In 1998, the Ministry of Justice contracted the Institute of Criminology through Victoria Link to provide both process and outcome evaluation of two programmes for adult protected persons provided under the Domestic Violence Act 1995. The principal aim of the evaluation was to establish:
“whether programmes for adult protected persons contribute to the protection of victims of family violence”.
The conduct and design of the research has been guided by the requirements of the Domestic Violence (Programmes) Regulations 1996 but has also been informed by the literature of the provision of services to women victims of domestic violence. Four main headings have been used to summarise the expectations and gains reported by the women: information, personal growth, safety and support.
Methodology
The research has used both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the performance of two programmes for women who had experienced domestic violence: DOVE Hawkes Bay and VIPs Wellington. Data were obtained from women who had attended the programme, women who were eligible but who had not attended, programme providers and key community and government agencies who the programmes worked with in each area.
A sample of 20 women entering programmes was recruited from each agency over the period 1 August 1998 to 30 April 1999. In addition, 21 women from Hawkes Bay and 17 women from Wellington who had received protection orders from the Family Court over the same period, but who had not attended a programme, were recruited as a comparison sample.
The programme women were interviewed when they entered a programme, when the programme concluded and approximately three months later. First and second interviews were held with the comparison group at approximately the same times as the exit and follow-up interviews for the programme women. In terms of basic characteristics, the two samples were similar in most respects. Both groups were asked the same questions about what they wanted for themselves and about barriers to accessing programmes. In addition, the programme group were asked about expectations and gains from the programme while the comparison group were asked about reasons for not attending a programme.