Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose: Prior research has not measured the perceptions of safety that battered women in connection with supervised visitation/exchange centers where children can visit with the custodial parent. Research has also not explored how often abuse, harassment, and stalking occur between visits.

Methods: 192 survivors of domestic violence at 11 centers completed a brief safety measure, either on paper or with an automated telephone interview. The measure covered: perceptions of safety during, and immediately before and after a visit/exchange and also occurrences of abuse in the month prior to the visit/exchange. Most participants were custodial parents (90% custodial; 10% non-custodial) and those coming for visits (75%) as opposed to those coming for exchanges (25%).

Respondents were asked to rate their sense of risk when using the programs on a scale from 0 to 9, with 0 indicating no risk and 9 indicating extremely high risk. Ratings were given for when they: arrived at the center, dropped the child off at the center; waited during the visit, left the center, and for the risk between visits. They also rated the risk they felt their children experienced. Questions about physical abuse, stalking, harassment, use of the children, and other forms of abuse between visits were answered with yes/no questions.

Results: Clients who used visitation services felt a significantly greater sense of risk on the way to the center than did those using exchange. Custodial parents felt a significantly greater sense of risk than did non-custodial parents when dropping off their children at the visitation site, waiting at the center, leaving the center and during the month preceding the visit/exchange.

About a fourth of the respondents felt they were being stalked between visits (24%), another 23% were not quite sure, and 54% said they were not being stalked. Sixteen percent of the respondents said they had been threatened with physical harm, and 41% had received some other type of threat. Forty-three percent had some form of contact with the other parent during the month between visits. Of those who had contact, the average number of contacts per month was 2.8 and for unwanted contacts, it was 2.05.

In summary, a substantial minority of clients continue to experience threats to their safety outside of the visits. Survivors who are the custodial parent report a higher sense of risk than the visiting parents surrounding the visit/exchange and between visits/exchanges.

Implications: The findings can help center staff become aware of the types of clients who are most likely to need support. Centers may also need to increase safety planning with survivors and to coordinate efforts with community agencies and courts to provide added protection between visits.