Publication year
2011
Citation Title
Preventive impacts of reliable family maltreatment criteria.
Journal Name
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Journal Volume
79
Issue Number
6
Page Numbers
826-833
DOI
10.1037/a0025994
Summary
Air Force child and spouse maltreatment reports were utilized to examine how the implementation of revisions to maltreatment criteria influenced overall rates of substantiation and one-year recidivism. The implementation of revised maltreatment criteria was found to influence both rates of substantiation and recidivism.
Key Findings
The percentage of child (from 51% to 39%) and spouse (from 63% to 54%) maltreatment reports that were substantiated decreased after the revised system was implemented.
Although the rates of founded reports for child and partner maltreatment decreased overall, there was some variability between bases; 35% of bases experienced an increased rate of founded incidents after the revised system was implemented.
Child and spouse offenders with founded incident reports under the revised system were less likely to have a repeat offense, compared to those with founded incident reports under the old system.
Implications for Program Leaders
Continue to provide support and service referrals to military families who may be at risk for spouse or child maltreatment
Provide education to Service members and their partners regarding resiliency and healthy coping as a way to prevent maltreatment
Continue to disseminate information to military personnel regarding reporting requirements for child and spouse maltreatment
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support programs that aim to identify and prevent child and spouse maltreatment in military families
Continue to support the implementation of the revised maltreatment criteria in all service branches
Encourage collaboration among DoD and community-based programs that work with military families at-risk for family maltreatment
Methods
Family Advocacy Program (FAP) reports were obtained from the Air Force Family Advocacy System of Records (FASOR) Clinical Information System.
Only FAP reports occurring within one year prior to the criteria changes and one year after the committee changes were utilized for this study.
The rate of recidivism one year after the first offense was also explored to determine whether the revised process provided a deterrent to re-offending.
Participants
A total of 14,298 Air Force child and spouse maltreatment reports (7,549 child reports and 6,749 spouse reports) that occurred during the last year of the old FAP system and the first year following the implementation of the revised FAP system were included in the sample.
Alleged offenders, despite military status, who were investigated by the Air Force FAP were included in the study sample.
No demographic data were included.
Limitations
Rates of recidivism may not include Airmen who left military service following their initial offense and may not accurately capture rates of recidivism for all offenders.
Archival data were used and therefore the authors made speculations regarding why the rates of substantiated reports decreased.
This study only examined the implementation of the revised criteria within the Air Force, therefore results can not be generalized to other branches of the military.
Avenues for Future Research
Continue to explore how the implementation of the revised system influences long-term rates of substantiation and recidivism
Explore what contributed to the reduced rate of recidivism after the revised system was implemented
Examine the effects of implementation of maltreatment criteria in other branches of the military
Focus
Air Force
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Objective: The U.S. Air Force recently implemented system-wide changes that both (a) clarified the criteria used to determine when family maltreatment has occurred and (b) made the process by which these decisions are made more consistent. The current study examined the effects of these changes on family maltreatment recidivism. Method: Official records were obtained from the Air Force Family Advocacy Program. All cases decided during the last year of the old system and the first year of the new system at each base (total N = 14,298) were examined. For each incident, it was determined (a) whether the incident met criteria and (b) whether the same offender committed family maltreatment again within 1 year of the initial incident. Results: Overall substantiation rates were significantly lower (p = .003) under the new system (47%) than the old (56%). After the change, significant interaction effects were obtained for both alleged (b = −.51, p = .004) and substantiated (b = −.55, p = .015) reoffense, in that 1-year reoffense rates decreased significantly among initially substantiated cases but remained unchanged among initially unsubstantiated cases. Indeed, rates of substantiated reoffense by substantiated offenders were cut in half (from 14% to 7%). Conclusions: Reductions in overall substantiation rates were most likely due to the use of more stringent criteria. The results of the recidivism analyses suggest that clear criteria and consistent decision processes can have secondary preventive effects on family maltreatment in their own right, possibly due to increases in informal community sanctions.
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