Attitudes of Prosecutors and Probation Departments Toward Diversion in Domestic Violence Cases in California

In 1979, California enacted a diversion program for misdemeanor domestic violence cases which permits the charges to be dropped if the batterer successfully completed a counseling program. Initial screening was assigned to the district attorney's offices while supervision of offenders during diversion was to be conducted by the probation department. This article reports the results of surveys sent to the district attorneys and probation departments in 1987. Both samples reported generally positive attitudes toward diversion. Less than one quarter of the agencies were able to provide any statistics to verify the success of defendants placed on diversion. There was no correlation between these statistics and the opinions stated regarding diversion.