Domestic Violence A Qual Study

23.04.04 Presentation to Department for Constitutional Affairs ©Promise 2004


A study of domestic violence among victims and perpetratorsA presentation to the Department for Constitutional AffairsBy Roy Langmaid & Nicky Forsythe 23.04.04


Contents

1. Scope of study

2. Objectives

3. Findings

4. Summary & conclusions

5. Recommendations


1. Scope of study

The study comprised a series of conversations, in focus group settings among:

Victims of domestic violence (9 groups)3 groups in each of Cardiff, Birmingham & Newcastle

Two further groups of victims that had contact with refugesConvened with the help of Standing Together in Hammersmith

Two groups with perpetratorsone in Gateshead, one in Cardiff


Scope of study 2

Accompanied by a series of one-to-one interviewswith professionals in the field of DV:

At Women's aid in Gateshead

NSPCC in Cardiff

Standing together In London

Respect in London


2. Objectives

• To explore victims’ motivations for taking/not taking legal action (criminal or civil)

• To discover awareness & experiences of current routes for legal action & how to make these more user friendly

• To explore reactions to three initiatives

1. Automatic expulsion

2. Perpetrator programmes

3. Navigator service


3. Findings

We have devised a segmentation of victims in terms of attitudes, circumstances and behavior


DV segmentation

Early Interventionists

A Minority

Idealists

Determined to save family

Culture Clashers

From culture where male traditionally wields power

Embattled

The Majority

Refugees

Embattled women

who decided to leave

Resigned

Older women Resigned to their violent partner

Actions: Actions: Actions: Actions: Actions: Actions:

Leaving

Calling Police

Taking out injunction

Remedial action

Blameoutside factors

Try to work it out:

‘we can solve it’

Resist legal action

Appeal to family

Consult religious advisor

Denial

Eventually call police

Endure for years

Gradual escalation

Believe the man

Low self esteem

Self hatred & blame

Isolation/powerless

Flee to relatives

Leave area

Flee to refuge

Take out injunction

Feel hunted by man

Children left home

Partner weaker

Societal changes

Resignation

Motivators/Levers Motivators/Levers Motivators/Levers Motivators/Levers Motivators/Levers Motivators/Levers

Some level of financial/emotional independence

Support from friends relatives who had experienced DV

Financial/emotional dependence

Small children

Early stages of violence(under 5 years)

Realisation of the difference in values/beliefs

Determine to find way out

Effect on children

Child witnesses

Often do not act

Contact with police

solicitor

Or refuge workers

Contact with other

women who

have acted

Realisation that

rules have changed


Resolved

In all cases had left / separated from their partners, many had endured years of embattled Life

No women who had resolved the problem of violence inside the relationship

Bewildered in retrospect at how they had endured

Motivations/leversOften as simple as the children seeing the violenceHelped by various agencies/solicitors


A view of perpetrators

Central motivation is the need for control:Among men who may feel they have little influence in the outside world

Or who are addicted to power and their ‘persecutory’ role - bullies

Precipitating Factors:She refuses to accede to his point of viewHe is stressed at work, feels helplessDomestic chaos, mayhem & noise in the familyRecall of parental scenes of DV


Perpetrators had poor communication & relationship skills

Found it difficult to take another’s POV:

– Either from their partner’s perspective (2nd)– Or the world at large, neighbors,

family,colleagues (3rd)

Another’s perspective might mean loss of control…

Or admitting that you might not be right


And low self-esteem

Self Esteem* =Accomplishments______________

Aspirations

*From James W, The Principles of Psychology

Whatever our actual rank in society:

This helps to account for violence committed by those of rank and status


The effects of poor communications:the spiral of misunderstanding

She

That’s his key, he’s home!Mustn’t annoy him, look away

He’s getting angry, I’ll pop out til he calms down

I was just going to get some eggs for your tea!

Don’t speak to me like that!

He:

She’s avoiding me, is she thinking of someone else?

Where do you think you’re going – to meet your fancy man?

Don’t lie to me, you bitch!

I’ll speak to you how I like. I’ll show you who’s boss around here!


The escalator

All perpetrators agreed that, once accepted, this concept had madethe biggest single difference to them:

– That it was inevitable that their violence would escalate

In combination with talking with others who shared theirexperiences and coming to see things from more than one perspective

Jason – stair diagram?


No-one had entered a programme without some form of coercion

Partner had threatened to call police / leave home

An encounter with police or time in the cells hadfrightened them

The programme had been mandated as a condition of probation / bail


Perpetrators from the Women's POV

Respecters of authority

Could be shocked into change by:

A civil injunction

An encounter with police

Threats of loss of social standing e.g. report to boss

Anarchic towards authority

Habitual boundary busters

Little respect for rules or authority

Laws unto themselves

Play Brinkmanship with boundaries


Reasons for not taking action

Internal factors

1. Too much to lose

2. Shame

3. Denial

4. Fear

5. Identification with aggressor

6. ‘I wouldn’t be believed’


Reasons for not taking action

External Factors

1. Lack of knowledge

2. Solutions too extreme

3. Solutions may be ineffective

4. The onus is on me (victim must prosecute…)


Reasons for taking action

Women are prompted to act when their perception shifts in some way:

1. The consequences of inaction seem worse than those of action

2. The path of action seems more palatable/likely to succeed


Taking Action: common ‘Triggers’

1. Seeing impact on the children

2. The violence crosses an unacceptable threshold

3. The intervention of outsiders (friend, colleague, GP, family)

4. The dawning of awareness

“I was looking in the mirror and it was as if a third eye had opened. I thought ‘who’s that?’ I wasn’t who I was before I met him. I looked like a smackhead.’


Reasons for calling/not calling police

Reasons for:

Escalation of violence or threats

Neighbours call police

Children witness the violence

Reasons against:

Perceived as drastic action

Perception that the police will not support: ‘just a domestic’

Actual experience of weak police support

Fear it will trigger further violence


Reasons for/against Civil injunction

For

Escalation of violence

Information/support from a law - literate outsider• friend or relative• parent or boss• TV programme

Against:

Lack of awareness/knowledge

Fear of the consequences:• loss of relationship/home• the man’s wrath

A reconciliation, man shows affection


Reasons for/against Criminal proceedings

For:

The police initiate proceedings

The woman feels adequately supported

The woman has reached a point where she has little to lose and more to gain by proceeding

Against:

The police do not initiate/suggest it

The police discourage it

The woman pulls out because of ‘reconciliation’

Stress, trauma and loss


Experience of Legal Processes

Extremely gruelling:

Susceptible to dropping out

Threats

Attempted reconciliation

Intimidation continues in court

Judge is different every time

Deals are made without consultation

Talk about you as if you’re not there

Takes too long

Court does not support woman against man’s lies

Make is easier, consistent and quick

Criminal Route

Experiences:

Variable responses - unreliable allies

Wish-List:

To be listened to in supportive atmosphereFor the seriousness to be statedFor the law to be laid downFor consequences to be made clearProtection installed - removal or 24/7 point of contact

Call Police

Lack of awareness/need for law literate advice

Wish List:

Need to signpost sympathetic and experienced solicitors more effectively

Clear up/simplify terminology:

Non-molestation order?Occupation order?

Need for resolute, certain enforcement(Covert & overt defiance)

Civil Injunctions


Information Sources

1. Initial attempts – relatively passive(approach/ avoid)CAB’s, Yellow Pages

2. Incoming informationfriends, colleagues, bosses, GP’s, Social Services, solicitors

3. Seek information in a crisis


‘Building the Receiver’

Information is helpful if:

1. It comes from a supportive source

2. It comes in the context of a ‘listening ear’

3. It is short and simple


The Normal Sources

The information/advice they give can be incomplete, biased and alarming

• GP’s - the only option is to leave the man

• Social services – you’ll lose the children if you don’t leave

• Solicitors – you must allow contact


The Information women want

• Simple awareness of what DV is• To know you are not alone• ‘Coming out’ stories from survivors• Knowledge of rights• Very simple information about all the options and the pros

and cons• Contact numbers for counsellors, support agencies,

refuges• ‘Rebranding’ of refuges


Available in Everyday Life

In GP’s surgeriesAt schoolsIn the Red Book given at childbirthOn the back of bus tickets, in advertising on busesOn Benefits papersOn TV: in soaps, or documentaries

Women want advice from an independent source


Reactions to Initiatives

Automatic Expulsion:

‘If the Police are called to a domestic incident and there is evidence of Violence, they will throw the perpetrator out of the house for a one week ‘cooling off’ period.

During this time an advisor will visit the victim to explain the possible options available to them.’


Advantages and Drawbacks - expulsion

Advantages

1. This is what most women who call the police say they want:

A clear signal/ immediate disadvantage to the man

The woman is offered relief & protection (provided he is kept away)

The woman is not the one to leave

2. The advisor is well received

3. There is interaction between crisis management & ongoing support

Drawbacks

1. What will happen after the week?

2. Will he cool off or get worse

3. They don’t really understand injunctions

4. Perception of police as ineffectual at enforcement


Optimisation

Not ‘cooling off’ but a prelude to providing on-going, effectiveprotection for women

Needs to be clear & believable that there will be penalties tothe man if he approaches during the week or breaches Injunctions

The onus should not be on the woman to take legal action and protect herself


Perpetrator Programmes

‘Men are offered or sent to a period of counselling in whichthey are taught to accept responsibility for their actions, understand that the violence is wrong, and change their behaviour.’


Advantages & Drawbacks – Perpetrator Programmes

Advantages

Men have to acknowledge they have a problem

Some belief that men could change

Drawbacks

Men won’t attend voluntarily

They will pretend to change

‘‘once a perpetrator, always a perpetrator”


Optimisation

There must be an element of compulsion:

“Men will only change if the alternative is something worse.”


Advantages & Drawbacks – Advocacy/navigator service

Advantages

An opportunity to break out of the closed system

An opportunity to have the horror of their experience validated

A non-committal and safe first step

Getting support to build up esteem, confidence and clarity

Information in a supportive climate

Drawbacks

No real objections: some details:

How to get to navigator in the first place?

Proposal might not go far enough (protection?)

Advocate or Navigator?

Resistance to new name from current front line


Optimisation – Navigator service

Navigator should have experienced DV herselfShould be a willing, supportive earShould not pressure the woman into action: let her make her decisions

Can guide woman through:

Information about options

Making a decision

Legal alternatives and practical processes


Summary and Conclusions


DV segmentation and role of interventions

CURRENTLY, MOST INTERVENTIONS (i.e. calling the police; taking out injunctions; pursuing a criminal route)

HAPPEN HERE:After a long period of 'embattlement‘

when the woman believes the situation to be life-threatening:

For her childrenFor herself

First interventions - e.g. Police /injuctions - are often ineffectual, and there is no clear series of escalating interventions

and consequences

Perpetrators get the message: 'nobody's going to stop me this isn't really wrong'

Idealists Embattled Resigned

Refugees

RE

SO

LUT

ION

TIME

ResolvedEarly interventionists


Create different interventions for different stages?


He can’t really hurt me now

The kids have left home

It’s easier to stay put now

I still have too much to lose

My home

‘Security’ for my kids

I’m ashamed

DV victims are weak

I feel worthless

Is it my fault?

I feel ground down

He’s so nice – I wouldn’t be believed

I’m afraid of him

I still love him (sometimes)

The solutions are terrible

This is terrible, but so are the solutions

I still love him

I want to preserve my home

It’s just a phase

It isn’t that bad

I’m hoping I can make this better

I’m really afraid for:

My children

Myself

Now I know it’s worse to do nothing than to take action

This is bad

I know it could get worse

I don’t feel emotionally or financially dependent

I have to take action now – the consequences of inaction would be worse

Mindset of main segments

Early interventionists Idealists Embattled Refugees

Resigned


There’s too much to lose

Shame

Denial

Fear

I wouldn’t be believed

Internal

Why the ‘embattled’ stay put for so longWhy the ‘embattled’ stay put for so longInternal and external factors combine powerfully to produce inaction

The solutions are terrible

Leave the home

Lose all hope for my relationship

Set the police/the law on my own partner/the father of my children

‘Come out’ as a DV victim

Risk retaliation from my partner

All the neighbours talking

I can’t be sure any solution would work

I don’t want the onus to be on me

External

I can’t believe the solutions are better than the situation I’m in

Inaction


Current weakness in the systemWomen wait for too long

Public awareness campaignsin popular media and ‘everyday’ venues

10 clear, simple points for identifying bullying / DV behaviour (similar to those used for identifying oneself as alcoholic)

Emphasis on identifying behaviour rather than victims

Educating women re:

likely escalation

impact on children

range of possible solutions

where to get support

What might help

Less ‘extreme’ solutions:

Support for women experiencing bullyingin relationships

Ways of addressing the problem within the relationship

Helpline / counselling / navigators

Again, targeted at people experiencing DV behaviour, rather than at ‘Victims’

Onus not to be on woman in the case of police/legal solutions:

Could injunctions be taken out by a third party?

Automatic action taken by police

Clear, consistent and strong responses from police:


Current weakness in the systemInjunctions often don’t work

Police interventions are inconsistent, send unclear messages and often don’t work to stop/reduce the violent behaviour Women get discouraged by the fact that police don’t send clear messages or take decisive action.

More support throughout the process: advocates / navigators

Help with finding housing if needed

As before – education re likely escalation if action is not pursued

Keeping victim and perpetrator separate:

Waiting rooms

Court

Support throughout: advocates/navigators

The victim to make more input (if she wants) and exercise greater control

Speedier process

What might help


Current weakness in the systemWomen drop out of criminal proceedings

The court process is intimidating

AUTOMATIC EXPULSION

The initiatives

“This could make him worse ..”

IN PRINCIPLE THIS IS AN IMPROVEMENT:

Sends clear message

Action taken first time

BUT – WOMEN FEAR INADEQUATE PROTECTION – BOTH DURING AND AFTER THE ‘COOLING-OFF’

CLEAR CONSEQUENCES:

For breaches during the week

For further violent behaviour

…WHICH ARE ALWAYS ENACTED

A MORE CONSISTENT, SUPPORTIVE POLICE FORCE

PERPETRATOR PROGRAMMES “Great, but who’s going to get him to go?”

VERY GOOD IN PRINCIPLE:

Getting men to take responsibility

BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME COMPULSION INVOLVED

MAKE IT COMPULSORY – WITH CONSEQUENCES FOR FAILURE TO ATTEND

NAVIGATOR/ADVOCATE “If I’d had this, maybe I would have taken action sooner.”

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WOMEN WANT AND NEED

From ‘Idealists’To those pursuing criminal proceedings

MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE TO ‘IDEALISTS’

I.e. for those experiencing bullying behaviour – as well as ‘DV Victims’

Idea of a centre is very popular

NAVIGATORS SHOULD BE WOMEN WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED BULLYING/DV THEMSELVES


Ideal role of interventions

Advocates / navigators:- support at all stages

Idealists Embattled Resigned

Refugees

CLEAR, ESCALATING SERIES OF CONSEQUENCES – E.G.: Automatic expulsion Longer term Prison

Exclusion from home

Lose access rights


Thank you Contact:

Roy Langmaid or Charles Trevailat Promise

7 - 9 Adam StreetLondon WC2N 6AATel: +44 (0)20 7 520 9234Fax: +44 (0) 20 7 520 9235Mobile +44 (0) 7770 915 240 email:[email protected]: www.promisecorp.com



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Domestic Violence A Qual Study

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