Domestic Violence In Social Work

Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, Inc. (DVSS) is a nonprofit agency located in Wilmington North Carolina. DVSS provide support services, shelter, public education, and prevention services to citizens of New Hanover County. The agency has two locations, the Open Gate located at 2901 Market Street, and a women and children’s shelter located in an undisclosed location. DVSS operates three for profit resale stores. Vintage Values stores are located at 413 South College Road #9, 5226 South College Road #10, and 609 Castle Street. All proceeds support the operation of the shelter and its programs (M. Lama, personal communication, November 8, 2013).

On 03/18/2017 at approximately 2132 hours, I was dispatched to 8340 Rd. 46 in the County of Montezuma, and State of Colorado for reports of a domestic disturbance.

At my agency I work with victims of domestic violence. In training with Chesterfield County Domestic Violence Resource Center I learned a lot about how this growing problem has affected them. This county is one of two that had been recognized for efforts to ending domestic violence. They believe that effective intervention in assaults and sexual violence occurs when the agency and service coordinates their policies and practice to meet community intervention.

To work in the human services field, it is imperative that you can see and understand your own bias and personal prejudices. In my work as a Case Manager working with the homeless population, it is fairly common for me to come across women, and occasionally men, who have been victims of domestic violence. Often times when we cross paths, they are actively fleeing from it. One of my struggles as a case manager has been to support and protect these women while helping them to find self reliance and independence. Occasionally I find myself feeling frustrated by behaviors and thought processing of my clients that I perceive as being weak and subservient. For me, I believe this intolerance comes from my mother, who in her own right is a strong independent woman, but still found herself faced with domestic violence in her marriage. My mother’s story is a rare one, the abuse happened, she reported it to the police, and after a brief separation, my parents were able to work on their marriage through therapy sessions with a counselor. Because of my brief history with domestic violence and the bias I have caught myself feeling towards these

Domestic Violence is one of the most occurring situations found in the United States. This form of violence, also known as spousal abuse, happens within a relationship that is intimate or within a marriage. This particular issue seems to be found to affect women more often than men in varying ways such as injury or even death. Some of the injuries found in domestic violence cases are the head, neck, chest, face, breast, and abdomen, which are the most frequently injured. Many people believe that domestic violence is something that pertains to physical damage, but it has more of a psychological affect. The emotional aspect of domestic violence seems to be overlooked because one’s idea may vary

Domestic violence is a single act or a pattern of cruel acts in any relationship that a partner uses to get or keep power and control over another partner. The violence can be sexual, physical, economic, emotional, or psychological actions or threats of actions that impacts another person. Any actions that manipulate, intimidate, isolate, humiliate, terrorize, frighten, threaten, coerce, hurt, blame, wound, or injure someone can be domestic violence (The United States Department of Justice).

Currently in the United States, every one-in-three women and one-in-four men are abused physically by their chosen partner in their lifetime. It is estimated that twenty people per minute are physically affected by their partner; therefore, there are around ten million people every year battered by their partners (“Statistics” National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). The United States Department of Justice defines domestic violence as:

What is intimate partner violence? Intimate partner violence is when a partner is physical and sexually abused. Intimate violence can occur among heterosexual or same-sex couples. Twenty seven percent of women and nearly 12% of men in the United States have experienced contact sexual, violence, physical, or stalking by an intimate partner (Prevent Domestic Violence in Your Community, 2014). 85% of women are victims of domestic violence.1/3 of American women and ¼ of women worldwide will experience domestic/dating violence in their lifetime. (11 Facts About Domestic And Dating Violence, 2014)

The one word that best characterizes the experience of domestic violence victims within the criminal justice system is, "complicated." Victims suffer from a two-fold problem when dealing with the criminal justice system. When dealing with law enforcement and courts, many victims might be not taken seriously or their wishes not respected. This poses a significant problem, as if victims feel they cannot trust the system to help them, they will not seek help in the future when they need it. This, in turn, creates the opposite of the deterrent effect the criminal justice system wants, as abusers learn that their victims will not seek help, allowing them full control over them.

The increasing demands on the healthcare providers to screen for potential abuse adds to their existing challenges of delivering quality care to patients in a limited time frame. Therefore, some physicians interpret domestic violence to be primarily a criminal justice issue and consequently do not delve into such matters. There are many faces of abuse which can be physical, emotional, and financial. While some women deny experiencing domestic violence at first, but the notion of bringing up that topic might alleviate stress while sharing the situation with their primary care provider in the absence of the abuser.

Along with these two amazing projects, I also engaged in administrative work like answering phones, taking messages, making calls, notifying the social workers and cultural intermediaries that their clients have arrived, ensuring that the client is comfortable, and so forth. One thing that will remain memorable was when I answered the phone and a man explained called for a friend because he feared that his friend was in danger of being killed by her husband and asked whether there was space at SOAFS’s emergency shelter. With this crisis call, I realized how conjugal violence is a very serious issue in Quebec, and it showed me the how severe some people’s cases can be. Not only was I shaken, but I was also in awe at how calmly and with such poise the social workers are when dealing with these types of situation. Additionally, I realized that these are the types of situation that the social workers need to deal with on a daily basis.

suggest that there is a severity continuum of partner violence, not necessarily discrete categories. Those

Public health programs became useful to women. The program taught women how to love themselves and do not let people put them down. Women have learned a lot of strategies to over come domestic violence among their pierce. Women also have institutional support when it comes to domestic violence. Domestic violence programs have saved many lives.

I enjoyed your presentation about children witnessing domestic violence. The information was very well presented, informative, and the content was planned well. Additionally, the research conducted by the group was relevant to the topic. Children who witness domestic violence episodes experience a range of issues. So, the fact that Play Therapy was an intervention strategy was a plus to me. Play Therapy gives children the opportunity to communicate their feelings and behaviors through play.

Domestic violence has been a main issue throughout history, and all over the world, abuse has been recurring on children, the elderly, women, and even men. However, a significant portion of domestic abuse cases are seen against women. Globally, women are facing struggles physically, socially and mentally because they are constantly being abused by men and significant others since it can be done by their female partner or even their parents/in-laws. In the past few years, the issue of domestic violence has gained the attention for research; studies have shown that it is a global issue that impacts negatively on the social and health status of individuals, women in particular. A survey of domestic abuse in Canada signifies that 29 per cent of married women have been abused by their partners at least once (Nwosu, 2006). However, there are several services that contribute towards preventing abuse against women. There are public interest groups and social workers who provide to solve these issues. Citizens who want a change in the society form a public interest groups that is providing for the whole community. Public interest groups promote issues that are affecting the society. Likewise, social workers are involved in women’s issues as they are playing a part to decrease the inequality that is becoming more perceived. They are doing this by counselling women and men, hence guiding them on the right path. Correspondingly, in politics it requires equal participation of both