First, imagine you are creating a guide to assist a victim of domestic violence in leaving an abusive relationship. You should pick a specific location (e.g., Lancaster, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, etc) that you would like to research. Please note, if you pick a small city or county, there is a good likelihood that few resources will exist and you will have little to write about. Please consider this when selecting a location.
Then, you will write a research report where you will respond to the following questions:
1.) What criminal justice (i.e., law enforcement, court) resources are available to someone leaving an abusive relationship in your selected city? Examples of information to include are:
Process of reporting domestic violence
Process of obtaining a protection/restraining order
2.) What community resources are available to someone leaving an abusive relationship in your selected city? Examples of information to include are:
Housing, food, childcare, etc.
Employment assistance
Restrictions for receiving resources
3.) In your opinion, what should be done to better assist someone leaving an abusive relationship in your selected city? Examples of information to include are:
What gaps do you see in services?
Who is ineligible for services?
What is the duration of services?
Paper Requirements:
Papers must be 6-8 pages (not including references, title page, charts, graphs, etc)
1″ margins
Times New Roman font
Double spaced
Include references for all information
No quotations (see below)
Reference Information:
References can come from any sources. These can include agency websites, social media sites, and news articles.
A minimum of 6 references must be included in your paper.
What not to include in your paper:
QUOTATIONS OF ANY KIND! This paper should be written fully in your own words. Quotations will not count towards the page length.
A detailed explanation of what domestic violence is and facts about domestic violence. You should assume that this is already known. Instead, your paper should focus on resources (i.e., criminal justice and community) that are available to victims.
Federal or state resources for domestic violence. You should be focused on your specific location and what is available to victims in that location.
Personal experiences
Free flowing information that is not based upon your research on the issue. For example, you should not have lengthy sections where you simply discuss the topic generally. The one exception to this is the third section of your paper where you discuss improving services for victims.
