The reliability and validity of measures of domestic violence resources as used in intimate partner homicide research

Recent studies have found that domestic violence shelter-based resources offer little or contradictory efficacy in reducing intimate partner homicides among women. These studies were limited, however, by their lack of measures on the quality of and access to services. This article describes a systematic examination of aggregate data sources that sought to develop reliable and valid measures for quality of domestic violence resources. The examination revealed problems with data sources but also uncovered limitations with measures used in recent research, suggesting that findings from such research should be viewed with caution. Recommendations are offered for assessing the impact Of domestic violence resources, and an outline is provided for potentially more reliable and valid measures.