For example, an influential 1983 study found that arresting men who were assaulting their wives or lovers lead to a reduction in domestic violence. Among men who were employed, being arrested led to a decline in their rates of domestic violence in the year after being released from jail. But those who were unemployed were more likely to be violent if they had been arrested than if they had only been warned. Basing legal policy on a single study may have inadvertently raised the levels of violence against some women. Furthermore, the mandatory arrest laws have had the unintended consequence of a large increase in the number of women arrested for wounding men, even in self-defense.
Time is important in collaboration in another way.
Researchers can respect this by fitting their needs into advocates' existing schedules, for example, by attending regularly scheduled staff meetings rather than setting up additional meetings and in other ways organizing the research at the advocates' convenience. Advocates have a wealth of knowledge that they have developed through direct experience with battered and abused women. They are likely to be particularly aware of the way that culture and ethnicity affects responses to abuse, and so they know how research instruments should be modified for particular groups of women. Because of their close involvement in women's lives, they are aware first-hand of cutting edge issues that have not yet surfaced in research and policy discussions. Furthermore, they often are knowledgeable about the politics surrounding policies about violence and abuse.