Correctional Responses to Domestic Violence Victims

Domestic violence is the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It includes physical violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, and emotional abuse. The frequency and severity of domestic violence can vary dramatically; however, the one constant component of domestic violence is one partner’s consistent efforts to maintain power and control over the other.

In the United States, an average of twenty people are physically abused by intimate partners every minute. This equates to more than ten million abuse victims annually. Domestic violence affects everyone regardless of age, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion or nationality and has devastating consequences that last a lifetime. https://ncadv.org/learn-more

Nearly 3 in 10 women (29%) and 1 in 10 men (10%) in the US have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by a partner and report a related impact on their functioning.

Nearly, 15% of women (14.8%) and 4% of men have been injured as a result of IPV that included rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

Females ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 generally experienced the highest rates of intimate partner violence.

Most female victims of intimate partner violence were previously victimized by the same offender, including 77% of females ages 18 to 24, 76% of females ages 25 to 34, and 81% of females ages 35 to 49.

Law enforcement officer fatality rates are greatly increased when responding to domestic violence incidents when a firearm is present. (2017 Mid-Year Law Enforcement Officer Fatalities Report)

https://www.thehotline.org/stakeholders/domestic-violence-statistics/

In response to this continuing issue and its impact on the corrections environment, the National Institute of Corrections will highlight innovative and promising programs that address offender accountability and victim safety in domestic violence cases both in institutional and community supervision settings:

Provide information about designing a comprehensive post-conviction domestic violence response program for both offenders and victims.

Steps and tools to identify and prioritize your response to offender behavior.

Provide resources specifically tailored to the correctional environment.

Topics:

Victims of crime

Intimate partner violence

Division:

Community Services Division

Resource Links:

Lifetime Economic Burden of Intimate Partner Violence Among U.S. Adults (2018)

Parent Package Page:

Post-Conviction Victim Service Providers

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Resources Guide

The following are a list of "top-shelf" resources that have been hand-picked by our library team around this topic. If you would like additional research assistance on this topic, please contact our help desk. They have access to specialized databases and thousands of resources you won't find online. Click on a heading below to browse resources in that section.

Assessment/Screening Instruments

State of Idaho Judicial Branch: Approved DV Evaluation Screening/Assessment Tools (2018)

Domestic Assault or Domestic Battery Evaluators provide the State of Idaho's court with valuable information when working with persons convicted of domestic assault or domestic battery. The evaluation submitted to the court includes a risk assessment, identifies possible substance abuse or mental health issues, and provides recommendations to the judge in several key areas. More information regarding the qualifications of an evaluator and the reports submitted to the court can be found at https://isc.idaho.gov/domestic-assault-or-battery-evaluators-roster-search-results

Domestic Violence Screening Tool (2017)

Intake Questionaire from Kansas DOC. PDF version

Intake Questionaire from Kansas DOC. Word version

Minnesota’s new victim registrant intake form (2017)

New Registrant/Victim Intake form - Minnesota DOC.

Minnesota’s registrant input at intake fillable form (2017)

New Registrant/Victim Intake form - Minnesota DOC. fillable form

Applying Effective Corrections Principles (RNR) to Partner Abuse Interventions (2017)

The article identifies selected risk assessment tools to screen offenders into appropriate levels of service (the risk principle) and provides an extensive review of the literature on appropriate targets for change (the need principle).

Batterer Intervention Programs

The Difference Between Surviving and Not Surviving: Public Benefits Programs and Domestic and Sexual Violence Victims' Economic Security (2018)

For domestic violence and sexual assault victims, the public benefits programs that support basic economic security are of critical importance. While we know that domestic violence and sexual assault occur across the socio-economic spectrum, there are unique challenges and barriers at the intersection of these forms of violence and economic disadvantage. Significant numbers of low-income women are abused or assaulted, and the violence perpetrated against them can make it nearly impossible to climb out of poverty. Abuse can also result in victims who were not previously considered low-income falling into poverty: violence often undermines victims’ ability to work, have a place to live, and do what is necessary to pursue a more stable life for themselves and their children. Poverty and economic instability can also make it more difficult to cope with the physical, psychological, and financial impacts of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The Effectiveness of Batterer Intervention Programs: A Literature Review & Recommendations for Next Steps (2011)

The purpose of this report is to provide a full and critical review of the effectiveness of batterers’ intervention programs as evaluated in recent research published in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of medical and social science. We also make recommendations for next steps for researchers and BIP program developers, based on the results of the review. This review focuses only on group models of intervention, as there is very little research into individual models of batterer treatment.

What Works to Reduce Recidivism by Domestic Violence Offenders? (2013)

In this report, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy has: a) updated its analysis of the national and international literature on domestic violence (DV) treatment; b) reports on other interventions effective at reducing recidivism by DV offenders and criminal offenders in general; and c) surveys other states’ laws regarding DV treatment for offenders.

Offender Intervention

The following framework, arising from the battered women’s movement and supported by research, informs the Battered Women's Justice Project’s approach to understanding and working with offenders to hold them accountable for their violence.

Evidence-Based Domestic Violence Intervention Policy: A Research Guide (2017)

The webpage lists useful resources for anyone wanting to promote evidence-based policies in the field of domestic violence.

Pretrial and Post-Conviction Use of Batterer Intervention Programs (2016)

This report by the Maine Commission on Domestic and Sexual Abuse “reviews pretrial and post-conviction use of batterers’ intervention programs, including the length of successful programs and sanctions and incentives to encourage full participation."

Breaking the Cycle: The Effects of Batterer Intervention Programs on Domestic Violence Recidivism in Massachusetts (2015)

This report includes the findings of a pilot study into the effectiveness of certified Batterer Intervention Programs (CBIPs) on reducing domestic violence recidivism, using both original quantitative and qualitative data.

Community Corrections (Reentry)

Domestic Violence and Prisoner Reentry: Experiences of African American Women and Men

This report examines a significant, understudied facet of domestic violence in America: the distinctive experiences of African American women and their African American male intimate partners when those partners are transitioning from prison into the community.

Community Supervision of Domestic Violence Offenders

This website provides: compiled information on sentencing and community supervision practices for domestic violence cases, access to a Working Group to assist with the development of guidelines for community supervision of intimate partner domestic violence offenders, training and technical assistance curriculum based on these practice principles and guidelines, and training to jurisdictional teams willing to implement the guidelines, to enhance their supervision of intimate partner domestic violence offenders.

Domestic Violence Courts

National Domestic Violence Prosecution Best Practices Guide (2017)

The National Domestic Violence Prosecution Best Practices Guide is a living document highlighting current best practices in the prosecution of domestic violence. It was inspired by the Women Prosecutors Section of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) and a National Symposium on the Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases, hosted by the NDAA and Alliance for HOPE International in San Diego in October 2015. The two-day national symposium included 100 of our nation’s leading prosecutors reenvisioning the prosecution of domestic violence cases in the United States. Prosecutors and allied professionals are encouraged to continue developing this guide by contributing information on emerging best practices. NDAA recognizes that funding, local rules, or other state laws or local restrictions may prevent an office from adopting the various approaches suggested. This guide is not intended to replace practices and procedures already in operation, but to simply inform and recommend practices that are effective and consistent throughout the nation.
This White Paper was revised June 23, 2020.

Final Report: Domestic Violence Court Pilot Project Sydney, Nova Scotia (2016)

In June 2012 the Nova Scotia Department of Justice launched the Domestic Violence Court Pilot Project in Sydney. The project allocated a special court with dedicated staff to provide intervention and pre-sentence treatment for individuals who plead guilty to domestic violence related offences. This evaluation report assesses the implementation process and whether the outcomes were achieved. It also provides baseline data describing the operation of the pilot project.

Domestic Violence - Center for Court Innovation

This website provides research on domestic violence courts in the form of articles, interviews, publications, and videos.

Domestic Violence Court Map

This webpage features an interactive map with domestic violence projects participating in the U.S. DOJ Justice for Families Program.

Laws & Policies

Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (2017)

Description of the New York State Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act, who is eligible, and why it is important.

Tribal Legal Code Resource: Domestic Violence Laws Guide for Drafting or Revising Victim-Centered Tribal Laws Against Domestic Violence

"All governments should be very concerned about domestic violence against Native women. Tribal governments across the United States are creating programs to improve response to violent crime. As sovereign governments, tribes can assert jurisdiction in criminal and civil actions involving assaults against Native women … As sovereign governments, many tribes have asserted concurrent or exclusive criminal and/or civil jurisdiction in domestic violence cases. A key piece of responding to domestic violence is to draft or revise tribal domestic violence laws. This resource guide was developed to provide a starting point for drafting or revising tribal laws on domestic violence. It is written with a philosophy that tribal laws should reflect tribal values. In addition, writing a tribal law usually requires careful consideration of how state and/or federal laws might apply in the community. This resource guide includes examples from a variety of tribal codes and discussion questions that are designed to help tribal community members decide on the best laws for your community" (p. 1). Resources are organized into the following sections: general provisions; jurisdiction—criminal or civil; criminal domestic violence statutes—defining domestic violence, role of law enforcement, role of tribal prosecutors, role of courts, evidence, victims' rights in criminal proceedings, and sanctions; protective orders—developing civil protective orders, violating protective orders, and full faith and credit; family law and child custody; and education and batterer intervention.

Resource Centers

Safe Housing Partnerships

The Domestic Violence and Housing Technical Assistance Consortium aims to improve policies, identify promising practices, and strengthen collaborations necessary to improve housing options for survivors of domestic violence and their children in order to enhance safety, stability, and well-being.

VAWnet - National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

An online network focused on violence against women and other forms of gender-based violence. The website provides an accessible digital library of tools that expands capacity and advance efforts to end gender-based violence and intersecting issues.

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV)

The NRCDV works collaboratively to improve community response to domestic violence and, ultimately, prevent its occurrence. The Center provides technical assistance, training and resource development.

Local Resources - Office of Violence Against Women

This webpage provides an interactive map and listing of domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions.

Training

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices, May 2017

This technical package represents a select group of strategies based on the best available evidence to help communities and states sharpen their focus on prevention activities with the greatest potential to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and its consequences across the lifespan.

The Duluth Power & Control Wheel

The Power and Control diagram is a particularly helpful tool in understanding the overall pattern of abusive and violent behaviors, which are used by a batterer to establish and maintain control over his partner.

The Crime of Domestic Violence Training Video

Developed to present law enforcement and partners with information to strengthen the response to victims of domestic violence.

Victims (Programs & Services)

SHARP and Coercive Control – U of Kentucky

This website from the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky features the Stalking and Harassment Assessment & Risk Profile (SHARP) tool.

Domestic Shelters

This website provides easy access to local domestic violence shelters, along with resources on the topic.