Results indicated that the female domestic violence victims in the study felt legally empowered by mandatory arrest policies for two main reasons: (1) their actions resulted in their abuser being punished, and (2) because of the help these women received through the CONNECT helpline. However, negative experiences with the criminal justice system, such as the experience of arrest, worked to compound the feelings of self-blame and powerlessness that had emerged as a result of domestic violence victimization. Moreover, the experience of arrest conflicted with the identities of the women as nonoffenders. Other findings indicated that the women assumed the police would sympathize with them, only to be surprised when they were cast as offenders themselves. This study was part of a larger study on the effects of New York State’s mandatory arrest policy on the lives of women served by a legal advocacy helpline. The participants in the current study were six women who called into a legal advocacy hotline and were purposively sampled based on four major categories of problems associated with mandatory arrest policies: (1) dual arrest (both parties are arrested); (2) retaliatory arrest (perpetrator has his partner wrongfully arrested); (3) nonarrest (failure to make an arrest when one is legally warranted); and (4) unwanted arrest (when an arrest is made against the wishes of the parties). Interviews with the participants were conducted at the time of the hotline call and again 4 months later. Interviews focused on the specific actions, motives, affects, meanings, circumstances, and contexts under which the arrests occurred. Participants were also asked to assess the consequences of the arrest for their families. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed for emerging themes. Limitations of the study are identified and include its small and nonrepresentative sample. Notes, references