ABSTRACT
Researchers and policy makers across Europe are increasingly interested in studying family violence and the various interventions against this type of crime. The relative lack of comparative cross-national research is all the more conspicuous as the degree to which family violence comes to the attention of the legal system, more specifically the police, may be influenced by a country's legal and institutional context. Comparative research has focused not so much on the response to family violence but rather on the prevalence of family violence. Police responses to family violence received special attention in the workshop, linking the criminal justice response with victim experiences of family violence. Discussing police interventions in each country also disseminated valuable information about the law enforcement organisations involved, as well as institutions outside the legal system, thereby giving a more complete picture of how countries deal with the problem of family violence. This chapter also presents an overview of this book.
