Graduating Social Work Students’ Perspectives on Domestic Violence

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined 124 social work students' views on the causes and dynamics of domestic violence and their recommended interventions in a case scenario. Most students graduated from the master of social work (MSW) program with a mental health perspective on domestic violence. Only a small percentage were aware of specific interventions for domestic violence and many continued to attribute domestic violence to mental health and substance abuse problems in the victim and perpetrator. Graduates with domestic violence experience varied little from their peers in suggested domestic violence interventions or comments about the causes of domestic violence. The findings suggest that a deliberate, focused attempt to inform students about domestic violence is needed, rather than a reliance on general MSW courses. Keywords social work students, perspectives on domestic violence, interventions in domestic violence scenario AbstractThis article presents research on social work graduates' views on the causes of domestic violence and interventions in domestic violence cases. Domestic violence continues to be a multifaceted problem that an estimated 22% of women experience over their lifetimes (Thoennes & Tjaden, 2000). Many people believe that a woman's behavior can contribute to intimate partner violence, some believe that women want to be abused, and a large majority believe that women can easily leave abusive relationships (Worden & Carlson, 2005). Overall, most people believe that the causes

Graduating MSW Students’ Recommended Interventions for Teen Dating Violence: A Descriptive Analysis

“…Correspondingly, education is an important role of social workers and an intervention that they are often comfortable in recommending and performing (Asquith, Clark, & Waterhouse, 2005;Black et al, 2010;Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney & Strom-Gottfried, 2013). It is a strength that graduating social workers would instruct clients on healthy relationships.…”

“…In contrast, other studies have found that previous training and coursework have little impact on attitudes and beliefs about violence against women (Postmus et al, 2011;Tower, 2003) and raise concerns about students' readiness to intervene effectively with clients experiencing IPV. Black, Weisz, and Bennett's (2010) examination of social work students' probable interventions in response to a case scenario found that even though almost 20% of the students had taken an elective class on family violence, few mentioned IPV-specific interventions and one-third included statements that blamed the victim for the occurrence of violence. This study also found that a majority of students believed IPV to be a mental health issue and recommended counseling, an idea consistent with Danis and Lockhart's (2003) assertion that social work students view IPV as a mental health problem of the victim.…”

Black Eyes Matter: Nuances of Intersectionality and their Impact on Inclusion and Support

“…Despite distinct evidence of domestic violence as a social problem, intimate partner violence carries its own set of inherent interpersonal judgments. Some common beliefs include the notion that women's behavior contributes to their experience of violence, some women want to be abused, and women can easily leave abusive relationships (Black, Weisz & Bennett, 2010;Worden & Carlson, 2005). Crenshaw (1991) defined intersectionality as a useful framework with which to mediate the tensions between assertions of multiple identities and the ongoing necessity of group politics.…”

“…Professionally, the role of critical thinking in a context of clinical awareness cannot be underrated. Clinicians implement critical thinking in relation to risk in both assessment and practice (Black, Weisz & Bennett, 2010), which is typically research or evidence informed. However, Taleff (2006) noted that practitioners frequently assess clients with limited information and fill in gaps with their own ideas, emotions and assumptions; this was consistent with my personal experience.…”

Women's Experiences of laws, policies and practices in response to VAWIR: whose rights are maintained?

“…Research supports the argument that male's abuse of their intimate partners is used in dominant traditional patriarchal power structures to enforce women's inequality and submissiveness (Black, Weisz, & Bennett, 2010;Goonesekere, 2006;Mullaly, 2002), and further, that physical violence is one way of men's obtaining, and maintaining power and control over their female partner (Leone, Lape, & Xu, 2014). Participants' experiences reveal emotional, verbal, mental, and economic abuse.…”