“Isn’t There Any Other Way than Calling the Cops?”: How Differences in Initiation of Police Intervention Influence Survivor Safety

As formal crisis responders, police are trained in de-escalation tactics that are expected to mitigate intimate partner violence and promote survivor safety. However, the alignment between expected and actual practice of police intervention varies, especially when the survivor does not initiate the call, police treat the survivor poorly, or provide an undesirable arrest outcome. At best, unsuccessful interventions do not change survivors’ risk level, and at worse, elevate their risk of experiencing harm. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore survivors’ perspectives on the process of police intervention, specifically how variations in initiation, quality of engagement, and arrest influence survivors’ safety. Twenty-four women whose partners were in a relationship violence intervention program were recruited to participate in the study. Results showed that many survivors described a range of ongoing, strategic violence perpetrated by their partners that required intervention; yet the complex nature of the violence often extended beyond police capacity. Either survivors called the police, or they were initiated externally by neighbors or strangers; some survivors had dual initiations. Whether survivors reported that police used safety practices during the intervention was related to who initiated the police. Arrests of abusive partners were inconsistent, and they varied based on number of previous calls to the police and visible signs of injury. Survivors of color, specifically Black women, self-initiated at higher rates, experienced fewer safety strategies used by police, and had fewer arrests. No matter the outcomes of police intervention, survivors actively engaged in strategies outside of formal systems to protect themselves and their families. Study results imply that police intervention may be ill-suited to support survivors’ safety goals and highlight a need for alternative interventions focused on de-escalation and prevention.

Exploring Attrition and Completion in a Community Situated Family Violence Intervention Programme

<p>This thesis aims to explore the factors associated with attrition and completion for a New Zealand based community situated family violence intervention programme. It takes a mixed methods approach across two studies. Study one quantitatively investigated the attrition rate of the programme, and factors that predict this attrition. It used survival analysis techniques to analyse data files collected during the assessment phase of the programme. An attrition rate of 46% was identified, which is slightly higher than the average rate of attrition across family violence prevention programmes internationally. Ethnicity was the only variable found to predict attrition. Study two qualitatively explored the experiences of men who completed the intervention programme. Men were interviewed to provide insights into the facilitators and barriers to programme completion. Thematic analysis identified three themes of overcoming barriers to engagement and attendance; motivating factors for engagement; and the importance of active participation in facilitating healing. Aspects of the programme that could be strengthened to improve the engagement and attendance of future participants are discussed alongside the wider implications for family violence prevention practice and policy.</p>

Exploring Attrition and Completion in a Community Situated Family Violence Intervention Programme

<p>This thesis aims to explore the factors associated with attrition and completion for a New Zealand based community situated family violence intervention programme. It takes a mixed methods approach across two studies. Study one quantitatively investigated the attrition rate of the programme, and factors that predict this attrition. It used survival analysis techniques to analyse data files collected during the assessment phase of the programme. An attrition rate of 46% was identified, which is slightly higher than the average rate of attrition across family violence prevention programmes internationally. Ethnicity was the only variable found to predict attrition. Study two qualitatively explored the experiences of men who completed the intervention programme. Men were interviewed to provide insights into the facilitators and barriers to programme completion. Thematic analysis identified three themes of overcoming barriers to engagement and attendance; motivating factors for engagement; and the importance of active participation in facilitating healing. Aspects of the programme that could be strengthened to improve the engagement and attendance of future participants are discussed alongside the wider implications for family violence prevention practice and policy.</p>

Beyond the Victim-offender Binary: Legal and Anti-violence Intervention Considerations With Women Who Have Used Force in the U.S. and Australia

In the United States (U.S.) and Australian contexts, the fight to achieve legal and societal recognition of cisgender men's violence against cisgender women operated according to an incident-based victim-offender binary. Those held accountable for the violence were seen as offenders, those who survived the violence were seen as victims. This binary persists across police, court, corrections, intervention, and child protection settings. However, work with cisgender heterosexual women with offenses of abuse and violence demonstrates that the binary does not capture their complex experiences. Instead, they have “offended” in the context of often surviving long-term harm in their families of origin and from their intimate partners. Because their experiences do not align with the binary, they are caught in ineffective and retraumatizing responses. The authors use an intersectional theoretical framework to explore how heterosexual cisgender women's use of force complicates the victim-offender binary. By understanding women who have used force as having both survived and caused harm, rather than “victims” or “offenders,” the authors call attention to the limitations of, and harm caused by, binary approaches. The authors also call for a reconceptualization beyond the binary—challenging established legal and intervention frameworks. To demonstrate the need for this reconceptualization, the authors report on U.S. and Australian legal cases, intervention approaches, and discuss socio-legal systems implications.