EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Developing an innovative response to domestic and family violence: Accommodating perpetrators as a strategy for change
Background
"Safe at home" programs, within the context of a focus on perpetrator accountability, are a critical counter to the traditional focus on safeguarding women and children by moving them out of the family home. Through a partnership between Flinders University and a non-government organisation, this project will evaluate a pilot scheme based on safe-at-home principles, thereby contributing to both the development of, and evidence base concerning, perpetrator-focused responses to domestic and family violence.
Aim
The project aims to build conceptual and practice understandings as a critical basis for strengthening responses to domestic and family violence, encompassing the infrastructure, program and policy elements required to address the needs of both perpetrators and victims. Its particular focus is on exploring the place of perpetrator accommodation services in domestic and family violence responses.
Methods
As a qualitative project, this research will produce a detailed picture of the perpetrator accommodation model incorporating an evaluation of the program within its sociopolitical context. Phase 1 will systematically document the policy drivers and local context for the perpetrator accommodation model as well as its particular program logic, guiding principles, practices and elements. Phase 2 will review existing research, providing the basis for a process evaluation and highlighting the intersections of theory, implementation and practice. Phase 3 will generate empirical data through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with male perpetrators (service users).