Browsing by Subject "domestic violence"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Does GPS supervision of intimate partner violence defendants reduce pretrial misconduct? Evidence from a quasi-experimental study
    (Springer, 2017-12) Grommon, Eric; Rydberg, Jason; Carter, Jeremy G.; School of Public and Environmental Affairs
    Objectives This research examines the effect global positioning system (GPS) technology supervision has on pretrial misconduct for defendants facing intimate partner violence charges. Methods Drawing on data from one pretrial services division, a retrospective quasi-experimental design was constructed to examine failure to appear to court, failure to appear to meetings with pretrial services, and rearrest outcomes between defendants ordered to pretrial GPS supervision and a comparison group of defendants ordered to pretrial supervision without the use of monitoring technology. Cox regression models were used to assess differences between quasi-experimental conditions. To enhance internal validity and mitigate model dependence, we utilized and compared results across four counterfactual comparison groups (propensity score matching, Mahalanobis distance matching, inverse probability of treatment weighting, and marginal mean weighting through stratification). Results Pretrial GPS supervision was no more or less effective than traditional, non-technology based pretrial supervision in reducing the risk of failure to appear to court or the risk of rearrest. GPS supervision did reduce the risk of failing to appear to meetings with pretrial services staff. Conclusions The results suggest that GPS supervision may hold untapped case management benefits for pretrial probation officers, a pragmatic focus that may be overshadowed by efforts to mitigate the risk of pretrial misconduct. Further, the results contribute to ongoing discussions on bail reform, pretrial practice, and the movement to reduce local jail populations. Although the cost savings are not entirely clear, relatively higher risk defendants can be managed in the community and produce outcomes that are comparable to other defendants. The results also call into question the ability of matching procedures to construct appropriate counterfactuals in an era where risk assessment informs criminal justice decision-making. Weighting techniques outperformed matching strategies.
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    Domestic Violence Advocacy
    (2014) Wood, Leila Grace; Hostetter, Carol; Sullenberger, Sabrina Williamson; Barton, William H., 1949-; Adamek, Margaret E.; Sloan, Rebecca S.
    Advocacy, in the form of direct service, is a critical type of intervention to help intimate partner or domestic violence survivors. Little is known the best practices for social workers and other helping professionals to assist survivors of domestic violence who present for services at shelters, non-residential outreach, and legal settings. This dissertation reviews relevant research related to domestic violence direct services, which is also called advocacy. The study also outlines a brief overview of the history, theory, and paradigms of thought related to the movement to end intimate partner violence. The research project used the grounded theory method to conduct and analyze semi-structured, in-depth interviews with advocates at domestic violence agency to answer the research question: What constructs and practices inform the delivery of direct services to survivors of domestic violence from shelter and non-residential service advocates? A total of 22 women working primarily with domestic violence survivors in shelters and non-residential agencies participated in the dissertation study. Participants came from one Midwestern and one Southwestern state. The interviewees had a range 1-20 years of experience in the field of domestic violence advocacy. Eighteen of 22 participants had experienced some sort of intimate violence in their lifetime. Several important findings emerged. Advocates typically enter the field because of personal motivations. The empowerment and strengths-based perspective are important to the delivery of advocacy services, as is belief in hope. Advocates typically endorse a survivor centered approach to their work. Data analysis revealed a concurrent process of advocacy that occurs within advocates and between advocates and survivors. This parallel process is marked in the earlier state of assessing and grounding; in the middle stage of establishing and affirming; and the ending stages of hoping and reflecting. These findings suggest the importance of personal experiences, hope, and reflection in the delivery of advocacy services. Community collaboration and support are essential to maintaining services that are aimed at the individual needs of survivors. More research is needed about the perceptions of services among survivors of domestic violence.
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    Police as Alert Responders? Lessons Learned about Perceived Roles and Responses from Pretrial GPS Supervision of Domestic Violence Defendants
    (Oxford, 2016) Carter, Jeremy G.; Grommon, Eric; School of Public and Environmental Affairs
    There is a substantial body of literature that examines police practices, behavioural responses, and victim cooperation when the police respond to intimate partner or domestic violence (IPV/DV) incidents. Less scholarly attention is given to the complex justice system response to IPV/DV incidents in which the police are one of many collaborative actors. A critical time in IPV/DV justice system processing is the period of time after arrest and before court disposition. Increasingly, the supervision of defendants in this pretrial period has been facilitated with the use of technology that creates new roles for the police. The present study seeks to explore perceived police roles and responses through an in-depth case study of a city-county municipality employing global positioning system pretrial supervision of IPV/DV defendants. Using interview data from pretrial probation officers, victim advocates, and victims of IPV/DV, this research offers lessons learned and police practice recommendations for working as a unified systems front to curtail IPV/DV crimes and improve communication between multiple justice system stakeholders.