Gender differences among mental health professionals’ knowledge of domestic violence

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective This article aims to discuss the gender differences among female and male mental health professionals working with domestic violence survivors. In addition, this article suggests gender is a significant variable that should be considered in domestic violence education, research, and practice. Method Data were collected from a sample of 175 mental health professionals who responded to quantitative and qualitative questions assessing their knowledge of DV. Data were imported to the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), version 28 which was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistical methods were employed to explore the descriptive statistics of the demographic variables. Cross-tabulation and chi-square tests were used to explore associations between variables. Results The findings show that gender differences exist among female and male mental health professionals’ knowledge of domestic violence. Female mental health professionals tend to have a higher awareness and understanding of domestic violence about prevalence, while male mental health professionals tend to have a higher understanding of the impact of domestic violence on racial and ethnic women and women in various age groups. Discussion The study demonstrates the need to integrate an inclusive gender analysis that examines the competency, knowledge, and skills among mental health professionals working with domestic violence survivors. A gender analysis is crucial in further exploring mental health professionals’ roles, attitudes, treatment, outcomes, and approaches to domestic violence cases.