“Whoa! They Could’ve Arrested Me!”: Unsuccessful Identity Claims of Women During Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence

Many jurisdictions in the U.S. have implemented mandatory arrest policies in an attempt to limit police officers’ discretion
in their arrest decisions when responding to intimate partner violence calls. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with
female victims of intimate partner violence, I explore the ways in which mandatory arrest policies have influenced the identity
work of women during their interactions with police officers. I focus specifically on women’s “unsuccessful” identity claims:
situations where women are unable to convince police officers that they are victims and situations where women are unable
to convince officers that they are not victims. I examine the strategies that women use during their identity work and explore the consequences of women’s failed
self presentations under mandatory arrest policies, the most significant of which is a woman’s arrest. I argue that under
mandatory arrest policies, for many women, the risk of failed identity work is even more consequential than before these policies
were established.