Survey of Prosecutors' Views on Children and Domestic Violence in the United States, 1999

This survey of prosecutors was undertaken to describe
current practice and identify "promising practices" with respect to
cases involving domestic violence and child victims or witnesses. It
sought to answer the following questions: (1) What are the challenges
facing prosecutors when children are exposed to domestic violence? (2)
How are new laws regarding domestic violence committed in the presence of
children, now operating in a small number of states, affecting
practice? (3) What can prosecutors do to help battered women and their
children? To gather data on these topics, the researchers conducted a
national telephone survey of prosecutors. Questions asked include case
assignment, jurisdiction of the prosecutor's office, caseload,
protocol for coordinating cases, asking about domestic violence when
investigating child abuse cases, asking about children when
investigating domestic violence cases, and how the respondent found
out when a child abuse case involved domestic violence or when a
domestic violence case involved children. Other variables cover
whether police routinely checked for prior Child Protective Services
(CPS) reports, if these cases were heard by the same judge, in the
same court, and were handled by the same prosecutor, if there were
laws identifying exposure to domestic violence as child abuse, if
there were laws applying or enhancing criminal penalties when children
were exposed to domestic violence, if the state legislature was
considering any such action, if prosecutors were using other avenues
to enhance penalties, if there was pertinent caselaw, and if the
respondent's office had a no-drop policy for domestic violence
cases. Additional items focus on whether the presence of children
influenced decisions to prosecute, if the office would report or
prosecute a battered woman who abused her children, or failed to
protect her children from abuse or from exposure to domestic violence,
how often the office prosecuted such women, if there was a batterers'
treatment program in the community, how often batterers were sentenced
to attend the treatment program, if there were programs to which the
respondent could refer battered mothers and children, what types of
programs were operating, and if prosecutors had received training on
domestic violence issues.

本调研面向检察官群体展开，旨在系统梳理当前实务现状，并识别涉及家庭暴力及儿童被害人或证人案件中的可借鉴优秀实践。本次调研拟解答以下三类问题：(1) 当儿童目睹家庭暴力时，检察官面临哪些实务挑战？(2) 目前少数州已落地的针对「儿童在场时实施家庭暴力」的专项立法，对司法实务产生了何种影响？(3) 检察官可采取哪些举措协助受暴妇女及其子女？
为收集上述主题的相关数据，研究人员面向全美检察官开展了全国性电话调研。调研涵盖的问题包括：案件分配机制、检察官办公室的管辖权限、办案负荷、案件协调规程、查办虐待儿童案件时对家庭暴力情形的问询、查办家庭暴力案件时对儿童相关情况的问询，以及受访检察官如何获知虐待儿童案件涉及家庭暴力或家庭暴力案件涉及儿童的线索。
其余调研变量涵盖：警方是否常规核查既往儿童保护服务（Child Protective Services, CPS）报案记录、相关案件是否由同一法官在同一法庭审理且由同一检察官经办、是否存在将「儿童目睹家庭暴力」认定为虐待儿童的立法规范、是否存在针对儿童目睹家庭暴力情形加重或适用刑事处罚的法条、州议会是否正在审议此类立法举措、检察官是否通过其他途径加重处罚、是否存在相关判例法，以及受访检察官所在办公室是否针对家庭暴力案件制定了不予撤诉政策。
额外调研条目聚焦以下内容：儿童在场是否会影响检察官的起诉决策、办公室是否会对虐待子女或未保护子女免遭虐待/家庭暴力的受暴妇女启动报案或追诉程序、该办公室对这类妇女的追诉频率、社区是否设有施暴者矫治项目、施暴者被判处参与该矫治项目的频次、是否存在可供受访检察官转介受暴妇女及儿童的帮扶项目、当前运营的帮扶项目类型，以及检察官是否接受过家庭暴力相关议题的专业培训。