Department of Justice SAFE AT HOME An Integrated Response to Family Violence Engaging the Criminal Justice System Liz Little – Principal Consultant Department of Justice August 2007

Department of Justice The Context of Change “Conflict between organisations is an inevitable growth of functional interdependence and the scarcity of resources.” (Assael 1969)

Department of Justice Seamless Service Delivery Best practice entails: –coordinated partnerships and collaborations between agencies and services –availability of a broad range of treatment and intervention options –follow up for clients on a system wide basis

Department of Justice Continuum of Integration Debbie King, SuccessWorks 2007

Department of Justice Inter-agency conflict “From an agency’s viewpoint, collaborative activity raises two main difficulties. First, it loses some of its freedom to act independently… Secondly, it must invest scarce resources and energy in developing and maintaining relationships with other organisations…” (Hudson, 1987)

Department of Justice Using conflict as a source of change Constructive conflict occurs when there is: A critical review of past actions Effective communication between disputants Established outlets for the expression of grievances Equitable resource distribution Standardised mechanisms for conflict resolution Balance of power within the system (Assael 1969)

Department of Justice ‘What Works’ in Service Integration Establish effective and functional leadership and decision making structures Establish processes where services work together ‘respectfully’ and as ‘equal partners’ to identify common goals Create practical linkages through such things as ‘outstationing’ staff to enable hands-on knowledge of each others systems Develop common information and data sharing tools and agree on the outcomes that you are monitoring. Establish formal MOUs Use cross-training strategies across sectors and services.

Department of Justice Matrix for Analysis of Inter-agency Conflict (Dr Dorothy Scott, 2005) Inter-organisational Intra-organisational Inter-professional Inter-personal Intra-personal

Department of Justice Inter-organisational sources of conflict Different service systems possess different bodies of knowledge, different cultures of practice and different underlying commitments as well as different policies, procedures and benchmarks People working in one field can be unaware of the impact of systemic cultures on their work yet such differences can form significant barriers to effective service linkages with other systems.

Department of Justice Intra-organisational sources of conflict The historical narrative within an organisation’s culture can be built on distrust and a negative perception of other organisation’s past acts of omission or commission. Ineffective leadership can use this as a strategy to facilitate internal cohesion by creating a ‘common external enemy’.

Department of Justice Inter-professional sources of conflict Different professional perspectives and modes of decision-making and communication can create barriers and frustrations. For example: –consensus seeking within human service organisations versus command-control with police; –narrative for counsellors versus substantive facts for courts.

Department of Justice Inter-personal sources of conflict Conflict between individuals based on external factors, values, style etc

Department of Justice Intra-personal sources of conflict Individual emotional reactions including defence mechanisms such as projection and displacement. Frustration and a sense of impotence can arouse deep emotions particularly when workers see themselves as protecting ‘vulnerable’ people – advocacy role.

Department of Justice Inter-Agency Service Network Mapping Who does each organisation define as the primary client? What aspects of this client is each organisation focussed on? Which organisations are more dependant on others for information, resources etc? Which organisations have more power? Which organisations are competitors? Which organisations have overlapping mandates or roles?

Department of Justice Safe at Home - Policy Principles Family violence is a crime and where evidence exists that it has been committed arrest and prosecution will occur. The victim should not placed in a position of determining the response of the justice system. The safety of victims is paramount. Wherever possible victims should have the choice about remaining in their own home.

Department of Justice Safe at Home - Policy Principles (cont’d)  The service response to family violence should be seamless and roles and responsibilities of each agency should be clear.  The Police are responsible for providing immediate intervention to secure the safety of the victim(s) and manage the risk that the offender might repeat or escalate their violence.

Department of Justice Safe at Home - the Foundations Safe at Home is built around: Managing the risk that an offender might repeat or escalate their violence Identifying and implementing strategies that enhance the safety of the victim(s)