Medical Responses to Family Violence: Barriers to Assessment and Intervention

• NCJ Number: 203829
• Author(s): Anna M. Santiago Ph.D.; Gordon Thoms; Angela Taylor; Nellie Jenkins
• Date Published: October 2000
• Length: 22 pages
• Corporate Author: Skillman Ctr for Children
• Sale Source: Skillman Ctr for Children
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Downloaded January 9, 2004.

Annotation

Based on Tilden et. al.'s Family Violence Survey (1994), this Detroit-area study describes the training in treating family violence received by medical providers; how medical providers respond to child and intimate partner abuse victims; and the extent to which medical providers are knowledgeable about and use existing medical protocols in addressing family violence.

Abstract

A total of 186 health providers completed the survey in 1999. Approximately 55 percent of the respondents were physicians, 18 percent were psychologists, and 25 percent were social workers. All but three of the respondents were in active clinical practice. The survey found that, on average, providers had received relatively little training in family violence issues. This lack of training proved to be a major factor in the wide variation in responses to victims of family violence. The respondents themselves perceived that their lack of training was one of the primary barriers to their assessment, detection, intervention, and treatment of family-violence cases. Few providers even knew proper procedures for detecting a patient's abuse. Although most of the respondents considered themselves responsible for intervening to address abuse in families, many have not reported suspected abuse to the appropriate authorities, opting instead to record their observations or address the issue directly with their clients. A high percentage of providers expressed low confidence in mandatory reporting of child and elder abuse; this may stem from their perceptions of the inadequacies and lack of clarity associated with existing reporting and intervention protocols. Overall, the respondents identified limited resources, time constraints, inadequate training, weak protocols, and fear of litigation as the primary barriers to the assessment, detection, intervention, and treatment of family violence. In order to address these deficiencies, medical providers should work in cooperation with other service providers to support collaborative training efforts, influence policymaking, and design appropriate assessment techniques. 26 references