Center Research
Domestic Violence Protective Order Project
Principal Investigator: Carol E. Jordan, M.S.
Co-Investigators: Pamela Wilcox, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati (current)
Carlton Craig, Ph.D., University of Kentucky (past)
Research Assistants: Danielle Duckett-Pritchard, Adam Pritchard
The Center continues a study begun in 2005 with the support of the Kentucky Supreme Court. The primary aim of the study is to improve an understanding of how protective orders work for victims of intimate partner violence in the Commonwealth. To undertake the study, the Center Director worked collaboratively with the Chief Justice to access ten years of data from the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Kentucky State Police on the issuance, service and denial of orders of protection. She also accessed criminal history data on all respondents to FY 2003 protective orders. During the first two years of the study, data on over 20,000 orders were entered into the study data base as were criminal histories on over 2,000 respondents.
Victimization and Fear of Crime Among College Women
Principal Investigator: Carol E. Jordan, M.S.
Co-Principal Investigator: Pamela Wilcox, Ph.D., University of Cincinnati
Research Assistants: Adam Pritchard, Danielle Duckett-Pritchard
In FY 04, the Center undertook a research project with a primary aim to contribute to the safety of women on the campus of the university. Study investigators developed a survey instrument patterned after that used for the National Violence Against Women Survey (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998) and the National College Women Sexual Victimization Survey (Fisher et al., 2000) and administered the instrument to over 1,000 female UK students to gather information about their fear of crime and victimization history. Those data were prepared in a report form for President Lee T. Todd, Jr., and were used to inform a substantial campus safety effort that resulted in $1.25 million in funding for campus programs. Study investigators authored and successfully published three manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals resulting from these data.
In order to continue to link research to the campus safety efforts now spearheaded by the Division of Student Affairs/Women’s Place, the UK Police Department and others, in the spring of 2007, the Center conducted a replication of the Women’s Safety Study. Funds for the study were accessed from the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, Student Government, and the Center. The 2007 Study also included students from Kentucky State University, the state’s only HBCU. The 2007 replication surveyed 2000 female UK students and 200 students from Kentucky State.
Incarcerated Battered Women Study
Principal Investigator: Carol E. Jordan, M.S.
Co-Principal Investigator: James J. Clark, Ph.D., College of Social Work, University of Kentucky
Co-Investigator: Professor Robert Lawson, College of Law, University of Kentucky
Research Assistants: Danielle Duckett-Pritchard, Adam Pritchard
During 2006-2007, the Center began a third study, the primary aim of which was to explore the influence of offender gender and victim type (intimate, non-intimate or child) in the sentencing and parole board decisions in cases of intimate partner homicide in order to provide a descriptive analysis of the experience of battered women who kill intimate partner offenders. The study will also compare one state’s experience with a statutory exemption from the violence offender statute for domestic violence victims. During FY 2007, the project team conducted comprehensive, on-site reviews of prison case records for 260 women and 260 men who are or have been incarcerated in a Kentucky prison for homicide, manslaughter or felony assault committed between 1999 and 2004.
Homicide and Domestic Violence: A Research Brief
Principal Investigator: Carol E. Jordan, M.S.
Co-Investigator: Tracey S. Corey, MD, Chief Medical Examiner, Kentucky
Research Assistants: Danielle Duckett-Pritchard, Adam Pritchard, Lana Stephens
During FY 2006, the Center completed data collection for a pilot study exploring homicide and intimate partner violence. Data were extracted from autopsy records associated with women whose cause of death was homicide in collaboration with the Medical Examiners Offices across Kentucky. Data analysis and one manuscript are planned for FY 2008.