Glick Saul, Spearman Kathryn J
Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital, Center for Law, Brain and Behavior (Cambridge, MA, USA); Harvard Law School, The Petrie-Flom Center (Cambridge, MA, USA).
Kathryn J. Spearman, MSN, RN, PhD candidate, Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing (Baltimore, MD, USA).
Policing (Oxf). 2024;18. doi: 10.1093/police/paae022. Epub 2024 Apr 6.
Domestic violence is a commonplace and serious societal problem with vast public health and economic consequences. Childhood exposure to domestic violence can blight children's biological and social development. Often, local police departments are first responders to domestic violence. This is because danger is associated with these events, which requires police presence. Yet, children are often unseen victims of domestic violence. In general, law enforcement agencies (i) are ill-equipped to identify the risks experienced by children; (ii) struggle to find alternative outcomes for children at risk other than removal or criminalization; (iii) do not use scientifically informed assessment tools which might improve their interactions with children; and (iv) inconsistently share data with other agencies in a timely manner. Moreover, gaps in criminal legal, child welfare, and family court responses to violence in the family create circumstances where children may fall through the cracks. Positive interventions in relation to domestic violence and children who suffer as a result of it should be viewed as a public priority. Improving responses to these issues should be reframed as (i) a way to reduce the amount of future violent crimes committed, and (ii) reduce the resource burden felt by public services. This commentary discusses the scope and scale of children's exposure to domestic violence and child maltreatment and discusses international best practices that can serve as models to improve law enforcement's response to children.
家庭暴力是一个常见且严重的社会问题，会产生广泛的公共卫生和经济后果。儿童时期遭受家庭暴力会损害其生理和社会发展。通常，当地警察部门是家庭暴力事件的第一响应者。这是因为此类事件存在危险，需要警察到场。然而，儿童往往是家庭暴力中被忽视的受害者。总体而言，执法机构：（i）识别儿童所面临风险的能力不足；（ii）除了将处于风险中的儿童带走或定罪外，难以找到其他替代方案；（iii）不使用可能改善与儿童互动的科学评估工具；（iv）与其他机构及时共享数据的情况不一致。此外，刑事法律、儿童福利和家庭法院对家庭内暴力的应对存在差距，导致儿童可能被忽视。针对家庭暴力及受其影响的儿童的积极干预应被视为公共优先事项。改善对这些问题的应对应被重新定义为：（i）减少未来暴力犯罪数量的一种方式；（ii）减轻公共服务所感受到的资源负担。本评论探讨了儿童遭受家庭暴力和虐待的范围及规模，并讨论了可作为改善执法机构对儿童应对措施典范的国际最佳实践。
