Department of Justice SAFE AT HOME An Integrated Response to Family Violence Engaging the Criminal Justice System Liz Little – Principal Consultant Department

Department of Justice

SAFE AT HOMEAn Integrated Response

to Family Violence

Engaging the Criminal Justice System

Liz Little – Principal Consultant


August 2007


The Context of Change

“Conflict between organisations is an inevitable growth of functional interdependence and the scarcity of resources.” (Assael 1969)


Seamless Service DeliveryBest practice entails: – coordinated partnerships and

collaborations between agencies and services

– availability of a broad range of treatment and intervention options

– follow up for clients on a system wide basis


Continuum of Integration Debbie King, SuccessWorks 2007

Cooperation Coordination Collaboration Partnership

Low risk

Low investment

Low commitment

More formal

understanding

Longer term

relationship

Planning effort

Durable relationship

New structures and

processes

Comprehensive

planning

Commitment of effort

and resources

Pooled and/or shared

resources

Sustainable

relationships

Formal agreements /

MOUs

Shared vision and

goals

Interdependence

Detailed planning and

role clarification

PARTICIPATORY CONSULTATION Process for empowering participants through their involvement in the decision making process


Inter-agency conflict“From an agency’s viewpoint, collaborative activity raises two main difficulties. First, it loses some of its freedom to act independently… Secondly, it must invest scarce resources and energy in developing and maintaining relationships with other organisations…” (Hudson, 1987)


Using conflict as a source of change

Constructive conflict occurs when there is:• A critical review of past actions• Effective communication between disputants• Established outlets for the expression of

grievances • Equitable resource distribution• Standardised mechanisms for conflict

resolution• Balance of power within the system

(Assael 1969)


‘What Works’ in Service Integration• Establish effective and functional leadership and

decision making structures• Establish processes where services work together

‘respectfully’ and as ‘equal partners’ to identify common goals

• Create practical linkages through such things as ‘outstationing’ staff to enable hands-on knowledge of each others systems

• Develop common information and data sharing tools and agree on the outcomes that you are monitoring.

• Establish formal MOUs• Use cross-training strategies across sectors and

services.


Matrix for Analysis of Inter-agency Conflict (Dr Dorothy Scott, 2005)

• Inter-organisational

• Intra-organisational

• Inter-professional

• Inter-personal

• Intra-personal


Inter-organisational sources of conflict

• Different service systems possess different bodies of knowledge, different cultures of practice and different underlying commitments as well as different policies, procedures and benchmarks

• People working in one field can be unaware of the impact of systemic cultures on their work yet such differences can form significant barriers to effective service linkages with other systems.


Intra-organisational sources of conflict

The historical narrative within an organisation’s culture can be built on distrust and a negative perception of other organisation’s past acts of omission or commission.

Ineffective leadership can use this as a strategy to facilitate internal cohesion by creating a ‘common external enemy’.


Inter-professional sources of conflict

Different professional perspectives and modes of decision-making and communication can create barriers and frustrations. For example: – consensus seeking within human service

organisations versus command-control with police;

– narrative for counsellors versus substantive facts for courts.


Inter-personal sources of conflict

Conflict between individuals based on external factors, values, style etc


Intra-personal sources of conflict

Individual emotional reactions including defence mechanisms such as projection and displacement.

Frustration and a sense of impotence can arouse deep emotions particularly when workers see themselves as protecting ‘vulnerable’ people – advocacy role.


Inter-Agency Service Network Mapping

• Who does each organisation define as the primary client?

• What aspects of this client is each organisation focussed on?

• Which organisations are more dependant on others for information, resources etc?

• Which organisations have more power?• Which organisations are competitors?• Which organisations have overlapping

mandates or roles?


Safe at Home - Policy Principles

• Family violence is a crime and where evidence exists that it has been committed arrest and prosecution will occur.

• The victim should not placed in a position of determining the response of the justice system.

• The safety of victims is paramount.• Wherever possible victims should have the

choice about remaining in their own home.


Safe at Home - Policy Principles (cont’d)

The service response to family violence should be seamless and roles and responsibilities of each agency should be clear.

The Police are responsible for providing immediate intervention to secure the safety of the victim(s) and manage the risk that the offender might repeat or escalate their violence.


Safe at Home - the Foundations

Safe at Home is built around:

• Managing the risk that an offender might repeat or escalate their violence

• Identifying and implementing strategies that enhance the safety of the victim(s)

Documents

Department of Justice SAFE AT HOME An Integrated Response to Family Violence Engaging the Criminal Justice System Liz Little – Principal Consultant Department