Violence in Families Assessing Prevention and Treatment Programs (1998) / Chapter Skim
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1 INTRODUCTION
1 INTRODUCTION
Pages 11-30
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From page 11... ...
And most evaluations of family violence interventions simply describe the intervention that was provided (without providing much detail about the implementation process) , estimate the number of clients served over selected time periods, review the types and costs of the services provided, or examine specific skills or knowledge obtained as the result of a training program.
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From page 12... ...
Yet service providers, public officials, clients, and researchers themselves are frustrated by the difficulties of measuring and assessing the impacts of treatment and prevention programs. The enormous complexity of the phenomena, the comparatively short history with service interventions, the shifting legal and social doctrines that shape public policy, the interactive nature of the problems and the services themselves, and the demographic transformations affecting American families and communities present tremendous challenges to the use of science in this field.
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From page 13... ...
There are no self-report surveys of elder abuse, and the surveys of elder abuse reporting and recognition are incomplete. FRAGMENTATION OF THE FIELD The study of family violence consists of many separate areas of research focused on the study of child maltreatment, domestic violence, and elder abuse (Ohlin and Tonry, 1989)
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From page 14... ...
The basic dimensions of this loosely coupled system of treatment, prevention, and control interventions have remained ambiguous and unexamined in the research literature, and little is known about their basic character, operation, or impact. Treatment and prevention programs are fragmented by the focus of the interventions: some efforts are designed to respond to the needs of the victims; others deal exclusively with the offenders.
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From page 15... ...
, whereas extensive attention has focused on a few interventions in specialized settings (such as arrest policies for domestic violence, the use of home visitation services as a preventive intervention for child maltreatment, and intensive family preservation services that seek to provide family support services in crisis-oriented setting)
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From page 16... ...
In the absence of such knowledge, program decisions are influenced by anecdotal reports, marketing or lobbying efforts, and the fiscal realities of budgetary politics. Proponents of law enforcement programs may argue that stiffer penalties and mandatory sentences for offenders are effective in reducing the incidence of domestic violence and child maltreatment, but such claims lack empirical evidence.
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From page 17... ...
Early in the course of our deliberations, the committee recognized that the research literature associated with evaluations of family violence interventions was relatively immature and scattered across a wide range of research fields. Judging that the absence of an integrative review of this literature has discouraged efforts to understand the nature, objectives, and outcomes of interventions, the committee sought to develop a report that would describe the ways in which interventions and service strategies interact with families and communities.
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From page 18... ...
A similar lack of consensus exists on definitional issues in domestic violence (see e.g., Gelles and Straus, 1988; Fagan and Browne, 1994) and in elder abuse (Pillemer and Suitor, 1988)
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From page 19... ...
This report examines opportunities for interactions among child maltreatment, domestic violence, and elder abuse in terms of both research and service. These relationships are important because the forms of family violence may share common risk factors or may represent a developmental continuum, such as the case of an abused child who becomes either a batterer or a victim of domestic violence.
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From page 20... ...
The home visitation intervention, for example, consists of several models, some of which rely on public health nurses who establish contact with mothers during their pregnancy and provide frequent visits after birth; others rely on paraprofessionals who meet with the mother after her discharge from a hospital. The home visitation intervention is part of a broader child abuse prevention strategy designed to detect risk factors for child maltreatment and to strengthen parenting skills through public health and family support services.
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From page 21... ...
In addition, the committee relied on 35 research review papers that include detailed analyses of independent research studies, even though the individual studies within each review paper may not be consistent with the selection criteria outlined above. The committee initiated its search with a review of the relevant on-line databases that include evaluation studies of family violence interventions.2 We 2Research efforts focused on searches of 18 relevant electronic databases, including the National Criminal Justice Reference Section, the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, Medline, the Legal Resource Index, the Criminal Justice Periodical Index, ERIC, Social SciSearch, continued on page 28
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From page 22... ...
Guardians and conservators for child abuse offenders for domestic violence offenders 5C-5. Arrest, prosecution, and other 5A-4.
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From page 23... ...
Mental health services for children who witness domestic violence 6A-5. Mental health services for adult survivors of child abuse 6A-6.
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From page 24... ...
Prevention Identification Protection Treatment Legal Separation Deterrence 24 Parenting Practices and Family Support Services 4A-1 School-Based Sexual Abuse Prevention 4A-2 Child Protective Services Investigation and Casework 4A-3 Intensive Family Preservation Services 4A-4 Child Placement Services 4A-5 Individualized Service Programs 4A-6 Mandatory Reporting Requirements 5A-1 Child Placement by the Courts 5A-2 Court-Mandated Treatment for Child Abuse Offenders 5A-3 Treatment for Sexual Abuse Offenders 5A-4 Criminal Prosecution of Child Abuse Offenders 5A-5 Improving Child Witnessing 5A-6 Evidentiary Reforms to Protect Child Witnesses 5A-7 Procedural Reforms to Assist Child Witnesses 5A-8 VIOLENCE IN FAMILIES
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From page 25... ...
Prevention Identification Protection Treatment Legal Separation Deterrence Identification and Screening of Child Maltreatment 6A-1 INTRODUCTION Mental Health Services for Child Victims of Physical Abuse and Neglect 6A-2 Mental Health Services for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse 6A-3 Mental Health Services for Children Who Witness Domestic Violence 6A-4 Mental Health Services for Adult Survivors of Child Abuse 6A-5 Home Visitation and Family Support Programs 6A-6 Shelters for Battered Women 4B-1 Peer Support Groups for Battered Women 4B-2 Advocacy Services for Battered Women 4B-3 Domestic Violence Prevention Programs 4B-4 FIGURE 1-1 Family violence interventions by type of strategy. (Continued on next page.)
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From page 26... ...
26 Prevention Identification Protection Treatment Legal Separation Deterrence Reporting Requirements 5B-1 Protective Orders 5B-2 Arrest Procedures 5B-3 Court-Mandated Treatment for Domestic Violence Offenders 5B-4 Criminal Prosecution 5B-5 Specialized Courts 5B-6 Systemic Approaches 5B-7 Training for Criminal Justice Personnel 5B-8 Screening, Identification, and Medical Care Responses to Domestic Violence 6B-1 Mental Health Services for Victims 6B-2 Adult Protective Services 4C-1 Training for Caregivers 4C-2 Advocacy Services to Prevent Elder Abuse 4C-3 Reporting Requirements 5C-1 VIOLENCE IN FAMILIES
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From page 27... ...
SOURCE: Committee on the Assessment of Family Violence Interventions, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 1998.
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From page 28... ...
The research literature is primarily focused on small or innovative programs that provide an opportunity for research study. Science-based evaluations are rarely conducted on major existing interventions, such as foster care, domestic violence shelters, adult protective services, health care provider training programs, and court procedures, because research samples and appropriate measures are not available to assess the intervention, the intervention was already in place prior to the development of evaluation methods, the organizational setting is not PsychINFO, Dissertation Abstracts Online, A-V Online, PAIS Online, IAC Business A.R.T.S., U.S.
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From page 29... ...
Chapters 4, 5, and 6 provide a comprehensive review and assessment of existing interventions in the areas of child maltreatment, domestic violence, and elder abuse. These chapters characterize the state of evaluation research and summarize what is known about treatment and preventive interventions in social service, law enforcement, and health care sectors, respectively.
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From page 30... ...
The absence or presence of interventions in one setting -- such as shelters for battered women -- may directly influence the operation and effectiveness of services in another domain -- such as arrest policies for batterers. This interactive process is often missed in current assessments of family violence interventions, although it is often intrinsic to the experience of service providers.
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