DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03603
title: Evaluation of Special Session Domestic Violence Court Processing in Connecticut, 1999-2000
title: Archival Version

description: This study documented women's experience of enhanced
 services and advocacy in the context of the three special session
 domestic violence courts in Connecticut. The study conducted 60
 in-depth interviews with women whose current or former partners were
 arrested for domestic violence and who appeared in one of the three
 special session courts. The questions were designed to elicit
 information from women about the meaning and context of intimate
 violence in their lives generally, their assessments of the risks and
 options available to them and their children from family, friends, and
 other institutions, their strategies for maximizing safety for
 themselves and their children, the meaning of the arrest incident in
 their overall experience of their relationship with their abusive
 partner, and the impact of the court experience on their plans, sense
of options, and understanding of the abuse they had experienced.
description: Despite over 20 years of attention to domestic
 violence by advocates, service providers, researchers, and
 policymakers, and dramatic increases in resources provided for
 criminal justice and community-based groups, gaps remain in knowledge
 about which types of interventions and collaborative partnerships
 offer the most effective strategies to enhance victim safety and hold
 offenders accountable. In particular, little is known about the impact
 of specialized domestic violence dockets, specialized prosecution
 units, and the expanded advocacy and treatment interventions they
 often provide, especially in the context of mandatory arrests that
 apply to misdemeanor offenses. This study documented women's
 experience of enhanced services and advocacy in the context of the
 three special session domestic violence courts in Connecticut. The
 following questions were addressed: (1) How do women whose partners
 were arrested for domestic violence in jurisdictions with special
 session courts experience the legal system's response? (2) What
 strategies most enhance women's sense of safety? (3) How (if at all)
 do African American, Latina, and Caucasian women whose partners have
 been arrested for domestic violence differ in their experience of
 legal system interventions? (4) How is the role of the victim advocate
 affected by increased resources and court emphasis on interventions
 and sanctions? and (5) What services do women want and receive when
advocates have more time and resources available?
description: This study conducted 60 in-depth interviews with
 women whose current or former partners were arrested for domestic
 violence and who appeared in one of the three special session
 courts. The specific questions for this study were based on previous
 interviews conducted as part of Connecticut's ongoing evaluation
 efforts. Additional questions were developed in consultation with
 advocates and a victim advisory group. The advisory group was created
 with advocates' help, and was composed of six women whose partners'
 cases had been heard in the three special session domestic violence
 courts. The six women, along with two advocates, reviewed proposed
 questions, suggested additional items, and discussed the best
 strategies for approaching women about their possible
 participation. As a result of their suggestions, questions were added
 about women's experience with the police, as well as expanded
 questions about sources of support and risks. The questions were
 designed to elicit information from women about the meaning and
 context of intimate violence in their lives generally, their
 assessments of the risks and options available to them and their
 children from family, friends, and other institutions, their
 strategies for maximizing safety for themselves and their children,
 the meaning of the arrest incident in their overall experience of
 their relationship with their abusive partner, and the impact of the
 court experience on their plans, sense of options, and understanding
 of the abuse they had experienced. Women selected for this study were
 contacted by a research assistant who had received extensive training
 for this project. Arrangements were made for the interview to take
 place by telephone or in person in a safe place selected by the woman.
 The type of contact was the woman's choice. Safety issues were raised
 at this point in an effort to ensure that the interview process itself
 would not pose foreseeable risks to the woman. Without exception, the
 women preferred to be interviewed by telephone, and all agreed to have
 the interview tape-recorded. Two researchers independently coded the
 interviews where possible, and the initial differences were resolved
through subsequent discussion.
description: Variables include court that handled the case, date
 of interview, victim's language, education level, employment status
 and history, race, information on financial assistance from government
 agencies, age, number of children, childrens' age and sex, where
 children were living at the time of partner's arrest for domestic
 violence, whether the victim witnessed physical violence between
 parents while growing up, whether anything happened as a result of
 that violence, effects of witnessing that violence, and whether the
 victim was threatened as a child. Other items focus on the nature of
 the relationship with the partner arrested for domestic violence,
 length of the relationship, whether the relationship had ended,
 whether the partner had any experience with domestic violence while
 growing up, whether the victim was living with the partner at time of
 the arrest, how long they had lived together, whether they were still
 living together after arrest, whether the partner helped support the
 victim and her family before the arrest, the importance of that
 support, whether the victim could find other sources of financial
 support, whether the person arrested was the father of the victim's
 children, whether he helped care for the children, whether the victim
 had a friend, family member, or community group to talk to when the
 relationship got into trouble, and whether this person or group could
 provide other kinds of assistance. Additional variables include the
 frequency of violence or threats of violence from the partner,
 childrens' exposure to the violence, whether the arrest was the first
 time the police got involved, the number of times police came in the
 past, who called the police, what the victim wanted the police to do,
 whether the victim was also arrested, the victim's satisfaction with
 the police response, whether the victim talked to a family relations
 counselor or family violence victim advocate, whether a protective
 order was given, whether the victim talked to a judge or prosecutor,
 whether people in court could have done anything to be more helpful,
 what had happened since with the case, whether the victim had talked
 any further with anyone from the court, whether she wished she had
 more contact with people from the court, whether she felt she was
 treated fairly by the court, whether there had been more trouble in
 the relationship, the victim's views on how couples should handle
 physical violence, whether police and courts should get involved, what
 their roles should be, whether the victim would call someone from the
 court if she felt threatened, and what kind of help she thought her
partner or ex-partner needed.
description: Response Rates: Not available.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Women who came to court on the day of arraignment were
 told by the advocates about the study and the $25 contribution for
 their time, and given a simple written description of it (in English
 or Spanish, as appropriate), developed in consultation with the victim
 advisory group. Women who did not come to court at that time were told
 about the interview when the advocates contacted them by telephone.
 With this approach, nearly every woman who became involved in the
 court process to any degree was informed about the study and their
 opportunity to participate. Women who were interested in participating
 provided information about the safest ways and times to contact
 them. The study's goal was to interview 20 Caucasians, 20 African
 Americans, and 20 Latinas. However, the interviews included 22
 Caucasians, 25 African Americans, 11 Latinas, and 2 women of other
 race. Although the goal was not achieved precisely, the sample's
 diversity reasonably represents the range of women seen as victims of
domestic violence in the courts.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Evaluation of Special Session Domestic Violence Court Processing in Connecticut, 1999-2000
description: Women whose partners were arrested for domestic violence
 and arraigned at one of three special session family violence court
sites in Connecticut from 1999 to 2000.
description: (1) The interviews on which this study was based were
 qualitative in nature. The analysis in the principal investigator's
 report was based on a combination of qualitative data and the data in
 this data collection. (2) The user guide, codebook, and data
 collection instrument are provided by ICPSR as Portable Document
 Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe
 Systems, Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software,
 such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy
of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.