A change of paradigm in domestic violence intervention: Portugal’s partnership experiences

Abstract

Coordinated community responses are one of the most innovative approaches to deal with domestic violence cases in communities. It reveals a potential to change the social intervention paradigm by coordinating the action of distinct organisations (services) and professionals on one single case. The goal is to comprehend how changes in social intervention based on partnership are related to changes in professional practices. We present some results of a case study about the partnerships active in Portugal in January 2008. Before the social intervention based on partnership the dominant approach was characterized by isolated and non coordinated intervention towards the same domestic violence situation.