ABSTRACT

Domestic violence disclosure schemes are being adopted by police forces in countries around the world, yet they remain controversial and empirically under-researched. This paper presents findings from the largest study of police implementation of such a scheme to date, drawing on in-depth interviews and Freedom of Information data from 12 police forces in England and Wales. We reveal that victims of domestic abuse face a ‘postcode lottery’ of disclosures, with some receiving minimal or no information about the criminal histories of their partners, and others receiving lengthy and detailed descriptions. We identify and analyse two contrasting police approaches to disclosure: ‘risk-averse’ approaches, which are driven by efforts to avoid costly legal action by disgruntled offenders, and to minimise the resource implications of the scheme; and ‘permissive’ approaches, which are more explicitly victim-centred, reflect an increasingly prevalent ‘coercive control’ discourse, and are informed and guided by close collaboration with specialist partner agencies. The discussion sheds light on the shifting culture of domestic violence policing in the UK, yields immediate recommendations for the regulation and best practice of domestic violence disclosure schemes, and has methodological implications for efforts to assess their effectiveness.

摘要

世界各国的警察部队都在采用家庭暴力披露计划，但它们仍然存在争议且缺乏实证研究。本文介绍了迄今为止对这种计划的警察实施情况进行的最大规模研究的结果，该研究借鉴了英格兰和威尔士 12 支警察部队的深度访谈和信息自由数据。我们揭示了家庭虐待的受害者面临着“邮政编码彩票”的披露，其中一些人很少或根本没有关于其伴侣的犯罪历史的信息，而另一些人则收到冗长而详细的描述。我们确定并分析了两种截然不同的警方披露方法：“规避风险”方法，其驱动因素是努力避免心怀不满的罪犯采取代价高昂的法律行动，并尽量减少计划对资源的影响；更明确地以受害者为中心的“宽容”方法反映了日益流行的“强制控制”话语，并通过与专业合作伙伴机构的密切合作提供信息和指导。讨论揭示了英国家庭暴力警务文化的转变，为家庭暴力披露计划的监管和最佳实践提出了直接建议，并对评估其有效性的努力具有方法论意义。