Domestic Violence

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Domestic violence is defined as the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior. I chose this population, being that of victims of domestic violence and abuse, because while I’ve never dealt with it personally, even though I know many women that have been victims of domestic violence and abuse. I know enough of the statistics on domestic violence to worry about my female friends, but I don’t know enough information to know how victims feel, or why they stay with the abuser. I feel that I should inform myself on the topic so that one day, I will know how to approach the situation should I ever have to counsel a victim of domestic violence, since I have not been in that position personally, and I don’t want to be insincere or seem apathetic towards a client.
I find this to be one of the saddest forms of abuse a person can go through, because the one inflicting the pain and that is the abuser is someone close to the victim. Unfortunately, domestic violence has been around as long as there have been unions and partnerships, and has only recently gained attention in the media. It has been seen as a problem but most people seem to think that someone else will handle it. It is not the victims fault, it is our treatment of the issue, it is not a societal “problem” but it is. Each year according to a study put out by The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence approximately 1.3 million women will fall victim to domestic violence.(2007) This same study the NCADV released states one in every four women will be victims of domestic violence at some point in their life, one in every six will be a victim of sexual assault, and one in every twelve will ...

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... and adjust to what they need in a social worker, depending on the type of abuse, severity of the abuse and longevity of it. I plan on working the code of ethics in by being extremely discrete if I need to call the client for any reason, by not giving away that I am a social worker. I would use the code to make sure I went above and beyond with clients that have been victims of domestic violence, without overstepping any bounds with them or making their situation anymore difficult. After reading up on domestic violence, it’s now easier to understand why it took my grandmother so long to leave both abusive relationships she’s had in her life, she feared for not only her life but her sons. Hearing it from my grandmother and hearing what she went through, but then reading unbiased texts about why women stay in abusive relationships it makes so much more sense.

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