Family Violence : A Social And Public Health Issue Essay

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Violence is any behaviour intended to hurt or damage a person either physically, mentally and/or socially. This includes any behaviour intended to instil fear in the victim. As well as violence between partners, the term "family violence" encompasses violence that might occur between family members, such as violence between siblings or across generations. Family violence is any violent, threatening, intimidating or controlling behaviour that occurs in current or past family, domestic or intimate relationships. This type of violence is both a significant social and public health issue as it can cause economic and political ramifications. This paper will discuss the issue of family violence, factors that lead to this type of violence and its impact on individuals, their families and local communities. It will also discuss who is potentially at risk to exposure to this violence, promotion principles of mental health regarding both perpetrators and victims and the role of the nurse during family violence situations.

Family violence, which can also be referred to as domestic violence, is a social and public health issue which occurs in all countries, all cultures and at every level of society without exception, although some populations are at greater risk of violence than others (World Health Organisation, 2002). In a 2015 American study by Bellal Joseph et. al (2015), 16,575 patients across over 370 facilities were identified to have experienced domestic violence as either
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