Abstract
Previous research has discovered that certain risk factors are associated with domestic violence victimization, including age, drug and alcohol abuse, prior incidents of victimization, the presence of children, and pregnancy; race and relationship status have inconclusive results as risk factors. Pregnancy as a risk factor for domestic violence has not been as widely studied as other factors. Law enforcement officers, as first responders to domestic violence calls, would greatly benefit from research on risk factors for victimization and evidence-based practices for domestic violence. This study had one hypothesis and two research questions, which sought to ascertain whether patrol officers have accurate knowledge of common domestic violence risk factors, including pregnancy, via a knowledge index based upon the literature and whether this knowledge had a statistically significant relationship with their years of experience on patrol and their level of experience with domestic violence calls. An anonymous survey was distributed to deputy sheriffs on all five shifts at one substation in northern California. Pearson’s chi-square analyses were used to test the level of statistical significance of the relationships.