State employment protection statutes for victims of domestic violence: public policy's response to domestic violence as an employment matter

Evidence indicates that domestic violence has negative consequences on victims' employment; yet employers lag in recognizing this as a workplace issue. To address the problem, some states have established several policy solutions. To understand the scope of the public sector's response to domestic violence as a workplace issue, a content analysis of state-level employment protection policies for domestic violence victims (N = 369) was conducted. Results indicate three broad policy categories: (a) policies that offer work leave for victims; (b) policies that aim to reduce employment discrimination of domestic violence victims; and (c) policies that aim to increase awareness and safety in the workplace. Subcategories emerged within each of these three categories. Implementation of employment protection policies varies significantly across states. Implications for workplaces, practitioners, and policy leaders are discussed.     

Trauma symptoms and life skill needs of domestic violence victims

This study identified the trauma symptoms and life skill needs of 84 domestic violence victims from three domestic violence programs. Women completed two self-report tools: Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) and Occupational Self Assessment (OSA). Staff members participated in focus groups regarding their perceptions of the women's needs. Women scored within the clinical range on the Defensive Avoidance (39.8%), Intrusive Experiences (30.1%), and Tension Reduction Behavior (24.1%) clinical scales of the TSI. On the OSA, the groups' priorities differed although all demonstrated a desire to function more independently. Their mental health functioning and prioritization of needs differed based on their level of involvement with the service delivery system. Staff members believe women lack skills in the areas of money management, seeking and obtaining employment, locating permanent housing, independently completing self-care and home management activities, managing stress, and parenting. The findings indicate that both mental health and life skills needs must be addressed.     

Culture and interpersonal violence research: paradigm shift to create a full continuum of domestic violence services

This article addresses the importance of culture within the context of domestic violence. It takes the position that to work more effectively with diverse cultural groups, the development of a full continuum of services that includes eliminating the violence and keeping families together is required. The authors believe that intervention models developed in the fields of HIV/AIDS may provide important examples for future work.     

Attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence: results of a public opinion survey: I. Definitions of domestic violence, criminal domestic violence, and prevalence

This study reports analyses and findings from a public opinion survey designed to explore beliefs about domestic violence (DV)-what it is, when it is against the law, and how prevalent it is. The project interviewed 1,200 residents from six New York communities. The analyses reveal substantial firsthand and secondhand experience with DV and strong consensus that acts of physical aggression should be labeled as DV, but substantially less certainty about the illegality of the abusive behaviors. Overall, the respondents were less inclined to define women's aggressive behavior in pejorative or unlawful terms than men's. Respondents believed that DV was common in their communities, and that it affected a significant minority of couples. Multivariate analyses provide little support for conventional wisdom about the impact of socioeconomic background on tolerance for or knowledge about DV, although gender, generation, and secondhand familiarity with DV incidents play a role in opinions and beliefs.     

Comprehensive evaluation: a holistic approach to evaluating domestic violence offender programmes

This article argues that the focus on behavioural outcomes in evaluations of domestic violence offender programmes has been too narrow, and that a more holistic approach incorporating investigation of the psychological characteristics of offenders and treatment characteristics may be required to determine what works, for whom, and under what circumstances. To this end, one interpretation of a comprehensive evaluation framework is outlined. The article hypothesises the insights to be gained by assessing the contribution of several potential mediating variables of the treatment process in the evaluation of these programmes. These variables are the heterogeneity of treatment targets in the target population; motivation to change; programme integrity variables; and therapeutic factors. The article concludes that only by implementing theoretically informed, multifaceted evaluations will we move closer to understanding the process of successful rehabilitation.     

The perceived impact of a child maltreatment report from the perspective of the domestic violence shelter worker

The purpose of this study is to examine domestic violence shelter workers' perceptions of child maltreatment reporting. A sample of 82 professionals from domestic violence shelters across the United States participated in a survey focusing on a variety of different types of reports and the frequency of both positive and negative outcomes arising from these reports. Possible outcomes included in the study are damage to the relationship between the worker and the battered woman, disempowerment of the battered woman, discouragement from seeking further help, protection of the child, further traumatization of the child, further disruption to the family, and damage to the woman's likelihood of maintaining custody. Significant differences in perceived impact are found based on identity of abuser (spousal batterer vs. battered woman) and nature of report (child as witness to domestic violence vs. child as victim of abuse). These results point to the complexity of perceptions regarding the impact of reporting.     

The production of the "battered immigrant" in public policy and domestic violence advocacy

In the context of U.S. public policy, battered immigrant signifies a person who is eligible to adjust his or her status under immigration law if he or she can demonstrate they have suffered domestic violence in the United States perpetrated by a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Among community organizers, the term battered immigrant signifies a broader range of people for whom legal immigration status plays a role in their options for safety planning and/or leaving an abuser, the potential threat of deportation, and the eligibility for public benefits. Based on an ethnographic study of domestic violence advocacy with South Asian immigrants in Seattle and around the United States, this article examines how the difference in signification has direct social and political consequences with regard to who may access the benefits and protection offered to victims of domestic violence in the United States.     

Providing services to survivors of domestic violence: a comparison of rural and urban service provider perceptions

Although there is a considerable body of knowledge about domestic violence, a limited proportion focuses on domestic violence in rural settings. Using a nonprobability purposive sampling technique, 93 providers of domestic violence services from rural and urban localities in North Carolina and Virginia were located and asked to complete a self-administered survey soliciting provider perceptions about service consumers, the general public, themselves, and inter- and intra-agency issues. Significant differences were observed between rural and urban providers about service consumer needs and experiences, perceptions about the general public, area resource availability, agency funding, provider training, and worker safety. Implications of these differences are discussed.     

Enhancing judicial skills in domestic violence cases: the development,implementation, and preliminary evaluation of a model US programme

ABSTRACT

The overwhelming number and complexity of domestic violence cases in criminal and family courts has resulted in the development of education programmes to assist judges. There is limited research on judicial education in this area. This paper reviews one such initiative entitled ‘Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases’ (EJS) that has been developed and implemented over the last 20 years by the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence, a partnership of the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and Futures Without Violence. We present findings of a preliminary evaluation of the programme based on the self-reports of 480 judges who had taken the four-day workshop between 2006 and 2010. Overall, judges reported the programme to be engaging and effective. At a six-month follow‐up, most of the judges identified specific benefits and behavior changes in the areas of access to justice, judicial leadership, victim safety, and abuser accountability as a result of participating in the programme. Critical issues in judicial education are highlighted based on the authors’ experiences in the development and implementation of this programme.     

The cost benefits of providing community-based correctional services: An evaluation of a statewide parole program in California

This was a cost-benefit study of a statewide program involving multiple community-based services for parolees in California. Program effectiveness was assessed by comparing program costs to incarceration costs avoided due to decreases in recidivism. During the first year following parole release, program participants on average stayed out of prison longer than the comparison population. Participants who completed any of the community-based services stayed out of prison substantially longer. The reductions in re-incarceration yielded a net saving of $21 million in incarceration costs over the study period, after the costs of the program and parole supervision were subtracted, or a 47 percent net return on each program dollar invested. This study did not include potential cost savings to other parties in the justice system. These findings suggest future investments in community-based correctional services might produce substantial financial benefits. A fuller apprehension of the potential benefits would benefit from continuing evaluations, including studies employing a true experimental design.     

Children's experiences of domestic violence: developing an integrated response from police and child protection services

Police notifications of incidents of domestic violence to child protection services constitute an acknowledgement of the harm that domestic violence inflicts on children. However, these notifications represent a substantial demand on child welfare services and the outcomes for children and victims of domestic violence have been questioned. This paper presents findings from the first UK study to examine these notifications in depth and examines the interface between the police and child protection services in responding to domestic violence incidents. The research reports on police interventions in 251 incidents of domestic violence involving children; the communication of information to child protection services and the subsequent filtering and service response. Social workers found that notifications conveyed little information on children's experiences of domestic violence. Forty per cent of families notified had had no previous contact with child protection services in that area, but those cases most likely to receive social work assessment or intervention were those where the case was already open. Notifications triggered a new social work intervention in only 5% of cases. The study also identified a range of innovative approaches for improving the co-ordination of police and child protective services in relation to children's exposure to domestic violence. Arrangements that maximized opportunities for police and social workers to share agency information appeared to offer the best option for achieving informed decisions about the appropriate level of service response to children and families experiencing domestic violence.     

惩防家庭暴力建构和谐家庭——多维视角下的家庭暴力问题

家庭是社会的细胞,在构建社会主义和谐社会的历史背景下,认真反思并全面破解家庭暴力问题,其理论意义和现实意义均格外重大。文章从经济、社会、文化、历史、法律等角度对家庭暴力问题作出了解读,希冀全面准确地揭示家庭暴力的内涵、根源与防治对策。     

Advancing prevention research on child abuse, youth violence, and domestic violence: emerging strategies and issues

Prevention research on the related problems of child abuse, youth violence, and domestic violence has grown at an accelerating pace in recent years. In this context, a set of shared methodological issues has emerged as investigators seek to advance the interpersonal violence prevention knowledge base. This article considers some of the persistent methodological issues in these areas and points out emerging research strategies that are forging advances in garnering valid, rigorous, and useful knowledge to prevent interpersonal violence. Research issues and emerging strategies in three key domains of prevention research are considered, including complexities in validly conceptualizing and measuring varying forms of violence as specific targets for preventive intervention, research issues and strategies designed to reliably predict and identify future violence risk to be targeted by preventive intervention, and research issues and emerging strategies in the application of empirical methods to forge specific advances in preventive intervention strategies themselves.     

Gender, traditionalism, and attitudes toward domestic violence within a closed community

This research was aimed at examining the attitudes toward domestic violence of people living in communal secular and religious kibbutzim. The findings, disregarding gender or traditionalism, indicate that most of the kibbutz members examined view the kibbutz as almost totally lacking any problem of violence toward women by their partners. The belief that the kibbutz home is a secure place for women within the family framework appears, surprisingly, at a higher frequency among women than among men. There are two possible theoretical explanations for this finding. First, the kibbutz lifestyle has indeed brought about equal power relationships, which explains why domestic violence is not viewed as a social problem, mostly by secular women. Second, women, who play a relatively minor role in constructing the public agenda in the kibbutz, have not become aware of the existence of this issue in the closed community.     

Injuries of women and men in a treatment program for domestic violence

Both conflict tactics and injuries resulting from marital violence were assessed for both members of the dyad in a sample of 180 couples referred to a treatment program for domestic violence in three military bases. Though both men and women reported engaging in topographically similar aggressive acts, the percentage of women reporting injuries, especially severe injuries, was much higher than the corresponding percentage of men. Injuries were also related to use of more severe aggressive behaviors as assessed by the Conflict Tactics Scale. These results provide support for conceptualizations of spouse abuse which stress the importance of addressing impact dimensions of aggression in addition to topographic dimensions in comparing this phenomenon across genders.