PEOPLE WHO USE VIOLENCE (NPRF 24.10)
The IVY Study: Towards an Australian response to the use of Intimate partner Violence by Young people
2 years
Young people using intimate partner violence (IPV) require specialised and trauma-informed interventions that account for their unique developmental needs and can disrupt harmful behaviours and attitudes before they become entrenched.
Emerging Australian studies point to significant prevalence rates of IPV experienced and used by young people. Yet there is little understanding of the patchwork of services and agencies seeking to intervene in young people’s use of IPV and their capacity to deliver a developmentally appropriate and family violence risk-informed response.
Research aims
The project aims to build understanding of the extent to which young people’s use of IPV can be understood as distinct from adult-perpetrated violence and how services and agencies across Australia are responding, either individually or as part of a coordinated system response.
Methods
The project adopts a mixed methods approach, including:
- a national multi-sector survey to map where and how young people are presenting to the service system in relation to their use of IPV and how services are responding
- sector-specific focus groups to interrogate the ways in which programs, agencies and service systems are intervening where young people are identified as using IPV
- program and sector-specific case studies to illustrate the breadth, depth and appropriateness of currently available interventions
- workshops with practitioners and young people across Australia to co-produce a system “blueprint” for responding to young people’s use of IPV.
Significance
This research will produce an evidence base and accompanying system “blueprint” to underpin a nationally consistent, developmentally appropriate and evidence-informed approach to responding to young people’s use of IPV.
Specifically, it will seek to extend and complement a growing body of evidence in relation to adolescent violence in the home (AVITH) which recognises that young people’s use of violence, while having the potential to result in significant harm to victims and survivors, is conceptually distinct from adult-perpetrated domestic and family violence and therefore requires a distinct service response to build safety.
Researchers
Project lead
Elena Campbell, Associate Director, Research, Advocacy and Policy, Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT University
Research team
Riley Ellard, Manager, Strategy and System Design, Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT University
Beth McCann, Director of Knowledge Management, Centre for Family Research and Evaluation at Drummond Street Services
Dr Rachel Carson, Executive Manager, Family Law, Family Violence and Elder Abuse Research, Australian Institute of Family Studies
John De Maio, Research Fellow, Family Law, Family Violence and Elder Abuse Research, Australian Institute of Family Studies
Research partners
Centre for Family Research and Evaluation at Drummond Street Services
Australian Institute of Family Studies
Budget
$414,613.24 (excluding GST)
This project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services.