Brittany E. Hayes

University of Cincinnati | UC · School of Criminal Justice

Levels of fear of crime are high in the United States, though they differ across groups. Researchers have identified characteristics associated with high levels of fear of crime, often noting that those most fearful also have vulnerabilities that increase their risk of experiencing victimization. Thus, having a vulnerability and experiencing victim...

This study examined the relationship between disability status and perceived threat of hate crimes. Building on existing conceptual frameworks, first we differentiated between dysfunctional perceived threat that damages quality of life and functional perceived threat that has the capacity to be motivational and precautionary. We then examined how d...

The current study is guided by routine activity theory to explore the risk of experiencing reproductive coercion among a sample of sexually active college students (N = 1,515). Findings indicate that being in an exclusive relationship was associated with lower odds of reproductive coercion, yet prior victimization, including emotional abuse and sex...

Purpose Sierra Leone, a post-conflict sub-Saharan African country, has very high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV). Female genital mutilation (FGM) and early marriage are also common. Both practices can lead to negative health outcomes, and may increase vulnerability to IPV. The current study aims to contextualize IPV risk factors in Sierra...

This study analyzes World Values Survey data ( individual N = 63,307; country N = 53) to examine individual and national factors that shape attitudinal support toward men’s physical violence against their wives. We assess how the national context conditions direct individual-level effects. Greater national support toward this form of intimate partn...

Extant research suggests that offenders use techniques of neutralization. Using qualitative analysis, we examine the presence or absence of techniques of neutralization among the population of persons sentenced to death for homicide in Texas during their last statement before execution between 1982 and 2022 ( N = 578) and how such techniques overla...

This study examined episodic measures that assess frequency and magnitude of perceived threat of hate crime over the last six months compared to standard methods that address diffuse threat. Framing effects of question wording, worry- versus fear- versus safety-based, were also assessed. Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a sample of 1,824 adults vuln...

Studies have extended and applied lifestyle-routine activity theory (L-RAT) to direct-contact sexual violence (SV). Yet, operationalizations of theoretical concepts-exposure, proximity, target suitability, and guardianship-have not been consistent across studies within this context, and therefore the ultimate conclusions on the robustness of the th...

Despite the growth in literature examining fear of cybercrime, few studies have examined altruistic fear online. Additionally, few studies have examined ransomware fear, potentially limiting the effectiveness of fear reduction policies. Using randomly assigned vignettes administered to online samples (n = 428; 432), findings indicate that perceptio...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is widespread across the Global South, including India, due to cultural and patriarchal norms that encourage and facilitate such behaviors. These include age at marriage, community- and individual-level encouragement of IPV, and limited access to education across the Global South, particularly for women. Despite this...

Although honor killings often include multiple fatalities in the U.S., the situational circumstances of why these offenders target corollary victims remain unknown. We used open-source data from the U.S. Extremist Crime Database to qualitatively examine 66 primary and corollary victims of 26 honor killings in the U.S. between 1990 and December 2021...

Objectives: Reporting an incident to police is a key event in the criminal legal process. The current study centers types of disability and how this may shape victim and third-party reporting while considering well-known correlates. Methods: Using the National Crime Victimization Survey (2016–2020), the current study examines police reporting in in...

The present study examines college students’ and alumnus’ perceptions of their online sexual assault training (Consent and Respect) administered by their midsized Midwestern public university. In-person semi-structured interviews were conducted with students and alumni (N = 34) regarding their perceptions and knowledge about the university’s traini...

Objectives While a wealth of research reports a robust association between intimate partner victimization and depression, the relationship has not been tested using twin-based research designs to control for unmeasured genetic and shared environmental confounding.Methods Twin data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health a...

Polygyny and early marriage — both prevalent in Mali — are risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV). Relying on data from the 2018 Malian Demographic and Health Surveys, the study examines the effects of polygyny and age at marriage, while controlling for known risk factors of IPV, on the likelihood of experiencing IPV. Findings reveal that...

This study examines how strength of ideology, victim status, and other factors shape prosecutorial and sentencing decisions in cases of far-right extremist homicide. We draw from multiple conceptual frameworks to understand how assessments of defendants’ blameworthiness, crime seriousness, and other practical constraints influence the severity of l...

Cyber harassment is a common problem among younger populations and women. While scholars have noted that cyber harassment may be an attempt to demonstrate power and control, it remains unclear if that is the case from the victim’s and perpetrator’s perspective. Relying on open-ended responses from a sample of college students, we use a validated in...

Purpose We disentangle whether students who believe they know about campus reporting avenues and procedures for addressing sexual misconduct are able to correctly respond to factually – based knowledge statements related to procedures and reporting. Method Data from a climate survey administered at one university were analyzed to explore how well...

Despite rhetoric on the association between violence against women and extremist violence, little empirical work has examined the intersection of these forms of violence. Relying on open-source data from the Extremist Crime Database, we examine how these forms of violence intersect in terms of a strained dominant masculinity. Among the 54 extremist...

The present study investigated county-level correlates of human trafficking arrest levels in Ohio. Study variables were comprised of measures derived from social disorganization, social capital, and physical contexts of Ohio counties ( N = 88). A negative binomial regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between county arrest c...

Institutions of higher education have attempted to respond to students’ experiences of sexual victimization by developing resources and processes for addressing sexual misconduct. However, extant research suggests that students rarely use campus-based resources and many students lack knowledge about campus services and the processes that institutio...

The distribution of HIV cases varies cross-nationally. We separate the influences of Islam at the macro- and micro-levels to understand the role of religion in shaping the spread of HIV. Drawing on biomarker data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, we construct a multilevel database (Individual N = 568,476; Country N = 30). We examine a series...

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious problem in dating relationships among college students. The cycle of violence and social learning perspectives suggest that early violent socialization – inclusive of adverse socialization (i.e., prosocial violent messages, witnessing violence, or victimization by someone other than family) an...

This study investigates the correlates of post-separation abuse among unmarried women in the Republic of Korea ( n = 744). The study employs a logistic regression model to consider if prior intimate partner violence victimization, relationship characteristics, and separation characteristics are associated with post-separation abuse. The results sho...

The current study examined the duration of stalking episodes among a nationally representative sample. Analyses of the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey estimated if the victim–perpetrator relationship and other types of victimization experienced were associated with (a) if the stalking episode lasted over a year ( N = 1,509) and...

Objectives: Building on the ecological model, multicontextual opportunity theory, and southern criminology, the study developed individual- and country-level indicators of opportunity to understand the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) among married women in the Global South. Opportunity-related indicators considered the impact of globa...

Despite being a human rights violation, child marriage still takes place across the globe. Prior scholarship has shown early marriage to be associated with an increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). Drawing on data from the nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys—conducted in developing and transitional nations where rat...

One of the goals of the #MeToo movement is to elevate the voices of survivors. Course content related to sexual victimization often stresses the importance of understanding the experiences of victims of crime, and it is likely that such discussions result in student disclosures of sexual victimization to faculty. At the same time, institutions of h...

Much remains unknown about how disability intersects with victimization. Relying on data from the 2016- 2019 nationally representative self-reported National Crime Victimization Survey, we examine if type of disability is associated with different health outcomes when someone is violently victimized. Through logistic regressions, we examine if the...

In 2015, China passed legislation that criminalized domestic violence/child maltreatment and provided protections to victims of child maltreatment. Consistent with the intergenerational transmission of violence, prior cross-national research has demonstrated that the experience of child maltreatment is positively associated with supportive attitude...

Using a standardized campus climate survey that was disseminated across three modes of administration ( N = 5,137), this study assesses the nonresponse bias of two web-based versions to a self-administered paper-and-pencil version conducted at a Southeastern 4-year university. Significant differences emerged across all three modes of administration...

Childhood maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are two primary forms of interpersonal victimization that have been associated with a host of deleterious health outcomes. Studies over the past decade have begun to use a range of biologically informed methods to better understand the role that biology plays in the relationship betwee...

The #MeToo movement centers on raising awareness of risky situations for victimization and encourages the general community to intervene in these situations. Similarly, sexual violence awareness programming that take place on college campuses throughout the academic year can prime individuals to be active bystanders. Except for a handful of systema...

The current study examines country-specific risk factors of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among Guatemalan and Honduran women. More specifically, we examine if (in)equality between partners, experience of controlling or emotionally abusive behavior, and components of the intergenerational transmission of violence significantly affec...

The current study aims to examine and compare predictors of attitudinal support for campus carry and concealed carrying behaviors on a campus where faculty, staff, and students can legally carry a weapon. This explores the relationship between attitudes and behaviors as it relates to concealed weapons on campuses. Whereas attitudinal correlates con...

Much remains unknown about the collective influence of adherence to sexist beliefs and traditional family norms on attitudes toward sexual minorities. Understanding factors that shape attitudes are important as attitudes can influence the development of laws and policies. This is particularly salient as rights gaps remain in spite of recent legal v...

Rape myths are attitudes that implicitly and explicitly blame victims for their own sexual victimization. Greater adherence to rape myths is linked to several negative outcomes, including the neutralization of gender-based violence and the perpetration of sexual violence. Few studies have considered how previous life experiences and individual-leve...

This study examines the applicability of theoretically-relevant routine activity variables to understand the risk of sexual victimization among college students. Analyses assess if routine activity-related variables have similar explanatory power for rape and sexual assault. Indicators of “proximity to motivated offenders” and “exposure to crime” w...

Research examining legal responses to violence against women has historically dichotomised sexual assault and intimate partner violence, leaving unanswered questions regarding criminal justice responses to intimate partner violence incidents that involve sexual violence. Although research has examined whether cases involving partners, acquaintances...

Historically, domestic violence (DV) has been viewed as a private matter, which limited law enforcement's response to incidents of DV. Shifting perceptions of DV over time and a rise in public pressure to protect DV victims led to efforts within the criminal justice system to better respond to DV incidents. Specifically, mandatory arrest policies,...

Since the Domestic Violence (DV) Law was passed in China in 2015, knowledge of this mandate has been relatively unexplored. Data from 401 police cadets attending Zhejiang Police College in Hangzhou, China are analyzed. A pre-test/post-test design was used to assess changes in attitudes toward DV after a thirty-minute lecture on DV. The influence of...

The current study examined past year intimate partner violence (IPV; physical violence, coercive control, reproductive control, and psychological aggression) and sexual victimization on self-reported physical and mental health. Doing so provides a proxy longitudinal analysis of victimization on self-reported health outcomes. Data were from the 2010...

Sexual assault case processing has steadily received increased attention from scholars, with promising implications for the criminal justice system. Despite this increase in attention, however, there remains a dearth of literature addressing adolescent sexual assault case processing. Moreover, the few studies that have examined adolescent sexual as...

The purpose of the current study is to uncover whether extralegal factors play a significant role in Chinese police officers’ decision-making in response to a hypothetical incident of domestic violence (DV). Data were collected from a sample of Chinese police officers located in southwestern China. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses w...

This study used data from an in-person paper-and-pencil climate survey administered to students in a random sample of classes at a four-year southeastern university. Respondents (N = 248) left unsolicited qualitative comments on the survey (N = 540). Grounded theory was used to determine if themes existed among them. Questions on school safety, rap...

Prior research has found gender to be associated with worry about crime and terrorism. We used World Values Survey data to assess gender differences in worry about terrorism across 54 nations. Analyses also examined the influence of individual- and national-level factors. Women were significantly more worried about terrorism in 22 of the 54 nations...

Research finds that “problematic” victim behaviors—for example, alcohol consumption—influence sexual assault case outcomes. Questions remain, however, regarding officer perceptions of what constitutes a problematic victim and how these victims complicate case processing. Indeed, most case processing research has relied on quantitative methods and i...

Scholars, advocates, and victims have repeatedly criticized the police treatment of sexual assault (SA) complainants. Apathetic attitudes and hostile behavior on the part of the police have likely resulted from socialization into a culture that condones the use of force and violence and blames SA victims for their victimization. Using data from in-...

Few studies have examined theoretical predictors of cyberstalking victimization and offending. The current study, guided by self-control theory and a feminist framework, analyzed predictors of cyberstalking victimization and offending among undergraduate college students ( N = 662). College women were at increased risk of cyberstalking victimizatio...

Few studies have examined theoretical predictors of cyberstalking victimization and offending. The current study, guided by self-control theory and a feminist framework, analyzed predictors of cyberstalking victimization and offending among undergraduate college students (N = 662). College women were at increased risk of cyberstalking victimization...

There is a dearth of research on help-seeking behaviors of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims, especially within developing nations. The current study uses the nationally representative population-based Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 31 nations to address this gap in the literature. Specifically, the study (a) assesses the extent to w...

The current study assessed which bystander intervention behaviors individuals reported they would engage in when exposed to abuse in their online network and the correlates of these behaviors. Data were drawn from college students’ responses (N = 600) to three vignettes, ranging in severity, where the respondent’s male friend commented about his ex...

Knowledge is lacking regarding the extent to which national norms and policies designed to protect minors influence individual attitudes toward child maltreatment. Relying on the tenets of cultural sociology, we examine whether the orientation of a nation influences individual attitudes toward child maltreatment. Specifically, nations with greater...

Extant research has argued that there are variations in predictors of intimate partner violence (IPV) across nations and it is necessary to examine country-specific correlates of IPV. Much remains unknown about factors that affect risk of IPV in transitional countries. Specifically, we explore risk factors for IPV among four former nations of the S...

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) suffers from high rates of attrition, which can be a problem for collecting longitudinal data. As one strategy to help address this problem, this paper will highlight the application of life history calendars (LHCs) to research on IPV. LHCs are cost-effective retrospective alternatives to longitudinal dat...

Using data from the Chicago Women's Health Risk Study (N = 464), this study examined the intersection of stalking and the severity of intimate partner abuse while controlling for previously identified risk factors of intimate partner homicide. Findings indicate that (a) victims of life-threatening abuse by an intimate partner were significantly mor...

Youth bullying is often considered a pathway to delinquency. However, not all youths who engage in bullying continue on to future delinquency. Research suggests that various behavioral trajectories exist, including adolescent-limited delinquency. The authors explore the mechanisms for onset and desistance of this specific type of consequential yout...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare the role honor and shame play in honor killings and anti-LGBTQ homicides by identifying similarities and differences across these two homicide types. Design/methodology/approach This study uses data from the US Extremist Crime Database (ECDB). Data for each of the incidents included in the ECDB are...

Using data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study ( N = 464), this study examined the intersection of stalking and the severity of intimate partner abuse while controlling for previously identified risk factors of intimate partner homicide. Findings indicate that (a) victims of life-threatening abuse by an intimate partner were significantly mo...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate technological strategies (i.e. online training and university safety system) used at one southeastern four-year university to enhance campus safety. This paper investigates if an online training influenced rape myth acceptance (RMA) and if participation in the university safety system was associated...

This study compared honor killings, domestic violence homicides, and hate homicides committed by far-right extremists. Prior research has suggested that terrorists may differ from “regular” offenders whereas others suggest similarities. Data from the Extremist Crime Database were used to compare honor killings committed in the United States since 1...

Honor crimes are violent acts that are experienced among different religions and ethnicities. This type of offense can be justified, either before or after the crime, by the offender’s perceived need to protect honor-based values. This study used Sykes and Matza’s neutralization theory to explain the offender’s justification of honor crimes. We use...

While prior research has shown empowerment and gender disparity affect risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) in India, little research attention has been given to the effects of gender disparity and empow- erment on the likelihood of help seeking for IPV. The present study used the nationally representative population-based 2005–2006 Indian Natio...

Mali is a developing country that has marked inequalities between genders. Using the 2012-2013 Mali Demographic and Health Survey, a nationally representative sample of Malian women (N = 2,527), the study examined the effect of controlling behaviors, childhood exposure to and experience of violence, husband’s alcohol use, woman’s use of violence, a...

The study evaluated if individual- and national-level factors influence intimate partner violence (IPV) attitudes. Using Demographic and Health Surveys’ data, multilevel modeling was used to analyze 506,935 females nested in 41 nations. The results indicated that the respondents in nations with higher levels of gender inequality, measured by the So...

Despite progress in the application of routine activity theory to violence against women, much remains unknown about guardianship. The current study examined if presence of a capable adult guardian limited the risk of revictimization by an intimate partner, controlling for social support (N = 497). Analyses tested differential impacts of guardians...

There is a lack of research on honor crimes within the United States. We used an open source search methodology to identify the victim-offender relationship and motivations for this crime within the United States. Using data collected based on the protocol for the United States Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), we identified a total of 16 honor crim...

Objectives To examine whether victim, offender, and relationship characteristics increase the risk and frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV). The effect of separation length on the risk of IPV is also evaluated. Methods Using abuse incident data ( N = 4,960) from IPV victims ( n = 497), who accessed a health-care facility over a one-year pe...

Separation is believed to be an antidote to risk abusers pose to their partners and children and underlines many interventions in family, juvenile, and criminal court proceedings. Countering this belief is the claim that many abusers respond to the felt loss of power and control occasioned by separation by changing or escalating abusive tactics. Th...

Though abused women are often depicted in the media as passive, women in abusive relationships often resist their partner’s abuse. However, the experience of an abused woman will depend on her position in the social structure. First, an overview of resistance in abusive relationship is presented followed by a series of resistance strategies often u...

Social scientists have long been interested in how cultural and structural characteristics shape individuals' actions. We investigate this relationship by examining how macro- and micro-level religious effects shape individuals' reports of premarital and extramarital sex. We look at how identifying with one of the major world religions-Islam, Hindu...

The current study evaluates the impact of prior controlling behavior and physical abuse on indirect abuse during the process of separation. The sample includes women in the New York City family court system from 2002 to 2005 who had at least one child with the male she was obtaining an order of protection against. Stepwise logistic regression was u...