Recording of offences on police domestic violence call outs

Due to new legislation passed in 2011, Finnish police have been legally obligated to record and investigate all assaults, including petty assaults, occurring in close relationships. Referred to as domestic violence (DV), these assaults can be prosecuted even without victim consent. Much like pro- and mandatory arrest policies, this reform was aimed at decreasing victim and police discretion, based on the assumption that recording and preliminary investigation of every DV incident would help prevent further violence. Comparison between police call outs and the number of offences indicate that in reality not every DV incident is recorded. Using Police and Emergency Call Database data merged with 410 police officer survey responses, the current study presents the first empirical results on legal and extra-legal factors associated with recording DV as an offence in Finland. Factors explaining non-recording are discussed based on police officers’ free-text comments, and implications for policy and practice are presented.Due to new legislation passed in 2011, Finnish police have been legally obligated to record and investigate all assaults, including petty assaults, occurring in close relationships. Referred to as domestic violence (DV), these assaults can be prosecuted even without victim consent. Much like pro- and mandatory arrest policies, this reform was aimed at decreasing victim and police discretion, based on the assumption that recording and preliminary investigation of every DV incident would help prevent further violence. Comparison between police call outs and the number of offences indicate that in reality not every DV incident is recorded. Using Police and Emergency Call Database data merged with 410 police officer survey responses, the current study presents the first empirical results on legal and extra-legal factors associated with recording DV as an offence in Finland. Factors explaining non-recording are discussed based on police officers’ free-text comments, and implications for policy and practice are presented.Peer reviewe

Conceptualising Violence in Close Relationships : Discrepancies Between Police Conceptions and the Letter of the Law in Finland

The focus in this Finland-based study is on violence in close relationships-a term that partly overlaps with the more commonly used 'domestic violence', 'family violence' and 'intimate partner violence'. We demonstrate how police officers' conceptualisations of such violence differ from how it is defined in relevant legal documents. The data consists of the Government Bill and legal text on the subject issued as part of a legal reform enacted in 2010, and of a qualitative sample of freelist responses from 79 police officers. We examined both sets of data using theory-driven directed content analysis and deriving from prevailing theoretical frameworks reflecting the family- and gender-based perspectives on violence. The results expose the predominance of a narrow definition of 'family' in police understandings of close relationships, but also a notably broad spectrum of conceptualisations of both physical and non-physical forms of violence. In contrast, the legal definition of a close relationship is broader and encompasses multiple types of relationships, whereas forms of violence are more strictly defined. These findings could explain some of the discrepancies between legal policies on violence in close relationships and police responses to it.Peer reviewe

Poliisibarometri 2016: Kansalaisten käsitykset poliisin toiminnasta ja sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta

Poliisibarometri on haastattelututkimus, jossa tutkitaan kansalaisten käsityksiä poliisin toiminnasta ja sisäisen turvallisuuden tilasta. Tutkimus on toteutettu sisäministeriön toimeksiannosta yhteensä kahdeksan kertaa vuosien 1999–2014 välisenä aikana. Vuonna 2016 tutkimustoimeksiannon toteutuksesta on vastannut Poliisiammattikorkeakoulu. Uusimman poliisibarometritutkimuksen tulokset kuvastavat tutkimusajankohdan eli toukokuun 2016 tilannetta. Tutkimukseen haastateltiin yhteensä 1007:a Manner-Suomessa asuvaa 15–79 -vuotiasta suomalaist

Intervening in domestic violence : interprofessional collaboration among social and health care professionals and the police

Encountering domestic violence victims, perpetrators and witnesses in the multiprofessional fields of health and social care and policing includes various challenges. Each professional group perceives domestic violence from its own perspective, linked to its position in the field, core tasks, institutional practices and organizational structures. In this study, we examine interprofessional collaboration among Finnish social and health care professionals and police officers, focusing on the practices and conceptions concerning domestic violence interventions. The data consists of 16 focus group interviews, involving a total of 67 interviewees from social and health care professions and the police. The results indicate that successful interprofessional collaboration requires comprehensive knowledge and education on domestic violence as a phenomenon, on the tasks and the duties of different professionals, as well as tolerance and flexibility in their joint efforts. However, the emphasis on professional relationships often shifts the focus from the institutional and structural challenges of interprofessional collaboration to individual interactions. Organizational barriers and differences in goals may impede good intentions from being materialized into concrete outcomes. These findings challenge all organizations and professionals working on domestic violence intervention to reconsider their training, practices and organizational arrangements.Peer reviewe

The emotional well-being of teachers and school personnel: An experience sampling study

The present study addresses the concern for the well-being of teachers and school personnel by examining the efficacy of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention aimed at enhancing emotional well-being in the school environment. The study design comprised a clustered randomized controlled trial, targeting teachers and school personnel working in Finnish basic education. Data collection encompassed the utilization of both the Experience Sampling Method (ESM, n = 241) to assess state-like emotions and questionnaires (n = 245) to evaluate trait-like emotions. The results showed a post-intervention increase in state-like distinct emotions of interest and a trend towards increased engagement in the intervention group, and conversely, increased stress in the control group. Positive trait-like emotions increased in the intervention group post intervention. The intervention further resulted in decreased stress and loneliness amongst teachers and school personnel when in the company of students, and decreased stress while working. The results indicate that positive psychology interventions may be efficacious in enhancing teachers’ emotional well-being. Additionally, assessing both state- and trait-like emotions contributes to a broader understanding of this efficacy, whilst measuring teachers’ experienced emotions can increase ecological validity

Control of RelB during dendritic cell activation integrates canonical and noncanonical NF-κB pathways.

The NF-κB protein RelB controls dendritic cell (DC) maturation and may be targeted therapeutically to manipulate T cell responses in disease. Here we report that RelB promoted DC activation not as the expected RelB-p52 effector of the noncanonical NF-κB pathway, but as a RelB-p50 dimer regulated by canonical IκBs, IκBα and IκBɛ. IκB control of RelB minimized spontaneous maturation but enabled rapid pathogen-responsive maturation. Computational modeling of the NF-κB signaling module identified control points of this unexpected cell type-specific regulation. Fibroblasts that we engineered accordingly showed DC-like RelB control. Canonical pathway control of RelB regulated pathogen-responsive gene expression programs. This work illustrates the potential utility of systems analyses in guiding the development of combination therapeutics for modulating DC-dependent T cell responses

Lasten ja nuorten väkivaltakokemukset 2022 : Määrät, piirteet ja niiden muutokset 1988–2022

Kansallisessa lapsiuhritutkimuksessa selvitettiin kuudes- ja yhdeksäsluokkalaisten lasten ja nuorten väkivaltakokemuksien yleisyyttä sekä niiden muutoksia viimeisten 34 vuoden aikana. Aineisto kerättiin sähköisenä kyselynä yhden oppitunnin aikana toukokuussa 2022. Kyselyyn vastasi 6 825 oppilasta Manner-Suomesta ja Ahvenanmaalta. Lasten ja nuorten kokemus kodin ulkopuolisesta turvallisuudesta on pääosin parantunut vuodesta 2013. Kehitys näkyy voimakkaammin vanhemmassa ikäryhmässä. Kuudesluokkalaisilla on tapahtunut lievää kasvua yksittäisissä kokemuksissa. Internetissä koettu kiusaaminen ja seksuaalinen häirintä ovat yleistyneet merkittävästi vuodesta 2013. Ikätoverien taholta koetaan yleisimmin henkistä väkivaltaa. Henkinen perheväkivalta on yleistynyt merkittävästi. Kasvu näkyy vahvimmin nuoremmassa ikäryhmässä. Kuritusväkivallan käyttö on edelleen vähentynyt ja erityisen vakavat fyysisen väkivallan teot ovat edelleen harvinaisia, vaikka myönteinen kehitys on pysähtynyt. Kotona tai julkisilla paikoilla todistettu lähisuhdeväkivalta on vähentynyt vuodesta 2013. Seksuaaliväkivallan kokemukset ovat yleistyneet sekä kuudes- että yhdeksäsluokkalaisilla tytöillä vuodesta 2013. Yleistyminen näkyy lähinnä lievemmissä tekomuodoissa. Erityisesti tyttöjen kohdalla tuntemattomien rooli seksuaaliväkivallan toisena osapuolena on yleistynyt merkittävästi. Seksuaaliväkivallan yhteydessä raportoidaan nyt useammin pakottamista ja väkivaltaa kuin vuonna 2013. Väkivallasta kerrotaan yleisimmin ystäville tai perheelle. Viranomaisille kokemuksista kerrotaan edelleen harvoin

Gender and police response to domestic violence

The gendered profession of police, as well as domestic violence as a societal problem, is central to the discussion surrounding gender and equality and forms a strongly debated foundation of research. This paper presents empirical findings from the associations between gender and police response to domestic violence in Finland. The data is a rare combination of official police data and survey data from frontline police and includes 410 police emergency call-outs. The results indicate that the combination of a male victim and two male police officers is the least likely to result in the recording of an offence, arrest, or referral to support services. Findings are examined in comparison to prior research concerning police response to domestic violence, and implications for policy and practice are discussed. The study raises issues about gender and policing that should also be examined in other countries and jurisdictions in relation to policing domestic violence.Peer reviewe

Intervening in domestic violence as a police task : legal reform and policing versus citizens’ perspective

Violence in Western societies has received increased public and legal attention during the past few decades, while simultaneously, evidence of decreased violent behaviour has been identified. A specific type of violence that has undergone changes in visibility and increased legal intervention is domestic violence (DV). Have people become more sensitive to all kinds of violence? In this case, DV would not stand out as a crime demanding increasing police intervention. In this article, the public’s perceptions of the importance of intervening in DV as a police task are analysed. Comparisons with the assessed importance of other types of police tasks are made to evaluate the changes in a broader attitudinal context, and official police statistics are reflected against the trends identified from the survey data. In the results, DV stands out in the comparison of change in the importance of police tasks. The hypothesis of increased cultural sensitivity is not confirmed concerning all types of crimes – or even violent crimes. The results can be understood to support the theory about increased cultural sensitivity concerning an issue previously seen as a private matter rather than a criminal act and police matter – DV.Peer reviewe