According to a recent study published in the journal "Social Science & Medicine," partner abusers tend to use emotional appeals on their victims, rather than threats of violence, in order to prompt them to drop charges. Those appeals, often made on phone calls in jail facilities, involve both a minimizing of the crime and an appeal for the victim's sympathy.

According to Amy Bonomi, lead author of the study, the research refutes the popular notion that victims drop charges because of threats of violence and shows that there is something more sophisticated going on. Bonomi also suggested that the research points to the need to counsel victims to be prepared for such tactics.

Researchers looking at www in on conversations between 17 couples at a Washington state detention center in which the male was accused of abusing the female. In each case the victim recanted on accusations of abuse.

The general pattern of the conversations was to begin in a heated argument over the events preceding the abuse charges, during which time the victims would strongly resist the abuser's story of what happened. In the next stage, the abuser tends to minimize the abuse, persuade the victim that a felony charge is unwarranted, and act depressed and lonely for the victim and their children. In the third stage, the victim and the abuser recall their love for one another and eventually the victim is convinced to retract the charges.

Bonomi said that domestic violence victim advocates need to educate victims on the dynamics of such appeals for sympathy, which would protect victims and allow for enforcement of domestic violence crimes.

Source: Reuters, "Study shows why domestic violence victims drop charges," Jim Leckrone and Mary Wisniewski, August 19, 2011.