Domestic violence: causes, impacts, and interventions

Domestic Violence

CASE young female comes to your office looking frightened and dishelved. She made an appointment with you earlier that day. She keeps looking around and appears to be nervous. She discloses that she was beaten up by her boyfriend who she lives with, and she thinks he is following her. She is frightened because he said he would kill her if she told anyone what happened. She tells you she also has a 3-year-old son with her boyfriend.

The most immediate need associated with domestic violence is safety. Within the first few days, after the attach the most important thing for this individual would be to remove her and her minor child from harms way. The therapist should survey the individual to determine resources and a possible existing social network that would allow her to remove her self from the domestic abuse situation. The lack of financial and social circumstances that would allow this individual from seeking shelter may be a large part of the reason she is seeking counseling.

The individual should be given all the local information on domestic violence shelters and systems. The responsibility of the counselor does not necessarily end here, though. If the individual is reluctant to relocate, for any number of reasons it may take some convincing and even some phone calls to ensure that the systems are in place and available to the individual and her child.

It should be stressed to the victim that in many cases of domestic violence the controlling nature of the abuser, as a precursor to physical abuse may isolate the individual from his or her social network, to attempt to retain control over the abused partner.

Because of this, it must be stressed to the individual that she is not alone and that the systems in place will account for this isolation and offer her a haven without the concerns of the partner's awareness of her location and who she might be with that could be further manipulated by the abuser. Most importantly the individual must be aware that the cost of such a system is usually taken care of by the structure of the nonprofit group that provides it.

This individual has two advantages in the eyes of the legal system. One she is a legal domestic partner of the abuser, and two she shares a child with him. These two things make her eligible for a Domestic Violence Order, in most states. Meaning the court system will intervene for little or no money with the necessary "restraining order" to establish legal boundaries between the abuser and the abused. Yet, this is only a first step one that should be taken, or at least begun immediately. The councilor may need to provide the individual with the contact information for the local legal entity, usually legal aide or even a judge in the local court who reviews DVOs on a daily basis. Keeping in mind that often the shelter system has many of these contacts as well.

Yet, again the most important aspect of the safety plan is one associated with the removal of the individual from the violent situation. This can be done through a network of shelters and low cost methods that can ensure the victim both security and anonymity. The councilor may need to make the phone calls for the individual and begin the process of finding her a place to go, with her child and then orchestrate transportation for the victims and a limited number of their belongings. If it is unsafe to return to the home at this time then the victim can seek a police escort to retrieve what he or she needs. In the case that this is not possible the shelter can provide emergency provisions, including clothing, personal care items and even diapers for a child.

The individual must be made aware of her options and even if she feels unable to extricate herself from the situation at this time she should be given all the contact information for use at a later date. For the most part individuals return to the abusive partner a few times before he or she feels it is necessary to remove him or herself from the situation permanently, just as with the loss of any relationship there is regret and guilt that may drive the abused to try to reconcile with the part of their partner that they were attracted to in the first place, though sadly this is rarely the end result, as abuse usually escalates rather than disappearing.

In this case as in most others a history will need to be taken to see what stage the individual may be in, e.g. If this is the first event escalating to physical violence, what led up to, does the abuse occur while the child is present and if so is the child also being abused, is there alcohol or drug abuse involved and if any of the early warning signs such as verbal abuse forced isolation or financial control are aspects of the abusive relationship. If this is the first incidence of physical abuse the individual may be reluctant to extricate herself from the situation, believing it to be a one-time event that may not entirely threaten the relationship. The councilor should stress to the victim that this may not be the case that the next attach could be much more extreme and that the victim should always be able to contact the help networks and hotlines.