Evaluating an Online Program to Help Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Results of Two Randomized Controlled Trials

The current study reports the results of two randomized controlled trials investigating effects of an online program (Change A Life) designed to educate individuals about children’s exposure to domestic violence (DV), and to increase individuals’ self-efficacy for providing support to children exposed to DV. In both a community sample (n = 110) and a college student sample (n = 146), participants who completed Change A Life, compared to those who completed a control program, reported increased knowledge about children’s exposure to DV. In the community sample, but not the college student sample, those who completed Change A Life also reported increased self-efficacy for helping children exposed to DV. Neither participant sex nor history of exposure to domestic violence moderated intervention effects.     

Responding to the Structural Violence of Migrant Domestic Work: Insights from Participatory Action Research with Migrant Caregivers in Canada

This study explores international domestic workers’ response to employer abuse and exploitation following changes to Canada’s Live-in-Caregiver Program in 2014. This research followed an interpretive policy analysis research design, using feminist, participatory, and action research methods. University-based researchers, advocates, and peer researchers collaborated to develop and implement the project’s research and advocacy goals. Thirty-one caregivers in Toronto and Calgary participated in individual and/or focus group interviews to discuss access to permanent residence, working conditions and forms of support. Many shared examples of labor exploitation and psychological hardship due to precarious work conditions and long periods of family separation. Barriers to accessing services and fear of losing status led the majority of caregivers to rely primarily on informal networks for mutual aid and support. This paper identifies how changes in Canada’s temporary foreign worker program for live-in-caregivers exacerbates the structural violence of migrant care work, where the risk for abuse, exploitation, and risk of losing status is normalized. Migrant caregivers accept the precarious work conditions with the promise of permanent residence and the chance to improve their lives for themselves and their children. Towards envisioning improvements in social service delivery, our research highlighted the need for social services to increase outreach and safety planning for migrant workers who are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and the loss of legal immigration status. Our research also supports grassroots advocacy to call for all migrant workers to be granted permanent resident status upon arrival to ameliorate the structural violence of migrant labor.     

Awareness of Domestic Violence Within the Evangelical Community: Romania and Moldova

Domestic violence is a serious problem worldwide and is often perpetuated by complex social and cultural factors. The former post-communist countries of Romania and Moldova are no exception despite recent social attention. Many evangelical churches have not addressed this problem. The purpose of this project was to begin to assess the understanding of clergy and congregation members from evangelical churches in Romania and Moldova about domestic violence. Findings indicate that domestic violence occurs within the evangelical church in both Romania and Moldova, and that cultural and religious factors influence its prevalence. Suggestions for further research and training are included.     

Characteristics of Domestic Violence Offenders: Associations with Childhood Exposure to Violence

Many women are abused by intimate partners, millions of children witness such acts, and many of these children are physically abused. Children who are exposed to violence often evidence difficulties, including violent behavior, as adults. One hypothesized mode of intergenerational transmission is modeling. There is evidence that witnessing and/or experiencing violence are related to different patterns of abusive behavior and, perhaps, psychopathology, but the extent of the relationship is unclear. This study examined differences in generality, frequency, and severity of violent offenses, nonviolent criminal behavior, and psychopathology within a battering population of 1,099 adult males with varying levels of exposure to violence as children. Generality, frequency, and severity of violence and psychopathology all increased as level of childhood exposure to violence increased. Modeling theory was supported by the findings that men who witnessed domestic violence as children committed the most frequent domestic violence, and men who were abused as children were more likely to abuse children. Men who were abused also committed more general violence.     

警察干预家庭暴力问题研究

家庭暴力是一个全球性的问题。20世纪70年代以来,国际妇女运动关注家庭暴力时,警察的责任同时被提出。现阶段,我国警察干预家庭暴力的实践仍处于探索阶段,存在着立法缺失、执法思想陈旧等方面的问题。当前,全国妇联正会同公安部等九个部委,拟推出《关于预防和制止家庭暴力的若干意见》,将为警方参与预防和制止家庭暴力提供政策依据。在此形势下,加强对警察干预家庭暴力实践与理论的研究,构建警察干预家庭暴力的有效模式,成为一个迫切而必要的课题。     

Academia Meets Community Agency: How to Foster Positive Collaboration in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Work

Collaborative and supportive partnerships among academicians and community agency members represent one method of working successfully toward ending violence against women. Members of academia and service agencies are uniquely poised to collaborate with one another to foster both domestic violence and sexual assault research agendas as well as direct service to survivors. This paper provides suggestions and methods of how to create positive, collaborative relationships between academicians and service providers in the field of domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA). Specifically, we will discuss the reasons for collaboration, useful steps in developing a partnership, issues of trust and time investment, research methods, and giving back.     

Bringing Justice Back to the Community

As states and local governments struggle to meet the demands of increasing workloads with decreasing revenues, a strategy is emerging that brings new energy and resources to the juvenile justice system. This strategy, Community Justice, empowers the community to prevent and resolve problems once thought to be the exclusive responsibility of the justice system. Juvenile courts operating within this new approach are discovering that community residents are willing to become actively involved when allowed to participate in defining the goals, objectives, and their roles in furthering community safety. This article describes this new approach, provides examples of promising practices, and articulates the crucial role of the court in promoting community justice strategies.     

The War on Violence: Improving the Response to Domestic Violence in the Military

The Department of Defense has taken steps in recent years to improve outcomes for victims of domestic violence who reside on military installations. In 2000, the Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence was established, a military‐civilian group of experts charged with improving the military's effectiveness in addressing domestic violence in the Armed Forces in a variety of areas including offender accountability, coordination between military and civilian communities, and changing the military climate around domestic violence. This article will provide an overview of the Task Force, its work during the past three years, and its recommendations.     

Examining the Behavior of a System: An Outcome Evaluation of a Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence

One goal of a coordinated community response (CCR) to domestic violence is to create an infrastructure that will facilitate systems-level, and ultimately societal-level change. This study evaluated whether a CCR implemented in two counties in Georgia would be effective at increasing criminal justice system sanctions for male domestic violence offenders (i.e., arrests, prosecutions, convictions, sentencing, and referrals to batterer intervention programs). Time series analyses revealed that, in both counties, there was a significant increase in arrests of male offenders; however, law enforcement agencies also arrested more women following the intervention. More men were sentenced to probation and to attend a batterer’s intervention program post-intervention in one county; in the second county, there was no change in these outcomes. Results highlight the importance of examining how a CCR may affect the behavior of criminal justice systems, especially in terms of the unintended consequences for women.     

Domestic Violence: Research and Implications for Batterer Programmes in Europe

The European Union is in the early stages of developing policy and practice guidelines for dealing with domestic violence offenders. There is a real danger, however, that that policy and practice is going to be shaped by political lobbyists rather than academic literature and evidence-based practice. Feminist advocates control the curriculum of domestic violence perpetrator programmes in the US and more recently in the UK and proscribe treatments that do not conform to their conceptualisation of domestic violence. Feminist advocates conceptualise domestic violence as unilateral male-to-female violence enacted to control and dominate women, supported by the patriarchal beliefs and systems of the wider society. Academic support for this theory is lacking, however, and scientifically sound evaluations find that programmes based on this philosophy have little or no effect on recidivism. Empirical literature suggests that domestic violence is not a unitary phenomenon and that perpetrators are a heterogeneous group whose treatment should match their crimingenic needs and risk.     

Domestic Violence and Children’s Presence: A Population-based Study of Law Enforcement Surveillance of Domestic Violence

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to test whether law enforcement officers could reliably use a standard protocol to collect data on domestic violence events (DVEs) across a large municipality, and (2) to use these data to examine prevalence and nature of the violence and children’s presence. Reliability checks indicated that data were collected reliably on over 5,000 substantiated DVEs. Findings showed that 48% of all assaults in the municipality were DVEs. Victims were predominantly females in their early thirties, and injuries were predominantly minor and resulted from body contact. Children were present in nearly 50% of the DVEs. They were disproportionately present in domestic violence households compared to all other households in the municipality. Domestic violence households with children were more likely to have mothers and fathers involved in the violence and were disproportionately minority households headed by single females in relatively poor neighborhoods.     

The Distinctive Characteristics and Needs of Domestic Violence Victims in a Native American Community

The objectives of the research described in this paper were to describe specific features of Native American domestic violence (DV), and identify the needs and barriers to service delivery for American Indians experiencing DV. Qualitative methods of data collection were used in this research. The results suggest that DV in Native American communities may be distinct in a number of ways. The cause of Native American DV may be anchored in historic trauma, poverty, alcohol and drugs, and rural isolation. Cultural and economic features of Native American DV are discussed. The complexity of DV in the Native American community, its association with a number of co-morbid problems, suggests a multi-modal intervention approach and collaboration among a variety of professionals.     

Mothering and Domestic Violence: A Longitudinal Analysis

The quality of the relationships that parents, particularly mothers, have with their children is a potent predictor of children’s future development. Recent research suggests that mothers of preschool-age children exposed to domestic violence may be more sensitive and responsive to their children than other parents. This heightened sensitivity and responsiveness in relationships may be key to the successful development of some children exposed to domestic violence; however this theory remains unexplored. The Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth provided a large sample size suitable for longitudinal analysis of the relationship between exposure to family violence and parenting behaviors. Analysis revealed that mothers of children exposed to domestic violence may indeed compensate for exposure to violence in their parenting interactions with their 2- to 12-year-old children.     

Determinants of Domestic Violence: Evidence from Malaysia

This study investigates the determinants of domestic violence, which is often unseen, and is a widespread form of gender-based violence affecting women the world over. The analysis is limited to the household impact in examining how demographic and marital capital factors relate to domestic violence in Malaysia. Empirical evidence used in this study is based on secondary data obtained from Women’s Aid Organisation’s case files. Results indicate three variables, specifically the perpetrator’s age, the survivor’s income status, and the number of children, show a significant link to the level of violence in a household.     

Statewide Assessment of Response to Domestic Violence in Louisiana

The Louisiana statewide assessment of domestic violence attitudes and services was a cooperative effort between the Louisiana Community Policing Institute and the Criminal Justice Program at the University of Louisiana, Monroe. The research project included both surveys and focus groups from Louisiana's eight law enforcement planning districts. Results indicate that the response to domestic violence in Louisiana is generally inadequate. Furthermore, problems exist with respect to the definition of domestic violence among agencies. Finally, four basic barriers to successful intervention were identified, including lack of resources, lack of education and training, victims' lack of confidence in the system, and lack of a coordinated response to the problem. Recommendations are presented for overcoming these obstacles.     

School-Based Group Interventions for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

Children exposed to the trauma of domestic violence tend to experience difficulties with internalized and externalized behavior problems, social skills deficits, and academic functioning. Mental health practitioners in the school setting, including school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers, can address developmental concerns that impede development through group counseling interventions that include both structured activities and play therapy. The school environment offers an ideal setting in which to work with child survivors of trauma, as all students have accessibility to school mental health resources. This article outlines the primary objectives and corresponding procedures for a developmentally- appropriate group interventions for elementary-aged children who have been exposed to the trauma of domestic violence.     

Children Fleeing Domestic Violence to Emergency Accommodations: Education Rights and Experiences

Domestic violence forces many families to flee to emergency accommodations. This article focuses on children’s experiences of schooling and life at confidential addresses, and to what extent their legal right to education in the face of domestic violence is safeguarded in practice. Data were collected from interviews with 20 children aged 6–16 with multiple relocations at Norwegian refuges for abused women. Interviews were coded using the constructive approach to grounded theory. Data were analyzed using Antonovsky's theory and interpreted within the context of Norwegian and international law, examining the rights of children to education versus the legal rights of abusers. The findings indicate that children’s rights to education and a life without violence may be sacrificed in favor of due process for abusers. The article suggests concrete protective measures to help safeguard these rights, and calls on policymakers and support agencies worldwide to rethink their policies and practice.