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Domestic Violence
Knowledge Path

Introduction

This knowledge path has been compiled by the MCH Library at Georgetown University. It presents a selection of current, high-quality resources about identifying and responding to domestic violence within the home and the community. A separate section lists resources for families. Other sections present resources about children exposed to domestic violence; dating violence among adolescents; and violence between gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender partners. This knowledge path is aimed at health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, advocates, researchers, employers, and victims of abuse and their families. This path will be updated periodically.

Please note: Current literature about domestic violence uses a variety of terms including "domestic violence," "intimate partner violence," "spouse abuse," "battering," and "dating violence." The terminology used in this knowledge path follows the usage of the source being described.

Resources for Professionals

Overview

See Understanding intimate partner violence (2006) by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This fact sheet documents the occurrence of intimate partner violence; briefly describes its physical, psychological, social, and economic consequences; and outlines prevention strategies.

Websites

  • American Bar Association (ABA): Commission on Domestic Violence. Contains resources for attorneys, health professionals, and others concerned about domestic violence and safety planning. Resources include policy statements, training information, consumer-education materials, and charts that summarize statutes from all 50 states regarding domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, and human trafficking. ABA's initiatives include the National Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative and the Legal Assistance for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Victims of Domestic Violence.

  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG): Violence Against Women. Contains resources for health professionals about domestic violence and sexual assault that include patient-education materials, screening tools, and contact information for state coalitions.

  • Asian and Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence. Offers reports, directories, translated materials, statistics, and other resources about domestic violence in Asian and Pacific Islander communities. The institute comprises a national network that works to raise awareness, expand leadership and expertise, and promote culturally relevant resources in Asian and Pacific Islander communities about domestic violence.

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Offers programs and initiatives about domestic violence that include

    CDC's Division of Reproductive Health: Violence and Reproductive Health. Provides background information and links to research related to violence that is associated with pregnancy-related illness, injury, and death. Includes a screen show lecture presentation.

    CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC): Intimate Partner Violence Prevention. Contains scientific and program information about intimate partner violence. Presents definitions, data sources, risk and protective factors, consequences, prevention strategies, and strategies for distributing prevention information and ensuring widespread adoption of prevention principles and strategies within communities.

    Also see CDC's adolescent-dating-violence-prevention initiative, Choose Respect.

  • Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence (CAEPV). Offers fact sheets, statistics, and articles about partner violence and about reducing the costs and consequences of partner violence at work. Describes corporate programs and policies that set the standard for how companies can handle this sensitive issue. CAEPV is an alliance of companies dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence by leveraging the strength and resources of the corporate community.

  • Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF). Contains a wealth of resources about domestic violence for health professionals, policymakers, employers, advocates, the legal community, and victims of abuse. FVPF educates and advocates nationally and internationally to prevent violence within the home and in the community and to help those whose lives are devastated by abuse. Programs focus on children, health, immigrant women, international trafficking of women and girls, judicial education, public education, public policy, adolescent dating violence, and workplace issues. Resources include fact sheets, reports, training materials, assessment tools, public-education materials, legislative news, and an electronic journal. Initiatives include

    kNOwMORE. Presents information about this initiative to create a dialogue among health professionals, policymakers, and young women about the reproductive health consequences of sexual coercion and violence. Includes fact sheets and resources to assist health professionals in identifying and helping clients in need. Also features a blog and space for women who have experienced abuse to share their stories.

    Working with Men and Boys to Prevent Gender-Based Violence. Offers training materials, case studies, fact sheets, and community-building tools for working with males to prevent gender-based violence.

  • Greenbook Initiative. Presents program information, tools, and resources about effective intervention in domestic violence and child maltreatment cases. Includes recommendations for child welfare agencies, domestic violence service providers, and family courts for improving policies and practices and enhancing coordination to better serve families in need.

  • Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community. Presents program information and publications about domestic violence among African Americans.

  • Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA). Contains information about and links to domestic violence resources including curricula, published research, funding sources, training tools, experts and organizations, and multimedia resources. Topics include child exposure to domestic violence, adolescent dating violence, violence against women with disabilities, domestic violence in the military, domestic violence in racial and ethnic communities, and same-sex domestic violence. MINCAVA is located at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work.

  • National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). Includes program information and resources, such as statistics, reports, bibliographies, and outreach materials on topics that include violence against women, dating violence, stalking, and parallel justice for victims of crime. NCVC serves victims of all types of crime with resources and a toll-free hotline. NCVC also provides public policy advocacy, training, and technical assistance to victim-service organizations, counselors, attorneys, criminal justice agencies, and service providers.

  • National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence (NCDSV). Provides training information and a resource library of reports and articles to encourage collaboration among professionals working to end domestic and sexual violence. Topics include domestic violence involving military personnel. NCDSV is a national organization helping a myriad of professionals in the criminal justice, legal, health, education, military, and social work communities who work with victims and perpetrators.

  • National Clearinghouse on Abuse in Later Life (NCALL). Contains fact sheets, articles, resource lists, and other publications about domestic violence in later life. NCALL is hosted by the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

  • National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). Provides domestic-violence-related resources for advocates and victims of abuse on topics such as reproductive health and pregnancy, children and custody, and women with disabilities who experience domestic violence. Includes a state coalition list and domestic violence facts by state. NCADV is a national membership organization of individuals and grassroots organizations.

  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS): Domestic Violence. Contains links to facts, statistics, conference information, and publications about domestic violence. Also see the NCJRS Abstracts Database. NCJRS is a federally funded resource focusing on crime- and justice-related research, policy, and practice.

  • National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence (Alianza). Offers reports, brochures, fact sheets, and resource lists in English and Spanish about domestic violence affecting Latino communities. Alianza represents a national network of Latina and Latino advocates, service providers, researchers, community activists, and survivors of domestic violence.

  • National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV). Includes federal legal and legislative news and information, program descriptions, state domestic violence coalition contact information, and other resources. NNEDV advocates for domestic violence victims and support programs in Congress, the executive branch, and federal courts. Initiatives include

    National Safe & Strategic Technology Project (Safety Net). Presents tools and information to educate victims of domestic and sexual violence, their advocates, and the general public on strategic ways to use technology to help victims escape abusive relationships. Safety Net also trains police officers and prosecutors on how to identify and hold perpetrators accountable for misusing technology.

  • National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet). Presents an electronic library of resources to support domestic-violence prevention, education, intervention, and public policy. Topics include adolescent dating violence. VAWnet is a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV) with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Subscribe to the VAWnet electronic newsletter.

  • Nursing Network on Violence Against Women, International (NNVAWI). Contains abuse-assessment tools and research information about violence against women. NNVAWI aims to eliminate violence by advancing nursing education, practice, research, and public policy.

  • Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). Contains grant and program information, information about federal legislation, and other resources to raise awareness and support training and services that respond to incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. OVW is part of the Department of Justice. Resources and initiatives include

    National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. Presents information and reports about this joint effort between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to address the crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.

  • Online Domestic Violence Training Program. Offers nine online training units intended to provide social workers with basic knowledge about domestic violence. Each unit is followed by a quiz. Also included are a manual, a bibliography, and guidelines for finding a counselor. This program is offered by the Simmons College School of Social Work.

Additional Electronic Publications

Databases

The databases listed below are excellent tools for identifying data, additional literature and research, and programs about domestic violence. Many of the entries below contain tips on how to use the databases efficiently. Please note that databases vary in how terms should be entered; for example, some require quotation marks and others don't. Enter search phrases as shown in bold below.

Data
Literature and Research
  • Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) Databases. Presents four databases with information about violence-related research and literature; curricula and videotapes; prevention, intervention, and treatment programs; and survey instruments for program evaluation. Domestic violence is a keyword used in each of the four databases. Each database also offers a keyword list for more refined searching. Click on a keyword on the list for an automatic search of the database. CSPV is a research center within the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Presents systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions internationally. Search for abstracts of the reviews by entering "domestic violence" OR "intimate partner violence" in the search box. Click on Search Reviews to get your results. Access to the full-text article requires a subscription. The database is published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international not-for-profit organization based in the United Kingdom.

  • Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE). Contains summaries of systematic reviews that have met strict quality criteria. Included reviews must be about the effects of interventions. Each summary also provides a critical commentary on the quality of the review. The database covers a broad range of health topics. To identify summaries, type "domestic violence" OR "intimate partner violence" in the search box. Click on Go to get your results. DARE is produced and maintained by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York.

  • Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) Database. Presents information about journal articles, research reports, teaching guides, curricula, conference papers, and books covering all aspects of education-related issues. To identify resources on the topic, click on Advanced Search. Next to Search for, select Descriptors (from Thesaurus) and type "family violence" in the field next to it. Select a publication date range and click on Search to get your results. Use the ERIC Thesaurus to identify search terms for related searches. ERIC is sponsored by the Department of Education.

  • MCH Library at the National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health (NCEMCH), Georgetown University. Maintains several databases to collect, manage, and disseminate knowledge about maternal and child health (MCH), with special emphasis on knowledge gained from initiatives and programs supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). The library's bibliographic database is

    MCHLine®. To identify library materials on the topic, type "domestic violence" in the keyword field of the database search form. To narrow your search, enter a single publication year or range of years. Click on Search to get your results.

    MCH Library also offers organizations and programs databases.

  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database. Contains summaries of more than 195,000 criminal justice, juvenile justice, and substance abuse reports, articles, audiovisual products, and other resources from the United States and internationally. These resources include statistics, research findings, program descriptions, congressional hearing transcripts, and training materials. To identify items about domestic violence, enter "domestic violence" in the subject search field. Click on Search to get your results. NCJRS is administered by the Office of Justice Programs.

  • National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC). Contains evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related materials for health professionals. Identify guidelines by selecting Detailed Search in the Search box. Enter "domestic violence" in the Keyword field. Click on Search to get your results.The database is an initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

  • National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) Library. This bibliographic database contains information about materials in the library collections of NSVRC and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR). To identify materials about domestic violence, select Power Search under Additional Search Types. Select Subject under Select search type, and enter "domestic violence" in the field next to it. Click on Go to get your results.

  • PubMed. Contains over 20 million citations for biomedical articles from MEDLINE and life science journals. Citations may include links to full-text articles from PubMed Central or publisher websites. To identify citations on the topic, enter the term battered women OR spouse abuse OR (interpersonal relations AND violence) in the search box. Click on Limits, and make the following selections on the page: select a date (e.g., Published in the last 2 years); click on Languages: English; and select Search Field Tags: MeSH Major Topic. Click on Search to get your results. To narrow your search further or for additional searches, use the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) database to identify terms (e.g., (battered women OR spouse abuse OR (interpersonal relations AND violence)) AND pregnancy). PubMed is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM).

  • SafetyLit: Injury Prevention Abstracts Online. Provides abstracts of English-language reports and journal articles about preventing unintentional injuries, violence, and self-harm. The literature is drawn from the fields of anthropology, economics, education, engineering, ergonomics, law and law enforcement, medicine, physiology, psychology, public health, public safety, nursing, social work, traffic safety, and other fields. To identify literature about domestic violence, click on Link to the SafetyLit Archive Search Page. Enter the term domestic violence in the text word field, select a date limit, and click on View Abstracts. Conduct another search using the term, intimate partner violence. There will be some overlap in the abstracts identified by the two searches. Subscribe to the SafetyLit Update and receive a weekly e-mail notice about new additions to the database. SafetyLit is presented by the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

  • Also see the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) and the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women (VAWnet).
Programs

Electronic Newsletters

Resources for Victims and Families

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence

Dating Violence Among Adolescents

Violence Between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Partners

Domestic Violence: Knowledge Path, 3rd ed. (October 2008). (Updated: September 2011).
Author: Susan Brune Lorenzo, M.L.S., MCH Library.
Reviewers: Anna Marjavi, Family Violence Prevention Fund; Olivia K. Pickett, M.A., M.L.S., MCH Library; LCDR Morrisa B. Rice, M.H.A., HRSA Office of Women's Health.
Editor: Ruth Barzel, M.A., MCH Library.

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