The Duluth model - Minesota

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A Coordinated Community Response to Domestic
Violence
Duluth Minnesota Elsa Chiu HKCSS
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The Duluth Model Background

• 1970s
• First shelter opened in the States
• Advocacy groups, the press, lawmakers,
  researchers, academia and the public, leader in
  different disciplines
• recognized the need to develop and implement new
  policies and protocols to protect victims

Background
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The Duluth Model Background

• 1978
• A domestic abuse case Cindy Landfried was
  battered for 3 yrs, finally she shot and kill her
  husband.
• propose a proactive domestic assault intervention
  project
• Duluth as the site for an experimental project
• introduce multiple inter-agency agreements to
  improve the communitys ability to hold offenders
  accountable for their violence.

Background
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The Duluth Model Background

• March 2, 1981
• The priority is always the victims safety.
• Launch Domestic Abuse Intervention Project (DAIP)
• Adopt policies and procedures to coordinate
  interventions
• Use legal sanctions, rehabilitation programs and
  incarceration when necessary

Background
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Critical Success Factors

• Community consensus
• Resource support
• Trust and support
• Autonomous, non-profit agency and small
  coordinating staff (interest free, neutral
  position)
• Small community

Critical Success Factors
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The Duluth Model
A comprehensive community-based project widely
recognized as a model in confronting domestic
assault

• A criminal justice intervention project in
  domestic violence cases.
• A system of
• Networks
• Agreements
• processes
• applied principles
• created by local shelters movement, criminal
  justice agencies and human services programs.

Background
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Aims Advocate for collective interest of women,
instead of individual case to case

• To increase victim safety
• To increase accountability of the perpetrators
• To break the climate of tolerance to domestic
  violence

Aims
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The five core principles of intervention

• Clear and specific goals provided a consistent
  stance
• burden of confronting abusers -- the community,
  not the victim
• individual practitioners -- cooperative, guided
  by training, job descriptions and standardized
  practices
• responsive to the totality of harm
• Priority -- Protection of the victim
• basic understanding of and a commitment to
  accountability to the victim

Principles
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8 Essential Activities

• Building a Coordinated Community Response
  composes of
• community organizing and advocacy
• Building coherent philosophical approach
• (Focus on victim safety)
• Developing best practice policies and protocols
• Reducing fragmentation
• Building monitoring and tracking system
• Ensuring a supportive community infrastructure
• Intervening abusers directly
• Undoing harm to the victims
• Evaluating the outcome (the victims standpoint)

Activities
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DAIP Organizing Process

• Talk
• Watch
• Read
• Work in small group
• Propose changes
• Convince policy makers
• Test new ideas make adjustments
• Organize training
• Monitor compliance
• Document Impact

Agency audit
Implementation
Evaluation
Organizing Process
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The Duluth Model (2003)

• Minnesota Program Development, Inc.
• Domestic Abuse Intervention Project
• (Coordinate the Community Response)
• Mens Non-violence Education Class /
  CrossRoads Program
• Domestic Abuse Information Network (DAIN)
• Child Visitation Centre
• National Training Project

Content
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Medical
Law enforcement
Judiciary
Com. organizations
Judiciary
Com. organizations
Pence (1996). Coordinated Community Response to
Domestic Assault Cases A Guide for Policy
Development. MN Minnesota Program Development,
Inc.
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Feedback
People in system

• DAIP Staff Counselor group facilitators
• 911 communication centre
• The Police
• The prosecutors / probation officers
• Public health nurse

Feedback
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Feedback

• Many people think its wrong for a woman to bring
  her partner to court for abuse. Its NOT Court
  dont ruin relationships, violence does. (MIKE)
• When I was arrested, I was mad at
  everyone..These classes really helped me. I can
  see now what I was doing and I think I can deal
  with my problem a lot different now. (Dave)

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Achievement

• comprehensive community-based system intervention
  
• strengthened criminal justice response
• strong pro-arrest policy
• consistent sentencing of perpetrators
• Good victim advocacy and support
• Mandatory attendance
• Strong penalties.

Achievement
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Achievement international recognition on
pioneering efforts

• To alter public policy
• To protect victims of domestic abuse
• To offer rehabilitation opportunities for
  offenders

Achievement
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Issue of concerns

• Institutional change
• any efforts changing the socio-cultural
  institution?
• changing the perpetrators themselves? Criminal
  Justice approach? public health approach?
• community prevention strategies?
• influence of the media?
• teenage?

Issue of concern
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Issue of concerns

• Other concerned professions
• The medical practitioners ?
• The Churches ?
• The schools ?

Issue of concern
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Issue of concerns

• Monitoring
• Professional compliance
• Victim safety
• Support to batterers

Issue of concern
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Is it necessary to further strengthen the system
in responding to domestic violence in Hong Kong?
HOW?
Who?
What?
when?
Where?
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Websites

• Victim Support, SWD (www.info.gov.hk/swd/vs)
• E-resources, HKCSS (www.hkcss.org.hk/fs/er)
• Minnesota Program Development Inc.
  (www.duluth-model.org)
• Praxis International (www.praxisinternatinal.org)
• Minnesota Center Against Violence Abuse
  (www.mincava.umn.edu/).
• The Battered Women's Justice Project
  (www.bwjp.org)

Websites