Discrete and Episodic Violence among Families in Need - Literature review Example

DOMES Introduction Stith et al.’s introduction is cogent and thoughtful, and supplies necessary background information regarding themes of domestic violence, therapy options, and couples group vs. couples individual therapy. Essentially, the introduction gets the reader’s attention while providing a framework for the study. “Domestic violence is a common complaint encountered by counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals. Common psychological treatment practices separate perpetrators and victims into individual intervention modalities. However, there is some research that has been emerging that suggests in some cases a couples treatment approach may be a useful adjunct to existing treatments” (Harris, 2008). Stith et al. provide the framework for their study of domestic violence by writing an introduction which gets the point of the research across cogently. Stith et al. provide an articulate and literate introduction that gives a good background to the research. An informative introduction is assumedly a way of classifying the introduction, and Stith et al.’s article meets this classification. It is important for all research study introductions to be informative, because they basically can tell one what the whole research is about. An introduction can tell the reader in a short amount of time what the basic framework of a study seeks to identify. An indicative introduction like that used by Stith et al. does not give away the results of the study. It suggests the research questions, and gives everything else an introduction should give in terms of information to the reader, except for the results of the research. An indicative introduction such as this is more like a set of clues about the research than an explanation that goes into very much detail about the results. A good introduction should set up and give a good amount of background information about the research, which is something that Stith et al. achieve to great effect. Their introduction shows the major trends in the areas of domestic violence and group counseling. Research design and questions This article had a statement of purpose and research questions that were clear and short, but it was not guilty of promoting general over specific understanding of the issues. All of the authors’ questions are very unbiased and open-ended about domestic violence and counseling efficiency, which could have been a problem but wasn’t. These writers seem to go out of their way to attempt study objectivity, even asking what the positive as well as negative consequences of their subject matter could be. One may find that in a lot of general information in articles about this subject, authors may let their own opinions and attitudes come through in the research, but still, Stith et al. don’t ask a lot of leading questions. Theirs is more of an experiment about which counseling is effective—although it involves self report. Overall, this article was articulate and thoughtful, with adequate research questions and clearly articulated design. The materials and methods section of the research study tells the reader about what the research is about and how it is going to accomplish the research goals. Materials can give the reader an idea about how they could reproduce the research, and methods can be tested or untested, so it is wise for empirical research to be very clear about methods as well as materials, so that the reader can become more familiar about the process of research itself. “The screening process in Stith et al’s study excluded severe violence and substance misuse. The model consists of two steps: the men and women first attend gender-specific groups and then participate in conjoint treatment, either in individual couples therapy or in multi-couple group therapy” (Heru, 2007). Description of the experiment is one ingredient, and the other is data. When the experiment is described, people can see an overview of what it was like. Data can be presented in many ways, but charts and graphs are common, along with narrative description. These authors, Stith et al., did not contain extensive charts and graphs in their study. The overall effect of Stith et al.’s article is one of theory formation, with testing being done in a way that is longitudinally responsible and connects theory with reality. It is a fixed design with flexible research questions. Flexible designs tend more towards theory generation, whereas fixed designs acting as experiments, are more about theory testing. Experimental designs tend to be testable. This is a generalization that can be made about these different types of designs, which have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Surveys and experiments are examples of fixed research designs, which are more quantitative than qualitative and have more aspects of this type of theory. Quantitative experimental studies like Stith et al.’s which compare different research populations, tend to rely on hard data and statistics that can provide generalizable results about a population, whereas qualitative studies could be more of a case example or subjective viewpoint. This research is not very officialized and may even be somewhat vague in the framework which it is required to follow, and therefore could be generally defined as a qualitative, flexible research method. Stith et al., on the other hand, follow a quantitative, fixed method. Their results are ones that can be used to prove or disprove a hypothesis. The research includes adequate steps followed in the research design process, including an introduction and background of issue, in which research objectives are maximized and sought out. There is also the requisite review of other studies on the issue concerned to establish a point of comparison for the existing research. There is also the explanation of methodology, procedures, and participants, which is put forth in Stith et al. in a way that allows the research to be duplicated. Especially regarding sensitive issues like domestic violence, presentation of results and conclusions can be displayed in a cogent and thoughtful way that can be understood by the reader in an optimized manner without a great deal of complexity of statistics, an over use of acronyms or superfluous charts, or other methods. “Sometimes our society's perspective is that all violent couples should separate, But sometimes the reality is that people don't. They're living together and making decisions together. People think they're doing the couple a favor by saying they won't work with them because there's been violence and they're choosing to stay together” (Harris, 2008). Stith et al. take a personal issue and explore it with research objectivity. They use a fixed design and ask questions about which counseling is most effective for domestic violence victims: counseling in groups of other couples, or single couple counseling. Variables DV: Recidivism of male violence IV: Type of counseling—individual couples IV: Type of counseling—multi-group couples Methods and sampling Different perspectives on the issue of appropriate methodologies for experimental counseling care research projects abound in extant literature, in terms of exploratory, descriptive, and analytical studies. “Exploratory studies are most typically done… to satisfy the researcher’s curiosity and desire for better understanding, to test the feasibility of undertaking a more careful study, and to develop the methods to be employed” (Babbie, 1995, p. 84). In the case of the research experiment, this phase seeks to find common themes and areas of possibility for further study. The descriptive phase follows, in which the demographic and statistical information on the target population and target program emulations are determined in respective forms of their completeness and efficiency as representative statistics and program models related to decreasing the prevalence of domestic violence, the overall goal. In the explanatory phase which follows this in turn, the actual research of the experiment itself employs salient variables and determines relationships answering the overall questions of why and how. This phase also includes the provision of non-spurious interrelationships that have been shown by the experiment, and these relationships are examined in terms of how they apply to future studies on the subject of domestic violence. In the study, “Forty-two couples were randomly assigned to either individual couple or multi-couple group treatment. Nine couples served as the comparison group. Male violence recidivism rates 6 months after treatment were significantly lower for the multi-couple group (25%) than for the comparison group (66%)” (Stith et al, 2004). The sample size of this study was rather small compared to some others. A larger sample size can consist of up to thousands of individuals and higher. Data analysis The authors provide a cogent and thoughtful data analysis which takes many perspectives into consideration. They write and articulate and literate advocacy of group counseling scenarios for domestic violence. “In contrast, men in the individual couple condition were not significantly less likely to recidivate (43%) than those in the comparison group. In addition, marital satisfaction increased significantly, and both marital aggression and acceptance of wife battering decreased significantly among individuals who participated in multi-couple group therapy, but not among those who participated in individual couple therapy or the comparison group” (Stith et al., 2004) Correlational research such as this is not for the person who is over-specific or hesitant about their analytical objectives. For example, if someone in a counseling center’s management can’t decide on the problem, then no research is going to be done in the first place. External validity involves the research being compared to a wider body, which is favorable in Stith et al.’s study. Even though the sample size is small, the results can be backed up by other research. A disadvantage in reference to Stith et al.’s analysis could be their lack of scientific credibility when compared to fixed designs using inferential statistics, which one must address explicitly as a possible drawback. Of course, it is fitting at this level of research for authors to be forward with possible limitations of the study; however, this admission does not make any study more statistically or empirically viable, just because of this admission. “This design allows you to predict an outcome, such as the prediction that ability, quality of schooling, student motivation, and academic coursework influence student achievement… statistical designs can be used employing a correlation statistical test” (Babbie, 1995). Correlations come post-research and are included in Stith et al.’s informative analysis. In their analysis, the authors find that family conferencing is a method that has been demonstrated to have positive results in the context of interfamilial communication patterns and domestic violence patterns, but it must also be stressed that organizations need to communicate in terms of getting programs that stress group counseling and family conferencing implemented. Both domestic violence and child welfare statistics show that child and adult maltreatment and family separations are significantly impacted in a positive way by the institution of family group conferencing. In groups that were not introduced to this form of counseling, families were seen to be more likely to slide back towards a condition of entropy. “Sensitive caregiving, by definition, implies an ability to respond appropriately to needs of any kind, regardless of what they are and how they are expressed. However it is obvious that some present more of a challenge in this regard than others” (Harris, 2008). It is important to not just analyze data accurately, but also to form a stand of advocacy to combat some of the problems mentioned in the research, because as a wide range of sources agree, domestic violence is a serious issue that affects many people today. “Studies that target victims of intimate partner violence usually have separation of the (female) victim from the (male) abuser as their goal. Simply assessing for intimate partner violence and offering a referral can interrupt the violence and its associated trauma” (Heru, 2007). The end goal of all analyses on this subject is the same: the cessation of violence. The authors hope to find the most effective program for reducing domestic violence, and they present their results in the context of this analysis, with a background in other research. Ethical and legal issues The discussion section is basically an opportunity for the author or authors to interpret the results and also raise ethical and legal issues. If the results are the numbers and data the discussion is the data analysis. A discussion should put forth the issues and act as a sort of summary and review, as well s a place to interpret the results. The findings express the results; the discussion twists and interprets them. A good discussion should explain and interpret results without giving the reader leading statements or seeming to manipulate the reader, and should take legal and ethical issues into primary account. The study was ethical overall, because the goal was to help the patient through counseling either way. A good discussion of ethics should be cogent and thoughtful, and show the reader how the researcher is approaching their subject. They should appear to be confident, but not overconfident, because this is the author or authors’ opportunity to convince the reader about their chain of reasoning, relative to the hypothesis. Stith et al. succeed in this for the most part: data was collected using an observational methodology through this study. The subjects’ rights were protected in the study by full consent measures and protected confidentiality. There was no significant risk involved to the human subjects of this study. The internal validity of the study is somewhat low, because the sample size is fairly small. A larger sample size could give more reliable, easily generalized results. The study found in terms of its chief finding, that, group counseling seems to work best in reducing domestic violence, but only if it is done in a multi group setting. This finding may have legal implications, in that legal professionals may refer clients to this type of counseling more often. However, the situation is much more complex even when the counseling element is removed, since a domestic violence situation is by nature made up of many different individuals. Moral and economic values differ from person to person within a culture as well as legal system. A society is a large organizational structure, and within this structure, there may be individuals who are inspired to behave unethically for any number of reasons. Many of these reasons have to do with the goals of the individual. For example, if a person views monetary gain as their main purpose, they may be willing to put ethical issues aside in order to reach their goal with maximum efficiency. They may not pay attention to any code at all, leading to conflict. The authors of this research appear to have behaved ethically, because they want to help individuals with problems rejoin society more productively. Recommendations The authors make statements regarding how the role of the counselor should be implemented with a focus on balancing various issues. In terms of what could be stronger in the article, it is also important to think of counseling practice and how to present things such as patterns of family violence, concentrating specifically on domestic violence among families in need. A lot of people don’t know about differentiations made in the terminology of abuse such as discrete and episodic violence. In terms of violence, there is a lot of psychological and sexual abuse that goes on domestically, and this does not concentrate only on physical violence. This makes the definition of violence broader. In terms of physical abuse, this facet of abuse can be divided into sections of mild abuse, severe abuse, and abuse resulting in injury. For psychological abuse, which, almost always accompanies physical abuse, there are also categories. These are those of verbal aggression, such as shouting and yelling; emotional manipulation, such as using shame and humiliation to control an individual or make them not tell about the abuse; and dominance and restriction, in which the individual is isolated and could be harder for the counselor to reach. “In McFarlane et al’s study, 360 abused women recruited from US urban public primary care clinics were compared on two interventions: a referral card and a 20 min session with a nurse following a case management protocol. After 2 years, both treatment groups reported significantly fewer threats of abuse, assaults, risks for homicide and events of work harassment” (Heru, 2007). The goal is to find out how to counteract these issues. In terms of validity and reliability, the methodology appears sound; however, there are the obstacles inherent to experimental scientific papers. The representative sample offers scaled facets of generalization depending on its size. The sample size for the investigation may be relatively small and not longitudinal in nature. Experimental studies are most typically done to satisfy the researcher’s curiosity. A review paper may be included in the experimental study, and in this case it is a sort of meta-analysis that is not empirical in its approach to the subject matter. A review collates other sources which may have empirical value, but does no actual experimental testing. An experiment does this testing. Overall, I would recommend that these authors combine their experiment with more of a review emphasis. Although I understand that this may detract from the quantitative nature of the statistical results being presented, I think that it would provide the study with more background that can be used to make the small survey sample size more generalized. REFERENCE Babbie, Earl (1995). The Practice of Social Research. New York: Wadsworth- Thompson Publishing Harris, G (2008). Cojoint therapy and domestic violence. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a769803762&db=all Heru, A (2007). Intimate violence. Psychiatry Advances. http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/13/5/376 Stith, S et al. (2004). Treating intimate partner violence. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Read More