Exposure Reduction or Retaliation? The Effects of Domestic Violence Resources on Intimate-Partner Homicide Laura Dugan Daniel S. Nagin Richard Rosenfeld Rates of homicide involving intimate partners have declined substantially over the past 25 years in the United States, while public awareness of and policy responses to domestic violence have grown. To what extent has the social response to domestic violence contributed to the decline in intimate-partner homicide? We evaluate the relationship between intimate-partner homicide and domestic violence prevention resources in 48 large cities between 1976 and 1996. Controlling for other influences, several types of prevention resources are linked to lower levels of intimate-partner homicide, which we interpret in terms of their capacity to effectively reduce victims’ exposure to abusive or violent partners. Other resources, however, are related to higher levels of homicide, suggesting a retaliation effect when interventions stimulate increased aggression without adequately reducing exposure. In light of other research on deficiencies in accessing and implementing prevention resources, our results suggest that too little exposure reduction in severely violent relationships may be worse than none at all. In the United States, rates of homicide involving ‘‘intimate partners’’Fspouses, ex-spouses, boyfriends, girlfriendsFhave declined substantially over the past 25 years. Public awareness of and policy responses to domestic violence have increased during Law & Society Review, Volume 37, Number 1 (2003) r 2003 by The Law and Society Association. All rights reserved. 169 This research was funded by grants from the National Institute of Justice and the National Consortium on Violence Research. We would like to thank Martha Friday, Lorraine Bittner, Lynn Kacsuta, and Kerry Taylor from the Pittsburgh Women’s Center and Shelter; Detective Mary Causey, Julie Kuntz Field, Barbara Hart, Dawn Henry, and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence for their efforts, guidance, and support, which was crucial to the success of this research. Finally, we offer our sincere gratitude toward Angela Browne and anonymous reviewers. Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 1999 meeting of the American Society of Criminology, the 1999 meeting for the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, the 2000 meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the 2000 National Institute of Justice’s Research Conference on Violence Against Women and Family Violence. Please address all correspondence to Laura Dugan, University of Maryland, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2220 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD 20742; tel: 301- 405-4070.