Jaffe Peter G, Crooks Claire V, Wolfe David A
Centre for Children and Families in the Justice System of the London Family Court Clinic, Ontario, Canada.
Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2003 Sep;6(3):205-13. doi: 10.1023/a:1024914517072.
Greater training and specialization in working with children exposed to domestic violence has resulted in new policies, interagency protocols, and legislation in many states. This paper examines court-related responses in criminal, child protection, and family court custody proceedings, which highlight legislative changes and resulting systemic change. Although this legislation originated with the best of intentions to assist and protect children, some of the most striking outcomes have been negative and unintended. Laws that mandate reporting of children exposed to domestic violence can clash with inadequate training and resources, or inadvertently revictimize abused women. Similarly, child custody legislation that raises a rebuttable presumption that a violent spouse will not receive custody or joint custody of children after parental separation has resulted in greater skepticism about abuse allegations We propose that efforts at law reform can be enhanced by a more thoughtful analysis of potential intended and unintended consequences, and should be accompanied by a comprehensive evaluation plan to monitor implementation effects.
在应对遭受家庭暴力儿童方面，更多的培训和专业化举措已在许多州催生了新政策、跨部门协议和立法。本文审视了刑事、儿童保护和家庭法庭监护程序中与法庭相关的应对措施，这些措施凸显了立法变革及由此带来的系统性变化。尽管这项立法初衷是为了帮助和保护儿童，但其一些最显著的结果却是负面且意想不到的。要求报告遭受家庭暴力儿童的法律可能与培训不足和资源匮乏相冲突，或者无意中再次伤害受虐妇女。同样，儿童监护立法提出了一项可反驳的推定，即父母分居后，有暴力行为的配偶将不会获得子女监护权或共同监护权，这导致人们对虐待指控产生了更大的怀疑。我们建议，通过对潜在的预期和非预期后果进行更深入的分析，可以加强法律改革的努力，并且应该伴随一个全面的评估计划来监测实施效果。
