indicators for the assessment of professional response in situations of partner violence

The creation of a 'matrix' consisting of 30 indicators for the assessment of professional response in situations of partner violence serves as a test of the possibilities of implementation of the key assumptions of the theoretical concept of violence as control by coercion and of the intervention principle from the 'Duluth model' in the local context. Empirical analysis of the current procedures through the examination of expert documentation on 53 cases of partner violence in one local community is indicative of: a) the existence of a minimum of common understanding of the phenomenon and keeping record of the facts that influence the effects of protection; b) the need for a standardized assessment of the links between the characteristics of the violent situation, the perpetrator and the victim on one hand, and the intervention on the other. In order to improve the response of professionals it is requisite to establish: a) standard forms and lists of questions explicitly directed at relevant facts and assessments b) training and written instructions for implementation. The proposed 'matrix' of indicators can serve for the formulation of instructions and forms, as well as for the supervision of procedures.