Domestic Violence in Military Families: Literature Review - Research Paper Example

? Domestic Violence in Military Families: A Review of Literature Domestic family violence is an issue of public concern with respect to civilian and military populations (Haegerich and Dahlberg 2011). Nevertheless, limited literature exists with respect to family violence in military families. Many incidences of domestic violence (DV) by members of the military usually have gone with no substantial disciplinary actions taken by the responsible parties. This can partly be attributed to the limited knowledge relating to military organizations, jurisdiction issues, and lack of knowledge about regulations of civilian authorities as well as poor coordination between military and civilian authorities. Furthermore, DV incidents receive different responses depending on: the first respondent (military or civilian police); the residence of the military family and; whether the DV victim is a military or civilian member. Consequently, Haegerich and Dahlberg (2011) affirm that the process of enforcing stated norms of the community (violence against a close partner or any other member of the family is insupportable) in both military and civilian families is complicated since to some extent it is still tolerable in some segments of the two communities as a whole. Domestic Violence in Military Families: A Review of Literature Introduction In both military and civilian families, domestic violence (spouse abuse and child maltreatment) is a major concern to the public health (Haegerich and Dahlberg 2011). Despite the fact that the two classes of DV might occur in simultaneous occasions, the problems receive separate attention from the federal government. The first focus came following the Congress’ passing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974); in the process establishing the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect as well as providing financial aid for programs demonstrating for the identification, treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. This review of literature critically carries out a detailed review of studies examining incidences of domestic violence among military families as well as looking at how these incidences can be prevented or rather combated. The Department of Defense (DOD) has established a comprehensible position with respect to family violence. According to the Department of Defense (1981), the 6400.1 DOD Directive of 1981 mandated that each military service branch (Navy, Army, Marine Corps and Air Force) should establish: a. A Family Advocacy Program (FAP) to offer prevention and treatment of child maltreatment and partner abuse. b. A hush-hush central registry for collection and analysis of data from the Family Advocacy Program. Research Review Suspected cases of DV in military families are often referred to FAPs (Mollerstrom, Patchner and Milner 1992). Here, there is a special case review committee comprised of a multi-disciplinary collection of designated persons who work at the installation level of the military that is tasked with the duty of evaluating and determining neglect and or abuse of family members as well as developing and coordinating treatment and recommendations to temperaments. The probability of DV being vast in military families as opposed to civilian families is not clearly known (Mercy, Rosenberg, Powell, Broome and Roper 1993). For instance, a military family may experience more family violence as opposed to its civilian counterpart due to the high levels of overall stress related to living the military life, for example, long hours of dangerous work, frequent separations, dangerous environments of work among others. Soldiers are usually deployed and frequently relocated depending on the prevailing conditions and as a result may separate from friends, peers as well as other community support set-ups. Recurrent separations can have adverse effects on couples or rather marriages. Separations and or relocations that are short term in duration may have the most profound impacts as the spouse who stays behind is presented with an opportunity to engage in new relationships as they have the freedom to explore their independence. In addition, some relocation may be to installations sited out of the country (USA) and as a result, these military personnel usually are socially and culturally isolated (Mollerstrom, Patchner and Milner 1992). The brighter side is that a number of protective factors have been identified to be inimitable to the military communities that are believed they could reduce the levels of DV among these families. A research by Basile and Smith (2011) revealed that certain problems believed to be fairly severe, for instance mental health problems, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and criminal conduct are huge contributors to the punishment of soldiers or in worst cases discharge of soldiers from the service. The military family has services for health care as well as housing that are completely provided for and or funded by the government. In addition, these families have a great network of family support programs which they can access. These services should be used to help with the fight against DV violence via provision of necessary support to vulnerable soldiers and military families in general. Furthermore, the presence of the Family Advocacy Programs service structure can serve as route to increment of the chances of identifying all cases of DV as well as cut down recidivism rates. As earlier noted, limited research exists that justifies the extent to which military families suffer from domestic violence and as a result, arguments concerning the levels of risk of DV among military families still persist (Mercy et al. 1993). Spouse Abuse in Military Families – Types A number of studies taking into account the Army and the Air Force reported that the most confirmed and frequently occurring form of DV is physical violence, with an estimated range of 89.3% to 92.4%. The study by McCarroll, Ursano, Fan and Newby (2004a) further revealed that the level or rather the number of cases reported for emotional abuse was marginal; with the Air Force service recording a 6.7% spouse abuse rate while Army spouse abuse rate ranged from 8.5% to 10.6%. The high levels of spouse abuse in the Army families as compared to those of their Air Force counterparts can be attributed to the dangerous and long working environments usually associated with the Army. According to McCarroll et al. (2004a), both parties investigated exhibited diminished sexual abuse and or neglect to their spouses. In Air Force families, it was reported that only 0.5% and 0.4% of the entire reported spouse abuse cases in the Air Force central registries accounted for spouse sexual abuse and neglect respectively. A research carried out by McCarroll et al. (2004b) revealed that Army families had the least sexual abuse cases as opposed to the other two subcategories in the study, accounting for only 0.1% of all the confirmed abuse of spouses. Another study of military families, this time taking into account both spouse abuse and child maltreatment was conducted by Rumm, Cummings, Krauss, Bell and Rivara (2000). The quintet set out a research that examined data from the central registry of the Army Medical Command of the United States. The research involved married couples with at least a child and one spouse actively serving in the US Army. Keeping the age and rank of the military personnel constant, the group of researchers found that families with cases of spouse abuse had twice as much levels of physical abuse of children. In addition, Rumm et al. (2000) revealed that the likelihood of child sexual abuse in Army families exhibiting spouse abuse was quite high although little or no significant variations were identified in the likelihood of neglect in either family (with or without substantiated spouse abuse). The military generally has a small yet significant population within the locals and with it there come benefits as well as costs (McCarroll et al. 2004c). According to McCarroll et al. (2004c), the benefits associated with the presence of the military in the community include jobs for the civil service sector, skilled labor and military contracts while the costs include market stresses on wages, housing and schools as well as augmented demands or rather expectations from law enforcers and social services. All these are directed towards the military installations as well as the local community thus drawing the two institutions into one entity. In cases where there is substantial evidence of systemic failure in handling DV incidents thus endangering the victims as well as allowing offenders escape accountability, the response implication is that none of the military nor civilian community can effectively handle the apparent problem without formal coordination of resource issues and jurisdiction. What Can Be Done? In order to improve the safety of victims, accountability of offenders and emphasis of the message that DV is intolerable among military families and the community in general or rather, preventing DV among military families, Basile and Smith (2011), Chamberlain, Stander and Merrill (2003), and Mollerstrom, Patchner and Milner (1992) identified a number of options to be considered: i. Negotiation of formal written agreements (memorandum of understanding [MOU]) between State officials and military officials regarding the apposite response to DV involving members of the military service and their family members is vital. The sole purpose of these formal agreements is to define rules and procedures highlighting the concerns presented by both parties, straightening out jurisdictional disputes and uncertainties, as well as addressing the formal loyalty of the military and state officials, money, time and facilities towards supporting these set rules and procedures. The greatest task is negotiating these kinds of agreements but apparently it solves or rather can help solve a difficult social problem. ii. The adoption of the Family Advocacy Program across all military installations can be a huge milestone by the Department of Defense as this program aid in treatment of children suffering from maltreatment as well as provide vulnerable military personnel with suitable forms of education regarding management of temper and anger. Loss of temper has been among the leading causes of DV among military families and putting effective measures into practice to help with its control can help in preventing the occurrence of such violence acts. iii. Introduction of confidential central registry in all units of the military in order to monitor data collected from FAPs and ensure desired actions are taken with respect to the collected and analyzed data. Strict adherence to this process will ensure straight conduct among military members due to the stipulated repercussions (Mollerstrom, Patchner and Milner 1992). iv. The DOD should assume total control of their unit members with well written down procedures regarding conduct at home as well as the disciplinary measures accompanying the breaching of the procedures. In addition, members of the family should be instructed to report off any activity or rather action suggesting abuse to the relevant authorities for necessary action to be taken regarding the case. This can prove preventive if strictly adhered to as it installs some form of self control among members of the military while off duty. Implications for Policy, Practice and Future Research i. Future research has to take into account simultaneous examination of spouse abuse and child maltreatment among families. ii. More research needs to be done in all units of the military, for instance the Navy, Marine etc. iii. Regardless of whether the violence takes place in a military or civilian family, the services provided to the victim need to be timely and delivered in a comprehensive fashion. References Basile, K. C., & Smith, S. G. (2011). Sexual violence victimization of women: Prevalence, characteristics, and the role of public health and prevention. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, SAGE Publications. Chamberlain, H., Stander, V., & Merrill, L. L. (2003). Research on child abuse in the US armed forces. Military Medicine, 168, 257-260. Department of Defense. (1981). Family Advocacy Program (Directive 6400.1). Washington, DC. Haegerich T. M., & Dahlberg, L. L. (2011). Violence as a public health risk. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, SAGE Publications. McCarroll, J. E., Ursano, R. J., Fan, Z., & Newby, J. H. (2004a). Classification of the severity of the US Army and civilian reports of child maltreatment. Military Medicine, 169, 461-464. McCarroll, J. E., Ursano, R. J., Fan, Z., & Newby, J. H. (2004b). Comparison of U.S. Army and civilian substantiated reports of child maltreatment. Child Maltreatment, 9, 103-110. McCarroll, J. E., Ursano, R. J., Fan, Z., & Newby, J. H. (2004c). Patterns of spouse and child maltreatment by discharged U.S. Army soldiers. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 32, 53-62. Mercy, J. A., Rosenberg, M. L., Powell, K. E., Broome, C. V., & Roper, W. L. (1993). Public health policy for preventing violence. Health Affairs, 12(4), 7-29. Mollerstrom,W. W., Patchner, M. A., & Milner, J. S. (1992). Family violence in the Air Force: A look at offenders and the role of the Family Advocacy Program. Military Medicine, 157, 371-374. Rumm, P. D., Cummings, P., Krauss, M. R., Bell, M. A., & Rivara, F. P. (2000). Identified spouse abuse as a risk factor for child abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24, 1375-1381. Read More