The Perceptions of High-Risk Victims of Domestic Violence to a Coordinated Community Response in Cardiff, Wales

Abstract

Research was conducted with very high-risk victims of domestic violence to determine their levels of revictimization one year after being referred to a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) and their perceptions of this type of intervention. The MARACs provide increased and ongoing communication between agencies and victims, risk assessments, advocacy to victims, help translating policy into action, and help in holding perpetrators to account. More than 4 in 10 victims reported no further violence one year after the MARAC. Nearly all victims first attributed responsibility for ending the violence to themselves and then acknowledged the importance of having multiagency support once they were ready to change their situations. This research reveals that taking a holistic multiagency approach to domestic violence can reduce recidivism, even among the population most at risk.

Different yet complementary: Two approaches to supporting victims of sexual violence in the UK

“…This stemmed from mounting evidence showing the effectiveness of providing victim advocates within other settings (Cook et al, 2004;Howarth et al, 2009;Parmar et al, 2005;Robinson, 2003Robinson, , 2006Sullivan, 1991;Sullivan and Bybee, 1999;Vallely et al, 2005), for example Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs), and resulted in the Home Office's decision to provide funding and assistance to test the utility of a new type of specialist support worker to assist victims of sexual violence: the Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA). Drawing on the IDVA model of service provision, ISVAs provide individual victims with information, advice, support and guidance that is specifically tailored to their needs as victims of crime.…”

“…7. MARACs are multi-agency risk assessment conferences for very high-risk victims of domestic violence (see Robinson, 2006;Robinson and Tregidga, 2007). 8.…”

Inter-agency work and the UK public sector investigation of fraud, 1996–2006: joined-up rhetoric and disjointed reality

“…121Á122). The police and other bodies speak increasingly of partnership policing and, especially on local crime and family/sexual violence issues, there has been much transformation in practice as well as in rhetoric (Hughes and Edwards 2002, Maguire and John 2006, Robinson 2006, Hughes and Rowe 2007. The questions posed here are whether fraud was also suitable area for such an approach, who would be the drivers and how would such a joined-up approach be accomplished?…”

Sequence and Timing of Three Community Interventions to Domestic Violence

“…CCRs increase felony arrests, jail sentences, and probation (Bledsoe et al 2006;Muftić and Bouffard 2007). Criminal justice responses when implemented within a CCR have received some support (Jordan 2004;Robinson and Tregida 2007). Still, there is no consensus about the efficacy of criminal justice interventions for reducing new cases and deterring existing cases is still (Hollenshead et al 2006).…”

“…These challenges include developing adequate social theories linking intervention elements to outcomes (Adler 2002;Salazar et al 2007), the complexity of intimate partner violence, which makes it impossible to apply and test single one-size-fits-all solutions across communities (Goodman and Epstein 2005), the need to consider measures other than re-arrest of batterers for assessing recidivism (Bouffard and Mufié 2007), lack of adequate comparison groups (Robinson and Tregida 2007), the difficulty of gaining access to criminal justice data for domestic violence (Salazar et al 2007), and challenges in mapping linkages for an entire system (Adler 2002). All these challenges speak to broader problems of trying to address the complex dynamics of assessing and improving community responses to domestic violence that seek both victim safety and batterer accountability (Goodman and Epstein 2005).…”