The impact of communication on the efficiency of procedures of dealing with family violence

Abstract

Violence in the family is a problem that has frequently been dealt with by both professional and lay public. In recent years, much has been done to amend legislation, but certain issues still remain unresolved, in particular the question of agencies performing concrete tasks and activities, including the police. In measuring the efficiency of the police in dealing with family violence, an important factor is communication, which can either provoke new traumas in victims or facilitate a way out from the vicious circle of violence. The paper presents the findings of a research project that was carried out among female professional staff of agencies dealing with assistance to victims of family violence, and police officers faced with these problems in their routine work. It has been found that police officers are not especially qualified for communication in dealing with family violence, that the quality of procedures involving victims of family violence can considerably depend on the personal characteristics of police officers, that appropriate first contact of police officers with persons involved in family violence plays a crucial role in the process of solving this problem and, finally, that all agencies dealing with the problem of violence have an equally important role.