out of high school 32.4% chance of incarceration Recidivism

Intimate Partner Violence Background Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Over 10 million women a year Mental and physical health problems

Iowa Domestic Assault Program Background Duluth Feminist theory, power over women, confrontational Achieving Change Through Value-Based Behavior (ACTV) Mindfulness, healthy relationships, accepting emotions

Is there a disparity in recidivism? Question Is there a disparity in recidivism?

Hypothesis We hypothesize African Americans will recidivate at a higher rate than their White counterparts We also hypothesize that the sample will have low education and high unemployment

Methods Study procedures Iowa Corrections Offenders Network database Iowa Domestic Assault Program ACTV and Duluth January 2011 – December 2013 Sample size: 3,393 men Criminal charges after one year out of program

Results Descriptive Demographic Statistics Mean (SD) % Age 34 (10.31) Race Black 27% White 73% Marital Status Single 60% Married 23% Divorced 14% Separated 3% Widowed <0% Descriptive Demographic Statistics % Employment Full 52% Part 12% Unable 6% Unemployed 30% Education College+ 3% Some College 4% High School 68% <High School 25% In 2015, Iowa was 3.5% African American according to the US Census; 91.8% White Iowa Census shows African American population in Iowa was at 2.9% in 2010.

Results There was a disparity between black and white men and their recidivism rates One tailed t-test t(-2.29, df = 3005), p=0.01

Implications/Future Studies Understanding where these disparities stem from Discrimination may play an intricate part in disparity What can help breakdown the divide Cultural competency Implicit bias

Strengths and Limitations Cannot look into potential causes Looking at reoffending, but interested in frequency of violence Strengths Large sample size Includes men all across Iowa

Acknowledgements Dr. Amie Zarling Meg Berta Iowa Department of Corrections Human Development and Family Studies Department Iowa State McNair Program

Questions?