The effectiveness of the policy on domestic violence in Rotterdam: a study into the effectiveness of the network of the policy on domestic violence in Rotterdam, in the years 2007-2011

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence in our society and can be seen as a social problem. In order to be able to tackle the problem and the provide the right support, various organizations must cooperate with each other. The Dutch government supported this cooperation by developing a national policy on domestic violence and this national policy is implemented in different regional and local policies. The policy on domestic violence of Rotterdam is one of the most advanced policies on this subject. Since 2007, the municipality of Rotterdam has introduced the reporting code on domestic violence, and this code will become mandatory by January 2013. However, the implementation of this code does not necessarily mean that the policy is effective. In this study, the effectiveness of the policy of Rotterdam will be studied for the period of 2007-2011. To tackle the problem of domestic violence, various organizations have to cooperate within a network. To determine the effectiveness of the policy on domestic violence in Rotterdam, the theory of Provan and Kenis about network governance is leading. This theory distinguishes three types of network governance: a Participant-Governed Network; a Lead Organization-Governed Network; and a Network Administrative Organization. To determine the effectiveness of a network governance form, there are three dependent variables selected: the range of service provided, the relationship strength and the creation and maintenance of the Support Center of Domestic Violence. For each type of network governance, the theory describes four independent variables which influence the effectiveness of the type of network governance. These variables include the level of trust, the number of participants, the level of goal consensus and the need for network-level competencies. The dependent and independent variables are measured on the basis of interviews. Eleven interviews with respondents of 12 organizations involved in the network of domestic violence in Rotterdam were held. The organizations selected to be interviewed received most reports of domestic violence in recent years. The selected organizations are focused on offenders, victims, children and witnesses of domestic violence. The whole network consist of 17 organizations, but five organizations could not be reached. Based on policy documents and the interviews, it was concluded that the whole network of domestic violence in Rotterdam is a Lead Organization-Governed Network in which the Support Center of Domestic Violence is the lead organization. The scores on the dependent variables were high, meaning there is a high level of effectiveness in the network of domestic violence in Rotterdam. The Lead Organization-Governed Network was effective with a moderate number of participants, a lot of trust among the participants, a moderate level of goal consensus and a moderate need for network-level competencies. The levels of trust and goal consensus differ (positively) with the expectations of the theory, but the network is still effective. This means the values of the variables, provided by the theory, are sufficient for network effectiveness. When the values of trust and goal consensus differ positively, this has no negative influence on the effectiveness of the network. To conclude, there is expected a high extent of effectiveness of the policy on domestic violence in Rotterdam when performed in a Lead Organization-Governed Network. However, there are some limitations on this study: there is no distinction made among different neighborhoods of Rotterdam, not all 17 organizations are interviewed and there is one leading theory about network governance. These limitations can be seen as recommendations for further research.