Domestic abuse within criminal justice

As a social worker working in the criminal justice system, working with victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse is a common occurrence. Unfortunately, the prevalence of domestic violence within Scotland is still too high. However, with new ways of working there is clearly hope and ambition to tackle this issue.

I am currently working within a Woman’s Justice Team, which specifically works with women who are involved in the criminal justice system. While many of the women I work with have convictions of domestic violence, the reasons behind these convictions tends to be very different from when men are perpetrating violence on women. While this may be anecdotal evidence, research does generally back up what I witness at work on a day-to-day basis. The majority of women who have convictions of domestic violence have themselves been victims of domestic abuse for many years prior to coming to the attention of our services in the Woman’s Justice Team. The violence that the women will often perpetrate will be reactionary from years of systematic abuse or they will be trying to protect themselves or their children.

From my experiences, domestic violence is about power and control of women at the hands of men. This is a very broad definition and I do not in any way mean to minimise the impact of men who have been victims or same sex couples where violence is involved, but the vast majority of the work I’m involved in is to do with the power and control of men over women.

Unfortunately within the wider criminal justice system, we will only come involved after there has been convictions. The police and other services may have been involved for long periods of time but the reality is that due to our statutory responsibilities, it is very difficult to get involved prior to a conviction through the Courts. From research we know that by the time a conviction is made there has often been many unreported episodes of violence. This makes our job even tougher as the opportunity for early and effective intervention has gone.

However, in my work place they are introducing a model called “safe and together” as well as recently securing the caledonian system to change the way we address domestic violence against women. These two systems will work together to keep the perpetrator at the centre of interventions as well as look at how best to keep the victim and children safe. There is also opportunities for men to voluntarily access supports to address their offending behaviour prior to any convictions. This can give services the prospect of intervening at an earlier stage. While time will tell how many men access this voluntary support, it is a positive move forward. 

Previously when domestic abuse cases have come to the forefront, there has been a perceived “victim blaming” if the victim was to return to the partner and therefore put herself and any children at risk. These systems look to turn this around to ensure that perpetrator is held accountable for their actions and worked with to change their behaviours. Risk assessments are continually carried out in order to monitor the risks that are manageable in order to keep the victims safe should they rekindle their relationship. For me, knowing fully what is going on, helps to ensure that interventions are put in place. As previously when victims have felt “blamed” for going back into relationships this has caused them to be feel like they can’t trust the services around them that are trying to help. We always need to remember that we are not here to judge the decisions that people make, we are here to support and empower victims to feel stronger about how they want their lifes change.

A further way that we try to protect the victims of domestic violence is through our Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC). This is where all agencies are represented to share information that they have about victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. This allows robust plans to go forward in order to keep people safe. The victims are kept informed throughout this process and supported to have a voice at MARAC through advocacy workers. My experiences of MARAC have been positive as unknown information has come to light and clear tasks are put in place to try and minimise risk. This approach highlights to me the importance of multi-agency working to protect victims of domestic violence. Nevertheless, while the majority of agencies are involved in addressing the issues of domestic violence (social work, health, police, education, housing etc.) for me there is a clear lack of involvement from the courts and the procurator fiscal. While MARAC would not be the environment for them to be involved in, I do feel they need to be better connected to the services that are addressing the issues of domestic violence. Many cases of domestic violence never see the inside of a Court room, due to a number of issues that needs to be further looked at, and this leaves the victims feeling further let down and disempowered. While I don’t know what the answer is at present, I think there is some work to be done by policy makers to allow the courts and prosecutors to be more involved in tackling domestic violence.

It is positive that changes are being made to how we work with domestic violence, however, domestic violence and the trauma it causes will have systemic consequences to families and communities that should not be underestimated. The supports we offer need to always take a holistic approach that addresses all aspects to the domestic violence.