Responding To Family Violence

The comprehensive theory- and research-based guidelines provided in this text help answer the personal and professional questions therapists have as they provide competent clinical treatment to clients who have experienced family violence. It presents academic, scholarly, and statistical terms in an accessible and user-friendly way, with useful take-away points for practitioners such as clarifying contradictory findings, summarizing major research-based implications and guidelines, and addressing the unique clinical challenges faced by mental health professionals. Both professionals and students in graduate-level mental health training programs will find the presentation of information and exercises highly useful, and will appreciate the breadth of topics covered: intimate partner violence, battering, child maltreatment and adult survivors, co-occurring substance abuse, the abuse of vulnerable populations, cultural issues, prevention, and self-care. Professionals and students alike will find that, with this book, they can help their clients overcome the significant traumas and challenges they face to let their strength and resilience shine through.

This volume addresses the varied response to domestic violence in a comparative, international context. The chapters are laid out in a consistent format, to cover: the nature of the domestic violence problem, theoretical explanations, the criminal justice response, as well as health care and social service interventions in each country. The intent of the book is to provide an introduction to the attitudes and responses to domestic violence in various regions, to provide meaningful comparisons and share information on best practices for different populations and regions. There are considerable variations to domestic violence approaches across cultures and regions. In some places, it is considered a “private” or “family” matter, which can help it perpetuate. At the same time, the United States’ approach to domestic violence has been criticized by some as being too focused on the criminal justice system, rather than other types of interventions which aim to keep families intact. This comprehensive work aims to highlight innovative approaches from several regions, important cultural sensitivities and concerns, and provide analysis to identify the strengths and weakness of various approaches. This work will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, as well as related fields who deal with domestic violence and violence against women, including sociology and social work, and international justice. Practitioners and policymakers will also find it informative.

Provides mental health professioanls with sound, research-based guidelines for conducting clinical work with clients impacted by various forms of family violence. Makes accessible research studies and useful information to practitioners who would otherwise be hindered by the high cost of academic journals and the time it takes to locate, read, and interpret them. Written in an accessible and user-friendly lanugage that presents academic, scholarly, and statistical terms to mental health professionals without extensive background and experience in research methodology. Clarifies contradictory research studies. Helps practitioners determine the best course of action when working with clients. Each chapter concludes with a summary of the major research-based implications and guidelines for clinical practice related to each topic. Contains four sections focused on intimate partner violence, childhood abuse, abuse of vulnerable populations, and family violence issues.

A majority of people living in rural areas and urban slums worldwide have minimal access to healthcare. Without information about what to give a child with stomach flu, how to relieve the pain of a broken bone, and how to work against increased substance abuse in a village, the whole community suffers. Children, adolescents, adults, and older people are all affected by the lack of what many of us view as basic healthcare, such as vaccination, pain killers, and contraceptives. To improve living conditions and life expectancy, the people in urban slums and rural areas need access to a trained health care worker, and a functioning clinic. Setting up Community Health and Development Programmes in Low and Middle Income Settings illustrates how to start, develop, and maintain a health care programme in poor areas across the world. The focus is on the community, and how people can work together to improve health through sanitation, storage of food, fresh water, and more. Currently, there is a lack of 17 million trained health care workers worldwide. Bridging the gap between medical professionals and people in low income areas, the aim of this book is for a member of the community to receive training and become the health care worker in their village. They will then in turn spread information and set up groups working to improve health. The book also explains in detail how communities can work alongside experts to ensure that practices and processes work effectively to bring the greatest impact. Copiously illustrated and written in easy-to-read English, this practical guide is designed to be extremely user friendly. Ideal for academics, students, programme managers, and health care practitioners in low and middle income settings worldwide, it is an evidence based source full of examples from the field. Setting up Community Health and Development Programmes in Low and Middle Income Settings shows how a community can both identify and solve its own problems, and in that way own its future. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 International licence.

As many as 20 to 25 percent of American adultsâ€"or one in every four peopleâ€"have been victimized by, witnesses of, or perpetrators of family violence in their lifetimes. Family violence affects more people than cancer, yet it's an issue that receives far less attention. Surprisingly, many assume that health professionals are deliberately turning a blind eye to this traumatic social problem. The fact is, very little is being done to educate health professionals about family violence. Health professionals are often the first to encounter victims of abuse and neglect, and therefore they play a critical role in ensuring that victimsâ€"as well as perpetratorsâ€"get the help they need. Yet, despite their critical role, studies continue to describe a lack of education for health professionals about how to identify and treat family violence. And those that have been trained often say that, despite their education, they feel ill-equipped or lack support from by their employers to deal with a family violence victim, sometimes resulting in a failure to screen for abuse during a clinical encounter. Equally problematic, the few curricula in existence often lack systematic and rigorous evaluation. This makes it difficult to say whether or not the existing curricula even works. Confronting Chronic Neglect offers recommendations, such as creating education and research centers, that would help raise awareness of the problem on all levels. In addition, it recommends ways to involve health care professionals in taking some responsibility for responding to this difficult and devastating issue. Perhaps even more importantly, Confronting Chronic Neglect encourages society as a whole to share responsibility. Health professionals alone cannot solve this complex problem. Responding to victims of family violence and ultimately preventing its occurrence is a societal responsibility

Family violence broadly refers to acts of physical and sexual violence and emotional abuse perpetrated by individuals against family members. The federal government has responded to various forms of family violence, including violence involving spouses and other intimate partners, children, and the elderly. The focus of this book is on the federal response to domestic violence under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA). "Domestic violence" is used in this book to describe violence among intimate partners, including those involved in dating relationships. A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that approximately 7 million women and 5.7 million men experienced physical violence, rape, and/or stalking by their intimate partners in 2010. Also that year, 16.6 million women and 20.5 million men experienced emotional abuse by their intimate partners, such as attempting to keep victims from communicating with loved ones. Domestic violence is associated with multiple negative outcomes for victims, including mental and physical health effects.

Drawing on cases, Stark identifies the problems with our current approach to domestic violence, outlines the components of coercive control, and then uses this alternate framework to analyse the cases of battered women charged with criminal offenses directed at their abusers.

A fresh look at the response to domestic violence in the United States today by experts in their field. Responding to Domestic Violence explores the response to domestic and intimate partner violence by the criminal justice system as well as public and non-profit social service and health care agencies. After providing a brief theoretical overview of the causes of domestic violence and its prevalence in society, the expert author team covers such key topics as barriers to intervention, variations in arrest practices, the role of state and federal legislation, and case prosecution. Focusing on both survivors and offenders, the book provides a thorough exploration of modern strategies to address the realities and needs of all survivors. The new edition offers new chapters on Special Populations at Risk, Victim Services, Coercive Control, Intimate Partner Stalking, and Civil and Criminal Protection Orders. All remaining chapters have been substantially or completely rewritten to reflect the growing body of research in the field.