Tolerance for domestic violence: do legislation and organizational support affect police view on family violence?

Abstract

Police attitudes toward domestic violence are essential occupational outlooks that can potentially shape police response to such violence. Studies on Chinese officers’ attitudes toward domestic violence are scarce even after the enactment of the Counter Domestic Violence Law (the DV Law) in China in 2016. Drawing upon survey data collected from 1,139 police officers from three provinces (Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangsu) in China, this study examined the effect of the DV Law, organizational support in policing DV, and regional differences on police officers’ tolerance for DV. The results showed that officers’ familiarity with the DV Law and supervisory support in policing DV reduced officers’ tolerance for DV, while agency training in handling DV cases enhanced police tolerance for DV. Regional differences were presented with Hubei officers being less tolerant of DV than Jiangsu officers. Policy implications are discussed.