Using a restraining order as a protective riskmanagement strategy to prevent intimatepartner violence

Abstract
The police play an important role in implementing risk management strategies to
prevent intimate partner violence (IPV). The focus of this study was to investigate the
use of a restraining order (RO) as a risk management strategy and its crime preventive
effect. Two hundred and fourteen male spousal assaulters assessed with the B-SAFER
in a Swedish police county between 2005 and 2007 were followed up in 2009. Thirtyone per cent received a RO of which 44% relapsed into new IPV. There were no differences in recidivism between those who received a RO and those who did not.

However, those assessed as low or medium risk for IPV were less likely to recidivate
if they had a RO issued upon them than those assessed as high risk. These results
indicate that the RO may be a useful crime preventive strategy for IPV in those specific cases, but not in general, and not for those assessed to present a high risk of future violence.

Strand, S. (2012). Using a restraining order as a protective risk
management strategy to prevent intimate partner violence, Police Practice and Research, 13:3,
254-266, DOI: 10.1080/15614263.2011.607649