NCJ Number
187542
Date Published
1999
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This chapter presents a brief overview of some of the issues involved in developing multi-agency responses to domestic violence in the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The chapter is based on the findings of a major research study by the University of Bristol Domestic Violence Research Group (Great Britain). This national study, completed in 1996, examined multi-agency responses to domestic violence. The terms "multi-agency" and "inter-agency" tend to be used interchangeably in the domestic violence field and typically refer to initiatives which should be called "multi-agency," since they consist of a wide-ranging group of agencies working together. Formal, on-going multi-agency domestic violence forums have now been established throughout the United Kingdom. The research study identified at least 200 such forums in 1996, which bring together relevant local agencies in both the statutory and voluntary sectors in an effort to regularly coordinate domestic violence responses. Many of these forums were initiated by the police as a result of Home Office circular 60/1990, which laid out the parameters of an improved police response to domestic violence, including participation in inter-agency initiatives. Women's Aid refuge groups and local authorities have also been active in domestic violence forums. In some forums, solicitors and other practitioners in the criminal justice system have been active. The research showed that health services have been absent from many local domestic violence forums, along with education departments. This chapter examines what inter-agency forums do and how they are structured, considers some pros and cons of such structures, reviews resources and policy development, and discusses power differences within multi-agency forums. 22 references