Predicting Recidivism Among Defendants in an Expedited Domestic Violence Court.

Specialized domestic violence courts are presumed to be more effective than general case processing in understanding and addressing the unique issues associated with this crime type, which should lead to reduced recidivism among offenders. Research, however, is less clear about whether and how domestic violence courts reduce recidivism. This study analyzes data from a misdemeanor, expedited domestic violence court in southeast Texas to assess whether defendant characteristics and court processing characteristics influence recidivism among offenders processed through the specialty docket.