Criminal Justice System and Social Services have been effective in responding to domestic violence cases. From the outset, it is important to note that prior to the 1970s, the police and prosecutors considered certain domestic issues such as battering as family problems that should not be resolved through courts. As such, the criminal justice system developed some form of privacy in order to protect the husbands who battered their wives from prosecution. The system preferred the couples seek other remedy such as counseling rather than prosecute the perpetrators. However, in the 1970s, the criminal justice system started to regard domestic violence as assaults. In the 1980s some jurisdictions began to initiate special programs to deal with cases of domestic violence. The proactive prosecution policies that the system takes play an important role to the efforts of communities to stop domestic violence. The efforts of the criminal justice system to prosecute domestic violence ensure that batterers are not only accountable to their partners but also to the community. Prosecution of domestic violence also warns all community members that any form of violence is unacceptable. Such approach has contributed immensely to the reduction of domestic violence in many communities (McGuire, 1999).
With regard to the effectiveness of social workers in responding to domestic violence cases, they work with the affected families and are able to connect the experiences of each family member, including the perpetrator, the victim, and the children. The key responsibility of social workers is to ensure that the victims of violence and the children are safe. Accordingly, social workers engage with perpetrators in a bid to challenge them to change their violent behaviors. In order to respond effectively to domestic violence, social workers have had to coordinate support from various agencies such as the police to ensure that vulnerable families get better access to services (Erez, 2002). One of the most effective approaches that social workers use to respond to domestic violence is a form of intervention that often includes separation of parties, mediation, reconciliation as well as referral to other agencies.
References
Erez, E. (2002). Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice System: An Overview. Online
www.nursingworld.org/ojin/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Volume72002/No1Jan2002/DomesticViolenceandCriminalJustice.aspx
McGuire, L. (1999). Criminal Prosecution of Domestic Violence. Minnesota Center Against
Violence and Abuse. Retrieved From
http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/bwjp/prosecutev/prosecutev.html
