Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Evaluation of a police and social services domestic violence program: empirical evidence needed to inform public health policies
Other Titles:	Violence against women
Authors:	Seid, Arlene G Hovell, Melbourne F Liles, Sandy
Keywords:	Restorative justice;Criminal justice responses;Policing
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Sage Publications
Citation:	12 (2), February 2006
Notes:	For this US study, a Family Violence Response Team (FVRT) was established and members were trained to provide services to victims and children following a call to police for domestic violence. The authors suggest that the case for mandatory arrest is not clearly evidenced by available research and that the provision of social services may be an equally if not more important intervention. Certainly they argued that a combined approach is desirable. Social services may consist of an outside agency working in partnership with police (as was the case in the intervention in the current study) or by the police department staff. The latter situation may take the form of social workers employed by the police or by additional police training in domestic violence (DV) or through the development of a specialised DV department. The current study evaluated a programme in which victims of DV were offered social services in addition to a police response. Intervention seemed to have no impact on the severity of violent incidents and this study seemed to reflect increased rates of violence where there was an intervention. The authors did acknowledge that this could have been the result of the fact that, where there had been an intervention, the victim was more likely to call the police for a repeat offence, but it was agreed that there was no way of determining which was the cause of increased rates of violence. The authors question the appropriateness of a purely criminal justice response and point to other responses such as restorative justice as an alternative or complementary recourse – for example, reparation to victims, reintegration of offenders and the repair of relationships. The authors concluded that the FVRT might have generated conditions that increased the chance of further violence. Although the intervention was meant to empower victims, this was not always the effect, as many victims felt a loss of control and perpetrators had an increased desire to punish the victim as a result of the intervention. The authors did acknowledge that the current study did not take account of people’s differing circumstances that can make diverse interventions appropriate (for example, whether the perpetrator is employed or not). In conclusion, they recommend that very careful evaluation be undertaken when offering intervention to victims of domestic violence.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14607
ISSN:	1077-8012
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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