Domestic Abuse Policy Domestic Violence and Abuse Involves the physical or mental abuse of one partner in an intimate relationship o Dating o Cohabitating o Marriage o Family Abuse can be physical in nature o Hitting kicking biting shoving etc Abuse can also be mental o Emotional stalking intimidation controlling etc NIJ and CDC estimates suggest that o Women experience more intimate partner victimization than men o Estimated that approximately 1 3 million women are subject to some type of physical assault by an inmate partner every year in the US o Around 835 000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner every year in the US Current Mainstream Domestic Violence Abuse Policies Violence against Women Act VAWA o Provides services for gov t and victim support agencies to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence and treat victims Family Violence Prevention and Services Act FVPSA o Funds victims help services such as shelter hotlines and local community programs Needs for Domestic Abuse Policies Reduce amount of emotional stress that could come from an abusive relationship Theory for Domestic Abuse Policies Deterrence Rational Choice Theory o If we increase punishment or create more laws it will deter abusive behavior o Weigh costs and benefits of punishment before being abusive Implementation Evaluation When do we want to do this where do we want to put a policy o Within family o Between inmate and their partner o Are we trying to address problems before they go back home o Counseling Outcome and Impact Evaluation NCVS asks about abuse by people in household or partners and since this has been put in place there has been more women that come forward about abuse Cost Efficiency Evaluation of Domestic Abuse Policies Reducing the amount of intimate partner violence reduces the amount of medical treatment therapy etc needed making domestic abuse policies cost efficient Conclusion Mainstream CJ Policies Lack of evaluation research Every policy rests on either a small or nonexistent body of evidence o Evidence that there are substantial needs for a policy o Strong theoretical support for a policy o Effective and consistent implementation strategies for a policy o Support for a policy based on outcome and impact evaluations o Evidence that a policy is cost efficient The Need for More CJ Evaluation Research Lack of understanding o Whether a policy has an intended impact o When we can expect to see a change in the problem o How much benefit and cost is associated with a policy Long term effects Short term effects Money Crime rate Victimization rate Theory for More CJ Evaluation Research Better understand what is really driving specific crime problems in certain areas of the US If we can identify the key motivating factors we can create effective strategies to address them The more CJ evaluation research examining a wide range of policies the better Implementation Evaluation Begin to train more criminologists in evaluation research o Professors o Graduate students o Practitioners practitioners Develop a line of communication between researchers policymakers and Apply an evaluation hierarchy approach to all CJ policies Outcome and Impact Evaluations Systematically evaluate whether or not cooperation among researchers policymakers and practitioners is improving policy efforts Cost Efficiency of More CJ Evaluation Research Costs 1 more funding for research Benefits 1 better understand the financial drain of specific crimes on society and 2 combine multiple cost benefit ratios to improve the validity of cost efficiency results Future Outlook for CJ Policies Of the policies we have reviewed which ones seem to be effective What types of emerging crime problems need new policies Supermax Prisons It is estimated that around 81 000 prisoners reside in confined housing every year What are the results of this The National Institute of Justice has conducted an independent assessment of federal supermax housing CBT Programming Some forms are offered at halfway houses for returning offenders More advanced programs include electrode technology Preliminary results are promising Sex Offender Policy Researchers are beginning to uncover neurological basis to pedophilia Although more is becoming known about what causes pedophilia treatment outcomes remain poor