Case Study: Working With Survivors Of Domestic Violence

Many feel if they seek help, the abuser will find them and it will only get worse. The victims need to feel safe, or else they are not going to use the programs to receive help. As both of these articles reveal, these programs are not working. On the contrary, “The Seriousness of Domestic Violence Is Exaggerated” argues that it’s not because the programs are ineffective, but that it’s due to the increase in social services available. However, due to the countless studies that were done, it has been proven that this domestic abuse is a problem. Moreover, there needs to be more effort taken into putting these programs into action. Improvements in how the programs are put into practice need to be made, since how the programs are put into practice now are not efficient

Two Main points: What is domestic violence and how to help clients create safety nets?

Battered women and abused children become dependent on these residential setting because they see it as a place of comfort. They may encounter issues but due to their situation they try to contend and manage the situation. Four care issues applicable to them are:

Working with victims of domestic violence can be an extremely rewarding and fulfilling endeavor. One of the most crucial aspects for a paralegal working with victim of domestic violence is adequately engaging in the task of educating oneself to understand the commonalities of such victims and the ordeals that they have been through. Such clients are drastically different from other individuals who have suffered other physical and violent crimes. Understanding the background of someone who has lived through domestic violence is absolutely central to being able to provide adequate and sensitive legal care. Most victims of domestic violence are women (95%) though domestic violence can have an impact on ever age, class, race, ethnic, cultural or religious group (purplerainfoundation, 2012). "In the United States, nearly one in three adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during adulthood (American Psychological Association, Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family 1996 Report)" (purplerainfoundation, 2012). These women are often terrified of their partner's temper, apologize when they are abused and often in the most extremely controlling and isolated environment where the abusive partner will control who the partner sees and where the partner goes outside of the home, jealous of outside relationships (purplerainfoundation, 2012). In these abusive relationships the women are hit,

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) impacts millions of families worldwide (Watts & Zimmerman, 2002). In fact, in the United States alone on average nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men (National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2010). In light of this troubling information, the clinical social worker may find him or herself called upon to serve this most vulnerable population.

The Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (WSCADV, n.d.) provides training for advocates of domestic violence (DV) survivors and their families. This paper reflects my experiences as I worked through the first three sections of training: the history of the DV movement; the key requirements of DV advocacy; and safety planning. The primary thread throughout the training sections is the importance of providing advocacy based on survivor-empowerment and meeting clients where they are. In this paper, I also explore my role as a mental health counselor in an interdisciplinary response team working with survivors of domestic violence.

Confidentiality and safety are only the first step in the process that these types of programs use to help survivors of domestic violence begin their recovery process. Psychiatric counseling, a victim advocate, and social worker are required as well as a variety of classes focused on helping the victim make a transition into a life that is safe and empowered. Physical needs of the victim are addressed with donations from Salvation Army as well as many other sources led by people who simply want to help. Clothes, makeup, toiletries, books, and food are provided while the victim follows the outlined plan for recovery and shows a desire to rebuild their life.

Sullivan and Bybee (1999) stated that one way that the abuser can control the victim is through social isolation, cutting off any social ties to family and friends to prevent the person from turning to someone for help. Having such ties has been helpful in the past when victimized women have left their assailants with the help of friends and family members. Aside from social support, another important support is community resources to respond to domestic violence, which is very helpful to decrease risk of abuse by their perpetrators. One of the main reasons that abused women return to their abusive partners is that they are unemployed and have no way to financially support themselves. Other resources important in reducing the risk of domestic violence are: “medical attention, child care, affordable housing and safe housing, and help from social service agencies” (p. 44).

Also, Dawnovise explains “that recognizing the co-occurrence of domestic violence and substance abuse issues would help better understand their issues, by developing more need comprehensive interventions and services”, ( Dawnovise, 2009). Domestic violence among women in shelters is such a broad area. Residing in emergency shelters is a start to getting to the core of their ordeal and to help residents / clients open up about their issues and learn better coping skills ( Dawnovise, pp.322-323).

The seven phases of crisis are: the precipitating event, perception, disorganized response, seeking new and unusual resources, a chain of events (which may cause another crisis), previous crises linking to current crisis, and mobilization of new resources/adaptation. Crises usually last from four to six weeks. During that time, early intervention and problem solving is very important to prevent a breakdown in relationships and the ability to function normally (Gentry, 1994, p. 5). When crisis intervention begins, it is important for the crisis worker to be sensitive to the cultural diversity of the individual. The counselor should be sensitive to cultural backgrounds, alternative lifestyles, people with disabilities, and religious differences (Kanel, 2007, p. 38). Equally important, the crisis worker needs to be familiar with the various norms and traditions specific to the individual so that they are able to help without the client feeling disrespected or offended. The counselor should be able to help the individual without revealing any bias or judgment toward the person or his or her lifestyle. It is important for the counselor and the individual in crisis to make a connection so that they will be able to work cohesively towards resolving the crisis. Many models of crisis intervention exist. Three models were chosen as catalyst for the P.R.O.V.E. Model for intimate-partner abuse which will be used in crisis intervention for women who are victims of domestic

In the United States, approximately 1.5 million women report some form of intimate partner violence (IPV) each year and of those an estimated 324,000 are pregnant (Deshpande & Lewis-O'Connor, 2013). According to Deshpande and Lewis-O’Connor (2013), IPV is defined as abuse that may be actual or threatened by an intimate partner that can be physical, sexual, psychological, or emotional in nature. It is important for health care providers to realize IPV does not only include physical or sexual abuse but also includes name calling, financial control, constant criticism, and isolating women away from their families and friends (Deshpande & Lewis-O'Connor, 2013; Smith, 2008). There are 3 phases of abuse tension building

Ellie and I lay in our beds, neither one of us knew what to say. In the other room, our host parents were arguing. We didn’t know what about, but we knew it was serious. Then we heard a “THWACK” followed by silence. Ellie and I sat up in our beds and looked at each other, I could tell she was as scared as I was. “Was that? Did he just?” she asked me. Then the arguing started back up again. We calmed back down until we heard it again. “THWACK” We knew then, the noise we heard, was him beating her. We got up, our hearts racing; neither of us knew what to do. We got our nerves together to go get help. When we opened the door to our room we saw the children sitting on the couch crying out for their mother. I could see the fear in their face and I knew something needed to change.

Domestic Violence is a problem sweeping the nation. This problem can affect anyone from anywhere but is generally acting out upon children and adult women in abusive relationships. Domestic violence is emotionally and physically scarring for anyone involved, and as a result could take multiple intervention meetings to begin to understand the issue, alleviate the associated problems, and to assist the victim in getting back on his or her feet. The consequences of abuse include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and self-harm. Children may begin to act differently to their usual behavior - withdrawal is very common, as is self-harming (Khan, 2012). There are two ways that people can consider interventions for victims of

Women’s shelters, also called domestic violence shelters, serve as a community housing resource for individuals who need to escape abusive situations. Past maltreatment could range from physical violence to psychological or even financial control. AOTA (2011) defines domestic violence as: “pattern of coercive behavior designed to exert power and control over a person in an intimate relationship through the use of intimidating, threatening, harmful, or harassing behavior.” Oftentimes, there have been several layers of abuse happening simultaneously. While residents who end up at shelters have typically lived through traumatic experiences, their specific ordeals and personal reactions to them will vary. The people seeking shelter are survivors who have taken the first step towards changing their lives for the better or people in the middle of crisis.

“The second most pressing problem facing IPV victims is the combination of a large gap in legal resources and inadequate responses on the part of the criminal justice system” (Danis, Lewis, Trapp, Reid, & Fisher, 1998, p. 386). According to this information, there clearly is a breakdown in communication on behalf of all professionals involved in assisting battered women.