A follow-up evaluation of a coordinated police-social services response to recidivist family violence
| Published date | 01 December 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/26338076231174667 |
| Author | Gemma Hamilton,Lisa Harris,Sarah McCook |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
A follow-up evaluation of a
coordinated police-social
services response to recidivist
family violence
Gemma Hamilton , Lisa Harris,
and Sarah McCook
Criminology and Justice Studies, School of Global, Urban and Social
Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract
Coordinated multi-agency approaches are a key strategy for responding to recidivist family
violence. This paper presents a follow-up quantitative evaluation of Alexis: a coordinated
police-social services approach to recidivist and high-risk family violence piloted in Victoria,
Australia. State-wide police data was collected for 75 perpetrators 20 to 36 months since
case closure following Alexis intervention. Results indicated that 38 perpetrators (51%) had
no further recorded incidents of family violence. The remaining non-mutually exclusive cat-
egories indicated that 17 (22%) had perpetrated family violence against the original Alexis vic-
tim in another location (outside the pilot catchment zones); 28 (37%) had perpetrated family
violence against a different victim; and 8 of the prior two groups (11%) had perpetrated vio-
lence against both Alexis and non-Alexis victims. Those classified as low recidivists before
intervention were less likely to have a further recorded incident of family violence during
the follow-up period compared to high recidivists. Implications for police and policy-makers
are discussed with reference to intimate partner violence and parent abuse by adult children.
Keywords
Domestic violence, family violence, intimate partner violence, policing, recidivism, social services,
specialist unit
Date received: 19 January 2023; accepted: 24 April 2023
Corresponding author:
Gemma Hamilton, Criminology and Justice Studies, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University,
Level 10 Reception, Building 8, 383 Swanston Street, Melbourne VIC 3001, Australia.
Email: gemma.hamilton@rmit.edu.au
Article
Journal of Criminology
2023, Vol. 56(4) 456–469
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/26338076231174667
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