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1 – 10 of over 21000Christine E. Murray, Jacquelyn White, Hamid Nemati, Anthony Chow, Allison Marsh and Samantha Edwards
Family Justice Centers, or “one-stop shops” that enable domestic violence victims to access a range of services at one location, are becoming increasingly common. However, there…
Abstract
Purpose
Family Justice Centers, or “one-stop shops” that enable domestic violence victims to access a range of services at one location, are becoming increasingly common. However, there is a limited body of research examining the outcomes and planning processes of these Centers. The early phases of planning Centers are critical to their initial and ongoing success. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 15 stakeholders in a community in the early phases of planning a Center were interviewed.
Findings
Content analysis procedures were used to identify themes related to participants’ ideas about what the Family Justice Center should look like (e.g. services to include and perceived benefits and challenges for the Center), the steps required for planning it (e.g. identifying the purpose of the Center, getting key people involved, and building collaborations), and desired technologies.
Originality/value
This paper is the first known research effort to examine the early phases of development in constructing a Family Justice Center.
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Christine Murray, Brittany Wyche and Catherine Johnson
The purpose of this paper is to describe the ongoing data and evaluation strategies being used to document the impact of the Guilford County Family Justice Center, which has been…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the ongoing data and evaluation strategies being used to document the impact of the Guilford County Family Justice Center, which has been in operation for nearly four years.
Design/methodology/approach
There are four primary ongoing data and evaluation strategies used to tell the story of the impact of the family justice center (FJC) on the community: tracking services provided by the FJC, collecting annual data from partner agencies, conducting week-long censuses and doing an annual survey of professionals affiliated with the FJC and its partner organizations. (The current paper reports on the first three of these strategies.)
Findings
Methodological limitations of the evaluation strategies used warrant caution in interpreting the findings of the ongoing evaluation of the Guilford County FJC. However, preliminary evaluation findings indicate support for the center’s positive impact on the community it serves, including in the number of clients served, a reduction in domestic violence-related homicide rates and the creation of new community resources that emerged through the FJC partnership.
Research limitations/implications
Each of the evaluation strategies used in this study holds inherent strengths and limitations, which are discussed in the paper. Beyond the future evaluation of local FJCs, a range of rigorous methodologies can be used to further explore the impact of the FJC model. Qualitative methods may be useful for gaining an in-depth understanding of victims’ and survivors’ perceptions of accessing resources through an FJC, as well as for studying beliefs and attitudes toward FJCs among various community stakeholders. Quantitative methods can be used to apply more complex statistical analyses to comparing indicators of the impact of FJCs over time.
Practical implications
The data and evaluation findings from the Guilford County FJC add support to the potential positive impact of the FJC model on communities. These preliminary data suggest that FJCs can impact communities by offering support to victims and coordinating resources among partner organizations. Collaborative partnerships can be leveraged to lead to broader community changes that strengthen community-level responses to interpersonal violence through greater community awareness, opportunities for community members to contribute to solutions and the establishment of new resources that emerge from needs identified through the partnership.
Social implications
Overall, there is a pressing need for research examining various aspects of the FJC model and identifying factors that contribute to its success at fostering collaboration, supporting victims and survivors, holding offenders accountable and preventing future violence. With the rapid growth of the FJC models, the need for research and evaluation to document the effectiveness and limitations of the model is high.
Originality/value
Designed to serve as a one-stop shop for victims of domestic violence and other forms of violence to seek help, FJCs offer, within a single location, multiple services from a variety of professional disciplines. These services include law enforcement, victim advocacy and prosecution. Although the FJC model is expanding rapidly across the USA and internationally, research to date is limited, and thus, the current paper will add to the research and evaluation basis for the FJC movement.
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Christine Murray, Alexandra Lay, Brittany Wyche and Catherine Johnson
The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives held by professionals affiliated with an FJC through a cross-sectional survey. The family justice center (FJC) model is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives held by professionals affiliated with an FJC through a cross-sectional survey. The family justice center (FJC) model is expanding rapidly in the USA and internationally. Despite the rapid growth of the FJC movement, there is a need for more research to document the impact of FJCs on victims and survivors, professionals working in FJCs and the broader community.
Design/methodology/approach
The current paper focuses on perspectives of professionals who serve victims of family and interpersonal violence and it includes the results of a four-year, cross-sectional survey of professionals working in a community that established an FJC. Data analyzes examined differences in perspectives of professionals based on timing (i.e. from before an FJC was established to the time when the center was in operation for three years) and based on whether professionals worked primarily onsite at the FJC location.
Findings
The findings demonstrated that although some statistically significant differences were identified that suggest a positive impact of an FJC for professionals, more research is needed to further explore how professionals’ perspectives and experiences are impacted through the establishment of an FJC.
Originality/value
This study is the first-known cross-sectional examination of the perspectives of professionals working within an FJC model over a multi-year period.
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The family justice center (FJC) model centralizes social and legal services available to intimate partner abuse (IPA) victims in order to facilitate their help-seeking and improve…
Abstract
Purpose
The family justice center (FJC) model centralizes social and legal services available to intimate partner abuse (IPA) victims in order to facilitate their help-seeking and improve their experiences and the response to IPA. Little, yet promising, research has highlighted the effectiveness of this model. The purpose of this paper is to explore experiences of victims of IPA at one FJC.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 24 respondents who utilized a FJC in a western county in the USA were interviewed using a survey that included both descriptive quantitative and qualitative questions. Descriptive analysis was performed on the quantitative portion and content analysis on the qualitative portion.
Findings
Most of the respondents used the FJC multiple times and for multiple services. Most were referred by a shelter or a hotline. The most common services used were housing services, followed by counseling. Overall, these respondents felt supported by FJC staff and were satisfied. However, some of the respondents who did indicate satisfaction in the quantitative portion of the survey expressed concerns in the qualitative portion.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited by a small sample size; however, it has implications for recruitment, outreach and training as well as methodological implications for how FJCs should be evaluated.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the scant literature on FJCs and the FJC model.
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Helen Ruth Hodges and Jonathan Scourfield
The purpose of this paper is to consider some possible reasons for the relatively high rate in Wales of children looked after by local authorities.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider some possible reasons for the relatively high rate in Wales of children looked after by local authorities.
Design/methodology/approach
Selected potential explanations for Wales having higher rates were tested against aggregate data from published 2021 Government statistics. Wales was compared with England and English regions for area deprivation, local authority spending, placements at home and kinship foster care. Descriptive statistics were produced, and linear regression was used where appropriate.
Findings
Wales has higher overall children looked-after rates and a bigger recent increase in these than any English region. Deprivation in Wales was higher than in most English regions. However, a smaller percentage of Welsh variation in local authority looked-after rates was explained by deprivation than was the case for England. Spending on preventative services has increased in recent years in Wales whilst decreasing in England, and there was not a clear relationship between spending on preventative services and the looked-after rate. Wales had a higher rate of care orders placed at home and more children per head of population in kinship foster care than any English region. Some of the explanations that have been suggested for Wales’s particularly high looked-after rates seem to be supported by the evidence from aggregate data and others do not. Practice variation is likely to also be an important part of the picture.
Originality/value
This is an original comparison of Wales, England and English regions using aggregate data. More fine-grained analysis is needed using individual-level data, multivariate analysis and qualitative methods.
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Amy Reckdenwald, Ketty Fernandez and Chelsea L. Mandes
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a coordinated effort to improve the law enforcement response to non-fatal strangulation in the context of domestic violence.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a coordinated effort to improve the law enforcement response to non-fatal strangulation in the context of domestic violence.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors compare law enforcement identification and documentation of strangulation in domestic violence cases before and after the implementation of a strangulation-specific training program in one Central Florida County.
Findings
The results indicate preliminary support for the effectiveness of training law enforcement, suggesting that the response to strangulation can be improved with comprehensive law enforcement training.
Practical implications
An improved response by law enforcement may have the potential to increase offender accountability of non-fatal strangulation – a potentially deadly assault.
Originality/value
The study is the first to evaluate strangulation-specific training efforts of law enforcement. Results point to opportunities that can be taken to improve law enforcement’s response to non-fatal strangulation in domestic violence.
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