Ethical Conundrums in Fatality Review Planning, Data Collection, and Reporting

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a significant human rights and gender-specific global issue. At least one-third of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner (United Nations Statistics Division, 2021; World Health Organization, 2013, 2021). While the majority of homicide victims are male, most victims of intimate partner/family-related homicide are women (UN Women, 2019; United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, 2018). DVA is defined as 'any incident or pattern of incidents

show abstract

“…Albright et al. (2013) recommend the adoption of an ethical code for conducting DHRs to mediate such tensions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating organisational blame to foster learning: Professionals’ perspectives about Domestic Homicide Reviews

Haines-Delmont

Bracewell

Chantler

2022

Health Social Care Comm

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is of conceptual and practical value but also an ethical imperative: what constitutes ethical conduct when involving family? There has been relatively little research into ethics in DVFR (Dale et al, 2017), although Albright et al (2013) have emphasised the ethical implications of involving family, Bent-Goodley (2013) has pointed to the need for cultural competence, and Rowlands (2020b) has explored the ethics of victim voice. Yet, by any reckoning, engaging with bereaved families is a sensitive research topic.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating Family Involvement in Domestic Violence Fatality Review: Conceptualising Prospects for Systems and Relational Repair

Rowlands

Cook

2021

J Fam Viol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Family involvement is a key element of Domestic Homicide Review (DHR), the form of Domestic Violence Fatality Review (DVFR) found in England and Wales. Family involvement is framed as having dual purposes: first, as a benefit to DHRs, enabling a fuller picture of victims’ experiences; second, as a benefit to families themselves, notably as a therapeutic or cathartic opportunity. However, these dual purposes have been little considered. This conceptual article responds to this absence by interrogating the purpose, process and outcomes of family involvement within DHRs. Method To explicate purpose, process and outcomes, we synthesise policy, practice and the extant empirical and theoretical literature relating to family involvement in DHRs. We supplement this by engaging with a broader body of emerging research on family involvement in other review systems, analysing this through a lens of citizenship and participation. Results Family involvement in DHRs is little explicated and there is a need to better engage with how family are involved in DHRs, as a way of increasing transparency for family rights. By way of response, a tentative conceptual framework is proposed which situates family involvement as demonstrative of systems- and relational-repair. Conclusions The article concludes by arguing for greater attention to the Theory(s) of Change underpinning both the place of the family and their testimony, as well as the DHR system as a whole. Such clarity would benefit family, both as the subject of professional interactions but, critically, as agents in the DHR process in their own right.

show abstract

“…Ethical challenges can occur when FRT members have competing values that could influence their decisions (Albright et al, 2013). In general, FRTs involve many of the same stakeholders who have similar goals in preventing death, but their memberships and procedures are likely to have different professional and personal approaches to death review.…”

Section: Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Legal language can be vague leaving the teams to establish their own procedures and rules. Some legal issues confronting all FRTs are limitations on case review due to ongoing criminal court actions that prevent review of cases under investigation or court proceedings, confidentiality of information received and discussed during meetings, privacy of records that prevents sharing and coordination of data and records between agencies such as human service providers and law enforcement, jurisdictional boundaries, protection of members from subpoena or discovery, procedural guidelines for inclusion of members and replacements, and selection of cases for review (Albright et al, 2013; Quinton, 2017).…”

Section: Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Maltreatment Fatality Review: Purposes, Processes, Outcomes, and Challenges

McCarroll

Fisher

Cozza

et al. 2020

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Better understanding of the causes and circumstances of maltreatment deaths of children is needed to prevent tragedy. The purpose of this article is to facilitate understanding of child maltreatment fatality review processes and their outcomes. A literature review was conducted through searches of the databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and EMBASE and through citations in publications. Over 165 publications were reviewed and 55 were selected for inclusion. Papers were from the United States, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Netherlands, France, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and China. These were included if they described fatality review goals, authority, procedures, and outcomes. Although we searched databases on a continual basis during the preparation of this review, we could have missed publications, particularly those in newspapers and journals that are not included in large-scale databases or cited in other articles. Improvement of fatality review requires diligence by individuals and organizations that provide information to the reviewers. Among challenges to the review process are varying criteria for review, misclassifications of the manner of death, inadequate or incomplete forensic and medical investigations, lack of information about the perpetrator, diversity of the community, concealment of the cause of death by parents or other caregivers, and disagreement among reviewers about the results of their inquiries. Institutional challenges are also present, which include the need for funding, privacy issues on obtaining information, updating reviewer training, lack of follow-up by institutional authorities on the recommendations of the reviews, and research facilitating the review of maltreatment fatalities.

show abstract

Ethical Conundrums in Fatality Review Planning, Data Collection, and Reporting

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

Negotiating organisational blame to foster learning: Professionals’ perspectives about Domestic Homicide Reviews

Negotiating organisational blame to foster learning: Professionals’ perspectives about Domestic Homicide Reviews

Navigating Family Involvement in Domestic Violence Fatality Review: Conceptualising Prospects for Systems and Relational Repair

Child Maltreatment Fatality Review: Purposes, Processes, Outcomes, and Challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About