Intervention Following Family Violence: Best Practices and Helpseeking Obstacles in a Nationally Representative Sample of Families With Children
Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Psychology of Violence
Abstract
Objective: To provide the first nationally representative data on service contact, police
or advocate best practices, and helpseeking obstacles for family violence that involved
exposure to children. Method: A nationally representative sample of 517 family
violence incidents drawn from the 4,503 respondents to the National Survey of
Children’s Exposure to Violence II. Results: A range of 10 best practices were offered
in 13–58% of police contacts and 34 –97% of advocate contacts. Most police best
practices were associated with increased likelihood of arrest. Referrals and information
about restraining orders and shelter were associated with victim-perpetrator separation.
There was marked case attrition for all criminal justice services, including reporting to
police, in-person police responding, arrest, convictions, and incarceration. Only 10
cases resulted in jail time. Counter to hypothesis, higher rates of some police best
practices were associated with lower likelihood of advocate contact. Also unexpectedly, higher rates of some obstacles, such as lack of transportation, were associated
with higher use of police services. Conclusions: Referral to specific resources is
recommended as a focus of crisis intervention efforts. Some family’s needs may be
served by a single provider if best practices are used. Some obstacles may influence
which services are sought rather than depress helpseeking altogether. These nationally
representative data can be used as benchmarks for program evaluations and needs
assessments.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
Intimate partner violence, advocacy, safety planning, victims, exposure to violence, police
Citation
Hamby, S., Finkelhor, D., & Turner, H. (2014). Intervention Following Family Violence: Best Practices and Helpseeking Obstacles in a Nationally Representative Sample of Families With Children. Psychology of Violence, 53(3), 325.