Evidence-Based Practice on Domestic Violence - Essay Example

?Running head: EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Evidence Based Practice on Domestic Violence Insert Insert Insert Instructor’s Name 08 January 2011 Evidence Based Practice on Domestic Violence Introduction The practice of medicine is a very delicate affair. Medical practitioners should be very careful when prescribing or using a certain form of medication to treat various ailments that their patients may face. Wrong prescriptions or treatment strategies may lead to the patient not achieving the full recovery, as would be desired by the practitioner. However, in some cases, the wrong prescription may not only make the patient fail to recover from the ailment, it may also lead to a further worsening of the ailment. Determination of the methods of prescriptions is usually significant in the application of treatment strategies aimed at treating mental problems. The treatment of the patient from the ailments is usually highly dependent on the treatment strategies that are employed by the medical practitioner. The medical practitioner therefore needs to clearly understand the effectiveness of the treatment strategies so as to know which strategies to apply in order to lead to the effective and quick recovery of the patients. Moreover, the medical practitioner needs to explicitly understand the different dimensions of the issue that he or she is trying to treat in order to device the treatment strategies effectively. A clear understanding of the dimensions would also help the medical practitioner, to effectively comprehend what the patient is going through. Thus, by putting himself or herself in the position of the patient, he or she can apply his medical concepts to achieve excellent results in the application of his treatment strategies. The application of the above practices by medical practitioners and other relevant parties is well defined by what is known as evidence based practice. Evidence based practice Evidence based practice can be simply defined as the use of certain treatment strategies preferentially based on research findings to help solve certain problems, mostly psychological, which the society may be faced with (Gowing, p.27). The use of the treatment strategies is usually backed with statistical evidence of the success of the treatment strategies on different people. Evidence base practice is usually applied in various fields, which include medicine, criminology, psychology and marriage and family therapy. Evidence based practice is a practice which has developed only recently and is necessitated by the failure of some of strategies, which are considered effective in helping to treat various psychological and mental conditions in the society. By using the evidence-based practice, the medical practitioners can apply the strategies, which have been proven most effective in their application for the treatments. The strategies used by the medical practitioners do not necessarily have to be the same; they usually vary from one individual to the other. This is because different medical practitioners have their own methods of dealing with different ailments to achieve the desired results. This medical concept is widely acknowledged by many medical practitioners and bodies that deal with medicine as an effective strategy in the treatment of people who suffer from various mental disorders. Evidence based practice in domestic violence Domestic violence is among the most common forms of problems, which psychologists and marriage counselors are usually faced with. Different countries usually have programs to help in treatment of problems, especially on people who have been convicted of the offence. The success of these programs is usually very low as their administration usually disregards the research evidence on the important strategies that the programs must use. The strategies to employ are mainly dependent on the causative factors of domestic violence. Evidence based practice can effectively be used to determine the causes of domestic violence and therefore help in its treatment. Due to the dependence of the evidence based practice on research, the method can help in the determination of evidence from research which would be helpful in the formulation of treatment strategies and also help in discouraging the application some of the research findings due to their various weaknesses. In understanding domestic violence the paper will use the research findings by the UNICEF (2010), Bowen (n.d), Dutton & Nicholl (2005), Gondolf (1996), Mirrlees-Black (n.d) (for home office) and Sampson (2007) (for US Department of Justice) Explanatory research on domestic violence There are various theories that have been proposed to explain the causes of domestic violence. In addition, several researches have been undertaken to prove the theories, thus making them acceptable to many people. The medical practitioners will therefore use the above theories in devising treatment strategies to the relevant people to help in the prevention of the vice. The theories can be broadly classified into three groups as discussed below. The feminist theory This theory has invariably been used to provide a justification for the reasons why domestic violence has been a common phenomenon throughout history. According to this perspective, the main reason that brings about domestic is the dominant control of men over women (Corvo, Dutton and Chen, p. 10; Dutton & Nicholls, 2005 p. 683). Here, the cultural prescriptions facilitate the dominance of the men over the women. According to Dutton & Nicholls, the society setting usually cherishes aggression, male dominance, and female subordination (Dutton & Nicholls, 2005 p. 683). This therefore makes the women to be highly at risk of being victims of domestic violence with the men being the main perpetrators. In this theory, men are the main batterers in the domestic violence cases. Men are therefore more likely to assert their dominance on women with violence against women. In most of the societies, women are usually dependent on men on various aspects of their well-being; the most common form of dependence of the women is financial dependence. The dominance of men is usually exhibited in most of the areas of society. Men have throughout history, been the dominant gender in defining, defending and maintaining the legal and the social norms of the society. In most of the countries, the policy-makers, law enforcers, and lawmakers are mainly men (Shipway, 2004, p. 9). The feminists therefore feel that the dominance of men over women is dangerous and will therefore lead to the domestic violence in homes. The feminists generally agree on the male dominance leading to domestic violence. However, they do not have one clear explanation on how the patriarchy of the men leads to domestic violence. According to the feminists, women are usually incapable of leaving the violent home since they are usually financially dependent on men (UNICEF, 2000, p. 8). This usually makes women to actively seek employment and accept any form of employment regardless of how demeaning the terms may be. However, other studies have shown that women who are financially independent and in a better position than their partners are prone to domestic violence as well. This is especially significant if the male partner is unemployed and feels his power in the domestic realm is undermined due to his financial status (UNICEF, 2000, p.8). In this case, men may result to violence to show the women that they are dominant than them. Intergenerational transmission This is among the most widely reported causes of domestic violence, mostly among the adults. According to this theory, a person knows how, when and towards whom to use various forms of aggression through the observation of the family social set up (Corvo, Dutton and Chen, n.d, p. 12). If a person grew up in a family setting where men were generally violent towards women, the person is likely to develop violent behaviour towards women. Other researches such as the one undertaken by Gondolf also show the causes of domestic violence as being due to the upbringing in a family where the parents practiced the vice; 33 % of the domestic violent men used in the research were brought up by parents who were also violent (Gondolf, 1996). Psychological theories The above theories do not wholly explain the concept of domestic violence. The causes of the domestic violence can sometimes be explained by looking at psychological, psychiatric, behavioral, and neurological factors of the individual (Corvo, Dutton and Chen, n.d, p. 12). According to this theory, most people who are perpetrators of domestic violence usually suffer from different psychological conditions which sometimes make them to not only be violent domestically, but to also engage in other forms of violence which are deemed to be criminal by the law. Thus, some of the men may have history of being convicted due to other forms of violence. According to this theory, domestically violent men differ from the non-violent men when comparison on different psychological variables is made on them. The domestically violent men also differ from each other on the psychological variables. Research undertaken by Gondolf, using battering men showed that between a quarter and third of the men admitted to having different psychological problems which ranged from depression to hallucination during the three months prior to their aggression (Gondolf, 1996). There are also other reasons that have been used to explain domestic violence, which do not necessarily conform to the above theories. These include alcohol and drug abuse and self-defense among others Alcohol and drug abuse Several researches carried out on the causes of domestic violence have shown that alcohol and drug abuse are among the major contributing factors that lead to domestic violence. Research by the home office (London) found out that one third of the perpetrators were under the influence of alcohol when they were undertaking the violent acts (Mirrlees-Black, n.d, p. 56). However, most people argue that alcohol is not a direct causative factor of the domestic violence; the perpetrators mainly use alcohol so as to gain confidence to undertake the act of violence. The alcohol is further used as a very convenient excuse to explain why people undertook the acts (Mirrlees-Black, n.d, p. 56). Research by Gondolf also showed that a sizeable percentage of the men who engaged in the domestic violence had alcohol or drug abuse issues (Gondolf, 1996). The Home office also reported that 8% of women who were victims of chronic domestic violence were last abused when the abusers were on drugs. Five percent of the intermittent victims of domestic violence were subjected to violence during their previous period when their perpetrators were on drugs. Self-defense Many people have used self-defense to explain why some people use domestic violence. This has mostly been used to explain why women engage in domestic violence; women usually engage in domestic violence to fight back or to prevent anticipated violence on the women (Sampson, R., 2007, p.8; Dutton & Nicholls, 2005, p. 687). However, most of the explanations given to show that women are engaged in domestic violence for self-defense are not credible, as some of the women inflict serious injuries to their partners who use mild forms of violence. Best evidence in domestic violence In order for the evidence found in undertaking the research on domestic violence to be relevant and of high quality, the design of undertaking the study should ensure that the evidence is not biased. The biasing may result from selection of the test sample or withdrawal of the test sample (Gowing, n.d, p. 79). Biasing of the research usually makes the finding of the research to consider only one perspective in the area of study. Biasing usually makes the findings of the research to be unidirectional and does not consider the views of other people who are relevant to the research findings. Therefore, in the selection of the test sample for the research on domestic violence the researchers should use both men and women as victims of domestic violence. This is because both the men and women can be perpetrators of domestic violence. However, most of the researches usually consider men as the batterers and women as the major recipients of domestic violence. This is regardless of the fact that, though mostly unreported, some of the men are also subjected to domestic violence by their spouses. This in turn makes the research findings to be unidirectional. The research by Gondolf mainly involves the men as the batterers and therefore fails to incorporate the reasons as to why women are also involved in domestic violence. The quality of the research papers is good; the research papers are able to effectively tackle different variables that generally affect the findings of the research. The research papers usually consider varied locations in undertaking the research. Most of the research papers also consider different social and economic setup in undertaking the research. By so doing, the researches are able to clearly capture all the aspects of domestic violence. Implications of the research findings in relation to health The findings of the research have shown that domestic violence is mainly as a result of a psychological problem in the perpetrators of the act. The medical practitioner should be able to determine the root causes of that make the perpetrators prone to use domestic violence. Evidence based practice will help the medical practitioners in determining the most appropriate treatment strategies to use in the treatment of the condition. The medical practitioners should therefore know how to effectively blend the attachment theory and cognitive behavior therapy – procedures that are used to treat domestic violence - in order to effectively treat the condition and prevent future occurrence (Bowen, n.d, p. 2). Conclusion The above research studies show that there can be no one particular explanation that can be used to explain domestic violence in various genders. Effective tackling and treatment of the problem must therefore involve the integration of various treatment strategies, which will take into consideration the various causal factors that make the perpetrators to engage in domestic violence. Reference List Bowen, E. L., N.d. Intimate Partner Abuse: Understanding and Treating Domestic Violence. (Online). Available from: http://www.clinicalsocialworksociety.org/included/docs/continuing_education/IntimatePartnerAbuse.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Dutton, D. G. & Nicholl, T. L., 2005. The gender paradigm in domestic violence research and theory: Part 1—The conflict of theory and data. Elsevier. (Online). Available from: http://www.amen.ie/reports/28004.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Corvo, K., Dutton, D. & Chen, W. N.d. Evidence-based practice in domestic violence. (Online). Available from: http://www.nfvlrc.org/docs/Corvo.Article.1.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Gondolf, E W., 1996. Characteristics of Batterers in a Multi-site Evaluation of Batterer Intervention Systems. Minnesota Center against Violence and Abuse. (Online). Available from: http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/gondolf/batchar.html (Accessed January 12, 2011). Gowing, L., N.d. Evidence-based practice: from concepts to reality. SA, Drug and Alcohol Services Council (DASC) of SA. (Online). Available from: http://www.nceta.flinders.edu.au/pdf/gowing.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Mirrlees-Black, C. N.d. Domestic Violence: Findings from a new British Crime Surveyself-completion questionnaire. London, Home Office Research Study 191. (Online). Available from: http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/hors191.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Sampson, R., 2007. Domestic Violence U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. (Online). Available from: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/publications/e12061550.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Shipway, L., 2004. Domestic violence: a handbook for health professionals. London, Routledge. (Online). Available from: http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=H6gMmeQcplsC&pg=PA210&dq=Shipway,+L.,+2004.+Domestic+violence:+a+handbook+for+health+professionals&hl=en&ei=iBw5TYXPJNPJ4AbT3pSTCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed January 12, 2011) UNICEF. 2000. Domestic violence against women and girls. Florence, Innocenti Digest, No. 6. (Online). Available from: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest6e.pdf (Accessed January 12, 2011). Read More