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Maryland

State Overview - State Summary - State Projects
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State Overview

Domestic Violence Legislation:Yes (§4-513)
NIBRS Status:No planned involvement
Law Enforcement DV System:Incident-Based
Service Provider DV System:Summary
Service Provider SA System:Summary


State Summary

Maryland does have legislation defining domestic violence that includes same-sex romantic relationships. Although the state does not collect incident-based crime data in general, the Maryland State Police does collect incident-based information on domestic violence incidents on a monthly basis from law enforcement agencies. This information is published in a Domestic Violence section in the State Police's annual Crime in Maryland, which is available by request. This report also includes information on sexual assault incidents.

The domestic violence service providers in the state each use their own data collection systems, usually based on funding requirements. The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence does not collect service statistics, but does compile a list of homicide statistics based on information gathered from local newspapers, the Internet and the State Police. The Network also gets data from the Department of Human Resources' Office of Victim Services. The Office collects information from service providers who receive funding from the Department. Every grantee submits monthly and quarterly reports. The information is provided in the Office of Victim Services' annual report, which is available online (see below). The Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention also collects statistics from grantees.

The Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, on the other hand, does collect summary information using a standard survey form. Only service providers receiving funding from the Coalition submit data, however. This information is collected annually. Both agencies will provide information upon request.

The Center for Preventative Health Services's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene participates in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Data Reporting System, gathering data from death certificates, medical examiner and police reports. Some intimate partner information is collected. Data are available on request.


State Projects

  • Statewide Civil Domestic Violence Database
    The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence and the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts have received a grant to create a statewide civil domestic violence database.


  • Stages of Change and the Group Treatment of Batterers.
    One individual difference in response to treatment among batterers may be readiness to change, best conceptualized by the stages of change (SOC) model. It is the purpose of this project to: 1) compare the effectiveness of a 26-week SOC group treatment with a standard 26-week cognitive-behavioral gender-reeducation (CBTGR) group treatment; 2) assess the integrity of the two treatments with respect to therapist adherence, therapist competence, and processes of change; 3) conduct exploratory analyses on individual readiness to change as a moderator of treatment condition in predicting outcomes; and 4) conduct exploratory analyses comparing the effectiveness of these two approaches in Spanish-speaking groups. Two hundred and forty court-ordered English-speaking male batterers will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment conditions, for a total of 12 groups in each condition and 10 men per group. In addition, 80 court-ordered Spanish-speaking male batterers will be randomly assigned to one of the two conditions, for a total of four groups in each condition. Effectiveness will be indicated by: a) increased involvement in treatment (lower attrition, higher working alliance, higher group cohesion); b) increased readiness to change; and c) desistance from violence (according to batterer self-report at post-treatment and partner reports at post-treatment, 6- and 12-month follow-up). Groups will be conducted over the course of two years at the Montgomery County, Maryland, Abused Persons Program (APP), with initial, mid-group, and post-treatment assessments collected on all group participants. Initial, post-treatment, 6-month and 12-month partner follow-up assessments will be collected as a function of Montgomery County APP's participation in a project funded by the CDC (R49/CCR 319813-01) to predict batterers' response to treatment.



    • Available Reports

    General Crime

    Domestic Violence

    Sexual Assault

    • Weist, M. D., Pollitt-Hill, J., Kinney, L., Bryant, Y., Anthony, L., and Wilkerson, J. (2007). pdf document Sexual assault in Maryland: The African American experience. NCJ 217617. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
    • Monroe, L. M., Kinney, L. M., Weist, M. D., Dafeamekpor, D. S., Dantzler, J., and Reynolds, M. W. (2005). The experience of sexual assault: Findings from a statewide victim needs assessment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20 (6): 767-776.


    Sample Data Collection Forms

    These are forms used by the Maryland State Police to collect monthly information on domestic violence incidents:

    This form is used by the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault to collect annual information from service providers:

    These forms are used by the Maryland Department of Human Resources' Office of Victim Services to collect monthly and quarterly information from service providers it funds:


    Available Data

    General Crime Statistics

    Domestic Violence


    Links to State Agencies and Resources