Effectiveness of Coordinated Outreach in Intimate Partner Violence Cases: A Randomized, Longitudinal Design.

摘要

Intimate partner violence (IPV) poses an extremely costly problem to the individual, society, and criminal justice system. Effective responses to IPV require comprehensive, well-coordinated policies and protocols that maximize the legal sanctions and available community resources. Prosecution decisions and criminal justice outcomes are influenced by victim support for official action. The current study tested the prediction that early coordinated victim outreach would improve criminal justice outcomes as well as increase victim safety and empowerment. In collaboration with research, criminal justice, and community-based partners, this project employed a randomized control design to evaluate an innovative outreach program for racially and ethnically diverse IPV victims whose cases have come to the attention of the criminal justice system. Participants, who were randomly selected to receive outreach or treatment-as-usual, were interviewed at three time points: after an incident of IPV was reported to the police (T1), 6 months after T1, and 12 months after T1. The study addressed three primary goals. First, we evaluated the effectiveness of a coordinated, community-based outreach program in improving criminal justice and victim safety and empowerment outcomes for IPV victims using a longitudinal, randomized control design. Second, we identified victim and case characteristics that moderated outcomes. Third, we evaluated the influence of spatial characteristics on criminal justice outcomes.