Supporting the Development of Multidisciplinary Teams to Coordinate Community Responses to Sexual Assault

• NCJ Number: 192589
• Journal: Sexual Assault Report Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: November/December 2001 Pages: 17-18,27-28,29
• Author(s): Kristin Littel
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 5 pages
• Corporate Author: Center for Sex Offender Management (CSOM)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article presents the rationale for the development of multidisciplinary teams to coordinate community responses to sexual assault and provides guidelines for this effort.

Abstract

Many communities have created sexual assault response teams (SART's) to coordinate immediate, multidisciplinary responses to reports of sexual assault. SART efforts can positively impact victim recovery and facilitate effective investigations and prosecutions. Similarly, multidisciplinary investigative teams exist in numerous jurisdictions to facilitate comprehensive and victim-sensitive sexual assault investigations. Multidisciplinary teams are also being formed to manage convicted sex offenders under correctional supervision in the community. These teams aim to control offender behavior, protect victims, and prevent further sexual victimization. In addition to teams that concentrate on managing individual cases, some jurisdictions have created multidisciplinary teams to improve community-wide responses to sexual violence and enhance prevention efforts. These multidisciplinary teams facilitate a seamless continuum of interventions in sexual assault cases, from the initial contact with the victim through to the supervision of the offender in the community. They also work to shape comprehensive policies that acknowledge the seriousness of this crime, the need for offender accountability, and the priority of protecting victims and community members from further harm. This article contains sections that discuss coordination beyond adjudication, sex offender management teams, community-wide groups, and the promotion of multidisciplinary coordination. The article advises that policymakers and practitioners working on the issue of sexual assault -- whether through prevention efforts, responding to victims, and/or managing sex offenders -- are likely to be most effective when they come together to consider how increased collaboration can improve their efforts.