DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | COMPLETE EXAM STUDY GUIDE &
PRACTICE TEST (2026/2027)
intimate partner violence - ✔✔violence committed within an adult intimate relationship,
regardless of gender, and is part of an ongoing complex pattern of violent behavior
high risk teams - ✔✔incorporate evidence-based risk assessment into a community's domestic
violence response system to identify cases at high risk of lethality, individual cases are then
monitored by a multidisciplinary team that shares case information and implements case-
specific intervention plans to mitigate the danger
Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (1980) - ✔✔the study assessed the effects of
various police responses, including arrest, and suggested that the arrest of the perpetrator
produced the least amount of repeat violence for the same victims within a six-month period,
sequent violence was reduced by nearly 50% when the suspect was arrested
Thurman v. City of Torrington - ✔✔1984, the court determined that the victim of dv had been
denied equal protection under the 14th amendment when police failed to protect her from her
estranged husband who severely beat her and caused her permanent harm
sources of family violence data - ✔✔uniform crime reports, national incident-based reporting
system, national intimate partner and sexual violence survey, national crime victimization
family violence perspective - ✔✔acknowledges gender asymmetry and unjustified criminal
violence, focus on reducing crimes by arresting the perp, view violence as a criminal act,
violence is caused by psychological problems, biological disposition, or mental illness
crime theories - ✔✔view family violence as a criminal assault that takes place within a legally
defined domestic relationship
, rational choice theory - ✔✔offenders calculate the relative costs and benefits of behavior and
choose to commit family crimes
deterrence theory - ✔✔punishment must be swift and sure to deter crime
biochemical imbalance theory - ✔✔suggest possible causes of criminal behavior includes:
hormonal imbalances, blood sugar levels, substance abuse
culture of violence theory - ✔✔looks at the broad acceptance of violence in our society and
concludes that its acceptance is the foundation for violence within the family, argues that a
restructuring of the cultural variables of society is needed to bring change; to stop abuse it is
necessary to alter reliance on violence as a means of resolving conflict
gender-role theory - ✔✔puts blame on traditional socialization of children into gender roles;
girls are taught to be passive and yield to the "stronger" male sex
social disorganization theory - ✔✔a breakdown in formal and informal controls that might
otherwise mitigate family conflict encourages criminal conduct
social learning theory - ✔✔when aggressive action brings desired results, violence becomes an
acceptable means to an end, the primary source of learning occurs in intimate personal groups
of family and peers
intergenerational transmission theory - ✔✔abusive behavior is handed down from generation
to generation as an appropriate way to deal with conflict, battering tendencies are not
inherited, they are experienced, people who observe violence in the home as children are more
likely to resort to battering in their relationships later in life (generational cycle of abuse)
feminist sociopolitical theory - ✔✔considers intimate partner violence as endemic to cultures
influenced by a patriarchal social structure, used to maintain control over women
PRACTICE TEST (2026/2027)
intimate partner violence - ✔✔violence committed within an adult intimate relationship,
regardless of gender, and is part of an ongoing complex pattern of violent behavior
high risk teams - ✔✔incorporate evidence-based risk assessment into a community's domestic
violence response system to identify cases at high risk of lethality, individual cases are then
monitored by a multidisciplinary team that shares case information and implements case-
specific intervention plans to mitigate the danger
Minneapolis Domestic Violence Experiment (1980) - ✔✔the study assessed the effects of
various police responses, including arrest, and suggested that the arrest of the perpetrator
produced the least amount of repeat violence for the same victims within a six-month period,
sequent violence was reduced by nearly 50% when the suspect was arrested
Thurman v. City of Torrington - ✔✔1984, the court determined that the victim of dv had been
denied equal protection under the 14th amendment when police failed to protect her from her
estranged husband who severely beat her and caused her permanent harm
sources of family violence data - ✔✔uniform crime reports, national incident-based reporting
system, national intimate partner and sexual violence survey, national crime victimization
family violence perspective - ✔✔acknowledges gender asymmetry and unjustified criminal
violence, focus on reducing crimes by arresting the perp, view violence as a criminal act,
violence is caused by psychological problems, biological disposition, or mental illness
crime theories - ✔✔view family violence as a criminal assault that takes place within a legally
defined domestic relationship
, rational choice theory - ✔✔offenders calculate the relative costs and benefits of behavior and
choose to commit family crimes
deterrence theory - ✔✔punishment must be swift and sure to deter crime
biochemical imbalance theory - ✔✔suggest possible causes of criminal behavior includes:
hormonal imbalances, blood sugar levels, substance abuse
culture of violence theory - ✔✔looks at the broad acceptance of violence in our society and
concludes that its acceptance is the foundation for violence within the family, argues that a
restructuring of the cultural variables of society is needed to bring change; to stop abuse it is
necessary to alter reliance on violence as a means of resolving conflict
gender-role theory - ✔✔puts blame on traditional socialization of children into gender roles;
girls are taught to be passive and yield to the "stronger" male sex
social disorganization theory - ✔✔a breakdown in formal and informal controls that might
otherwise mitigate family conflict encourages criminal conduct
social learning theory - ✔✔when aggressive action brings desired results, violence becomes an
acceptable means to an end, the primary source of learning occurs in intimate personal groups
of family and peers
intergenerational transmission theory - ✔✔abusive behavior is handed down from generation
to generation as an appropriate way to deal with conflict, battering tendencies are not
inherited, they are experienced, people who observe violence in the home as children are more
likely to resort to battering in their relationships later in life (generational cycle of abuse)
feminist sociopolitical theory - ✔✔considers intimate partner violence as endemic to cultures
influenced by a patriarchal social structure, used to maintain control over women
