The
Social Work Response to Domestic Violence
Social workers have been working with victims of domestic violence
for years in the courts, the emergency rooms, and shelters. Domestic
violence does not discriminate, it happens in every racial and ethnic
community, as well as in every socioeconomic group. It seems incomprehensible
that battered women stay in abusive relationships, however, many
women are often held captive by their own sense of powerlessness
and the overwhelming sole responsibility for the marriage and their
children. The fear that if they leave they will have to care for
themselves and their children alone creates feelings of depression
and despair.
Assistance to battered women must take the form of a continuum of
services to improve their economic and psychological independence.
Social workers should be in the habit of screening for domestic violence
and provide a plan to protect the victims safety. Research has shown
that the prevalence and the health, social and economic costs of
domestic violence require the attention of early identification and
intervention.
In mental health settings, including substance abuse services, universal
domestic violence screening of women and girls should be routine.
Abuse has significant, lasting mental health effects that, if left
undetected, would hinder care. Domestic violence is a significant
risk factor for depression, PTSD, anxiety and substance abuse in
women.
Currently, domestic violence is virtually impossible to measure
due to the numerous complications, including societal stigma that
stops victims from revealing abuse. Estimates, however, range from
960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse,
boyfriend, or girlfriend per year to 3.9 million women raped and
or physically assaulted annually by an intimate partner. This creates
an overwhelming need for social workers and other helping professionals
to make screening a routine part of healthcare.
Social Work Summit on Violence Against
Women (March 2002)
Practice Update from the National Association
of Social Workers (July 2001)
***Click here to view
the slide of "Social Work Practice within the field of Domestic
Violence" by Fran Danis, PhD, ACSW Assistant Professor at
the School of Social Work, University of Missouri-Columbia. (Powerpoint
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