Date of Award
Spring 2023
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Department/Major
Political Science
First Advisor
Dr. Shane Nordyke
Second Advisor
Dr. Sandy McKeown
Third Advisor
Mandie Weinandt
Keywords
Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Civil Legal Aid, Program Evaluation
Subject Categories
Civil Law | Public Policy
Abstract
While there are a variety of services available to victims of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence, the civil legal needs of victims often go unmet. In addition to this, these is a relatively small body of research from which programs that provide civil legal aid can discover best practices and use evidence-based approaches. This article aims to begin addressing these issues by examining available literature and program evaluations, connecting program factors to client outcomes. The two main conclusions found from the evaluation are that full representation provides the most benefits and that the type of law being practiced (i.e. protective order, custody, etc.) has little to no effect on outcomes. While these findings begin to provide vague direction concerning best practices for DV and IPV civil legal assistance services, another important finding to note is that there is a general lack of information concerning this topic. In response to this, I provide rudimentary recommendations for an open access case tracking framework that programs could utilize to improve data availability.
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Kailena E., "Exploring the Relationship Between Civil Legal Assistance and the Outcomes of Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Victims: A Literature Review" (2023). Honors Thesis. 298.
https://red.library.usd.edu/honors-thesis/298