Assessment Of Domestic Violence Research Articles

A Study on the Criminal Application of Near-term Artificial Intelligence - Taking recidivism risk assessment of domestic violence as an example -

A Study on the Criminal Application of Near-term Artificial Intelligence - Taking recidivism risk assessment of domestic violence as an example -

Emergency Risk Assessments in Child Welfare Services: Developing Structured Support to Professional Assessments

ABSTRACTThe article presents a study on structured support for the professional assessment of emergent domestic violence in families with children. Data are presented on the development and study of a new structured support called iRiSk emergency, which was developed jointly by the authors of this article, and an emergency social work unit in Stockholm, Sweden. The model was developed from the iRiSk model, which, translated from Swedish, stands for ‘Interventions and Risk and Protection Assessments for children exposed to violence’. Structured support for emergency risk assessments is rare as existing instruments mainly focus on screening for violence and are not designed to guide professionals in situations of identified violence. The purpose of the research project is elaborated through two research questions: (1) Which information is needed for emergency assessments, and how can it be collected? (2) What are the specific preconditions of the child welfare service emergency work to be taken into account in terms of emergency risk assessments? The feedback from the social workers was that iRiSk emergency was flexible to use, decreased the risk of missing important risk factors and made the assessments more child‐centred. The model appears to be a viable approach for enhancing the systematic evaluation and testing of structured support for emergency risk assessment in social work, surpassing the limitations of the current study.

Assessment of domestic violence and its associated factors among ever-married reproductive-age women in Cameroon: a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundDomestic violence (DV) against women is a global issue that affects women in all countries and is a significant contributor to their poor health. Women who have experienced DV, in particular, suffer from the gynecological, nervous system, and stress-related issues. Despite such devastating implications, there is a paucity of data on the prevalence of DV and its associated factors among married reproductive-age women in Cameroon.MethodThe data were analyzed by using STATA version 14 from a demographic and health survey conducted in Cameroon in 2018. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done. Statistical significance was determined using a p-value of less than 0.05 and a 95% confidence range.ResultA total of 4,903 ever-married women were included in the study. The mean age ± standard deviation, of the participants was 31.3 (± 8.4) years with an age range of 15–49 years. The prevalence of DV among ever-married Cameroonian women was 30.5% with 95%CI (29.3%, 31.8%). Women’s educational attainment (higher educational level) (AOR = 0.58, 95% CI (0.37, 0.92), p value = 0.02), Husband's educational level (husbands who attended primary educational level (AOR = 1.30, 95% CI (1.01, 1.68), p value = 0.04), a woman who had media exposure regarding DV ( AOR = 0.83, 95% CI (0.0, 0.99), p value = 0.04), a woman whose husband drinks alcohol (AOR = 3.00, 95% CI (2.56, 3.53), p value < 0.001), and the region where the women reside (center without Yaoundé (AOR = 2.48, 95% CI (1.75, 3.52), p value < 0.001), west (AOR = 1.49, 95% CI (1.05, 2.11), p value = 0.02), South (AOR = 1.89, 95% CI (1.31, 2.72), p-value = 0.001), and Yaoundé (AOR = 1.65. 95% CI (1.14, 2.39), p value = 0.009) were factors that were significantly associated to DV committed by a husband in the previous 12 months against ever-married women.ConclusionThe present study revealed that the prevalence of DV among ever-married women in Cameroon is high. Women's educational level, husband's educational level, husband's alcohol drinking status, women’s exposure to mass-media about DV, and the region where the woman resides in the country were factors significantly associated with DV.

Women Abuse Screening Tool: A Validation Study on Nigerian Pregnant Women

Domestic violence is identified across the globe as a menace as it poses a threat to the mental health of its victims, the significant others of the victim and the security of a nation at large. In some cases, the victim of domestic violence is a pregnant woman and harm is caused not only to a woman but her fetus also and this calls for urgent psychological assessment and intervention. Although there is no doubt that psychological tests are effective in the assessment of domestic violence, using the psychometric properties obtained from a different population may produce generate inaccurate findings. This paper therefore attempts the validation study of Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) using a sample of 379 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at the State Specialist Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. The study derived a Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability of 0.758, p &lt;.05 and a Guttman split-half coefficient of 0.683, p &lt;.05. Furthermore, concurrent validity of Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) and Ongoing Abuse Screen (OAS) was established as 0.29, p&lt;.05. The norms of the instrument were given as 2.38 for tolerable level of domestic violence and 5.79 for severe and pathological level of domestic violence. Authors conclude that Women Abuse Screening Tool has acceptable psychometric properties to justify its usage for the assessment of level of domestic violence among pregnant women in Nigeria and other nations with similar socio-cultural backgrounds.

Assessment of domestic violence against elderly people in Mansoura city .

Background: Domestic violence occurs when one person in an intimate relationship behaves in a way that causes fear or harm to another person . Domestic violence includes emotional, physical, sexual, neglect and financial exploitation.. The aim: To assess domestic violence against elderly people in Mansoura city. Research design: A descriptive cross-section research design was utilized. Settings: The study conducted in rural area , at outpatient clinics that located in a central hospitals of three districts: Menait El-Nasr, Sherbien, and Aga; these districts were randomly selected from fifteen districts in Mansura city. Sample type: A covenant sample was used. Sample size: The sample consisted of 394 elderly. Tools: Interviewing questionnaire sheet and elderly abuse assessment instrument were used to collect the study subjects’ data. Results: The results revealed that the elderly people were exposed to physical violence (13.7%), emotional violence (45.9%), neglect (13.7%), financial exploitation (10.2%), and sexual violence (2.8%). Conclusion: the elderly people have lack of knowledge about domestic violence and the most common type of elderly domestic violence was emotional. Recommendation: the study recommended to increase the knowledge of the community about elderly domestic violence through mass media.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Module for Assessment of Domestic Violence, adapted from Axis I of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-2), with a sample of Brazilian women, victims of domestic violence.

Intimate partner domestic violence against women causes physical and psychological harm to victims. The relevance of this topic is indisputable and there is a need to identify in greater detail how these women experience violence, since these factors have considerable clinical implications. To develop a Portuguese version of the Module for Assessment of Domestic Violence, adapted from Axis I of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-2), considering content validity and psychometric characteristics. Cross-cultural adaptation was based on guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. OPD clinical interviews were recorded and transcribed. These interviews were analyzed by two independent judges trained in the OPD-2. The sample comprised 56 women who had been victims of domestic violence, with a mean age of 30.07 years (standard deviation = 9.65). The adapted version has content validity and good psychometric characteristics. Evaluation of semantic equivalence took into account the psychodynamic references, using the same ideas as the original instrument. Interexaminer reliability between the judges was substantial (k = 0.63) and Cronbach's alpha for the new version indicates good reliability. The OPD-2 offers a psychodynamic diagnosis of the victim that complements traditional nosological diagnosis, particularly in the context of domestic violence with the adaptation of Axis I. Certain biases could have been detrimental to aspects of this study, but they were controlled. The study objective was achieved and the Module was successfully adapted to Brazilian Portuguese. The results are in line with those of the original study.

Adapted tool for the assessment of domestic violence against women in a low-income country setting: a reliability analysis.

BackgroundOne-in-three women has experienced domestic violence, which is a serious public health problem and a human right violation. Domestic violence is a common life experience among women in Ethiopia. The tool used to assess violence against women (VAW) has not been validated to assess its consistency. Cronbach’s alpha (α, or coefficient alpha) is a measure of internal consistency, or reliability, that is, how closely a set of items are related as a group. Reliability is how well a test measures what it should. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the inter-item correlation (reliability) of the tool adapted from literature.MethodsA community-based study was conducted in Northwestern Ethiopia between November 15, 2017 and December 31, 2017. A total of 1,269 women at their permanent place of residence (specifically at their households) were recruited using the multistage stratified systematic sampling method. A structured questionnaire was adapted from literature. Also, 12 trained female data collectors collected the data using the face-to-face interview method. Data were entered into EpiData 3.1.0 and exported to SPSS 23.0 for analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out to estimate the reliability of the response(s).ResultsOverall, Cronbach’s alpha was higher than the minimum recommended value of 0.70. Cronbach’s alpha for specific sections were 0.764 for women’s decision-making autonomy (13 items); women’s accepting attitude toward justified wife-beating (five items, 0.894); physical violence (seven items, 0.876); psychological violence (15 items, 0.925); sexual violence (five items, 0.812); and inequitable gender-norms (seven items, 0.867).ConclusionThe tool used to assess domestic VAW in Northwestern Ethiopia had a high reliability. Therefore, researchers can adapt the tool and further assess its reliability in other settings to have a common and validated tool to study VAW in a low-income countries.

Prevalence and associated factors of domestic violence among pregnant women attending routine antenatal care in Nepal.

The primary aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of domestic violence (DV) and its associated factors among pregnant women in Nepal. The secondary aims were to investigate disclosure of DV by women to health-care personnel and to assess whether health-care personnel had asked women about their experience of DV. This cross-sectional study included 2004 pregnant women between 12 and 28 weeks of gestation attending routine antenatal care at two hospitals in Nepal from August 2014 to November 2015. In this study, DV was defined as fear of a family member and/or an experience of physical, emotional or sexual violence. Associated risk factors were analysed using logistic regression analyses. Twenty-one per cent of the women had experienced DV; 12.5% experienced fear only, 3.6% violence only and 4.9% experienced both violence and fear. Less than 2% per cent reported physical violence during pregnancy. This study found that just 17.7% had ever been asked by health-care personnel about DV, and of the women who had reported DV, only 9.5% had disclosed their experience to health-care personnel. Women of young age and low socio-economic status were more likely to have experienced DV. Women who reported having their own income and the autonomy to use it were at significantly lower risk of DV compared to women with no income. A substantial proportion of women reported having experienced DV. Victims had rarely disclosed their experience of DV to health-care personnel. This study underlines the importance of integrating systematic assessment of DV in antenatal care.

The usefulness of the Draw-a-Person (DAP) test in the diagnosis and assessment of domestic violence

The usefulness of the Draw-a-Person (DAP) test in the diagnosis and assessment of domestic violence

Calculating Safety: Reckoning with Domestic Violence in the Context of Child Support Parenting Time Initiatives

This article explores domestic violence–related implications of federal and state initiatives seeking to establish parenting time in connection with entry of child support orders. The authors recommend and explore two critical family violence safeguards. First, parents need the information and support required by them to make deliberative decisions about parenting time, including: (1) understanding the legal meaning, consequences, and practical effect of formally establishing parenting time; (2) exploration of the extent to which various parenting time arrangements are in the best interests of the child; and (3) knowledge of the nature of dispute resolution and court processes available to them. Second, parents, rather than child support officials, should decide whether, when, and how to pursue establishment of parenting time. Key Points for the Family Court Community The impact of domestic violence on parenting and on child safety and well‐being varies extensively. Some survivors of domestic violence are forced to make high‐stakes calculations regarding the safety and well‐being of their children in the context of parenting time initiatives. Deliberative, informed, and voluntary decision making about parenting time is a key family violence safeguard. Domestic violence exclusions are only partially effective, in part because they unrealistically rely on quick and accurate identification and assessment of domestic violence and its implications. Parents should decide whether, when, and how to establish parenting time.

A survey of mental health professionals' knowledge, attitudes and preparedness to respond to domestic violence

BackgroundA high proportion of psychiatric service users experience domestic violence, yet most cases remain undetected by clinicians.AimsThis study aimed to assess mental health professionals' knowledge, attitudes and preparedness to respond to domestic violence.MethodInformation was collected on psychiatrists' and psychiatric nurses' knowledge, attitudes and preparedness towards the assessment of domestic violence, using an adapted Physician Readiness to Measure Intimate Partner Violence Survey.ResultsOne hundred and thirty-one professionals were surveyed. Only 20 (15%) professionals routinely asked all service users about domestic violence and just 36 (27%) provided information to service users following disclosure. Most professionals (60%) felt that they lacked adequate knowledge of support services, and 27% felt that their workplace did not have adequate referral resources for domestic violence. Nurses reported greater readiness to assess and manage domestic violence than psychiatrists (p < 0.001), despite psychiatrists reporting greater overall knowledge (p < 0.001).ConclusionsMental health professionals need to have clear referral pathways for service users who experience domestic violence, and to receive training on enhancing their knowledge and competencies to address domestic violence.

The Response of Mental Health Services to Domestic Violence

Despite numerous policies advocating for routine enquiry of abuse by mental health professionals, it is not known if such enquiry is acceptable to service users and clinicians. Furthermore, limited evidence exists on clinicians' response to domestic violence. This study aims to explore the acceptability of routine enquiry and experiences of responding to domestic violence from service user and professional perspectives. A qualitative study design was used to conduct individual interviews with a purposive sample of community mental health service users (n = 24) and professionals (n = 25). Thematic analysis was employed to establish superordinate and subordinate themes, which were transformed into conceptual maps. All service users considered routine enquiry about domestic violence in mental health settings to be acceptable but a small minority of professionals did not. Service users described positive experiences of help seeking, including receiving acknowledgement for the abuse and support for their multiple needs, and negative experiences, including nonvalidating responses from clinicians following disclosure, discrimination, and an absence of support from services. Main themes for professionals included difficulties in assessment and management of domestic violence, reporting requirements, and unclear referral pathways. To respond to the needs of mental health service users experiencing domestic violence, services need to articulate a clear care and referral pathway.

Assessment of Domestic Violence among Women in Ogun State, Nigeria

This study assessed domestic violence among women in Ogun State. Data were collected using structured interview guide. Purposively sampling technique was used to select 220 respondents in two zones of Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Findings showed that the mean age of respondents was 48.73 years, while the mean household size was 6 persons. Also, 41% of the respondents were Christians. Few, (26.20%) of the respondents had primary education qualification while 30.80% were into farming. Only 43.60% of the respondents belonged to cooperative societies. 18% of the respondents experienced verbal abuse. Similarly, 49.23% of the respondents agreed that domineering attitude of men promote domestic violence. The most preferred coping strategies to ameliorate domestic violence was to remain silent (63.10%). Correlation analysis also showed significant relationship between women’s livelihood activities and coping strategies such as fighting back (r= 0.95), pleasing and placating the perpetrator (r= 0.82), remaining silent (r= 0.89), avoiding the perpetrator (r =0.81) at p < 0.05. It was concluded that domestic violence limits women’s potentials and hinders their full involvement in livelihood activities. Therefore, there is need for the patriarch structures that reinforce power imbalance between men and women to be dismantled. Furthermore, women should be empowered through training and access to social assets such as loans and credit.

Genitourinary medicine clinic policies on domestic violence across England and Wales: a postal questionnaire survey

Domestic violence (DV) is prevalent in the UK. There are no national recommendations for assessment of DV in genitourinary (GU) medicine clinics. Bournemouth GU medicine clinic has a referral pathway for victims of DV. A postal questionnaire survey was carried out to determine whether GU medicine clinics across England and Wales had local policies in place to assess DV and also to establish their views on routine assessment of DV within GU medicine. The response rate was 53%. Most clinics had access to patient literature. Only 20% of the clinics had a policy in place to assist victims of DV. Although over 50% agreed that routine assessment for DV should happen in GU medicine clinics, only 11% clinics routinely asked about DV.

Assessment of domestic violence against children and adolescents with enuresis

To describe the frequency of domestic violence against Brazilian children and adolescents due to episodes of enuresis, as well as associated risk factors. A cross-sectional study was carried out with 149 patients aged between 6 and 18 years who received the diagnosis of primary monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis. A semi-structured interview was done with the patients and their guardians to collect information about the characteristics of domestic violence and abusers. In addition, a playful activity was performed by the patients. Abuse was characterized as verbal aggression, physical aggression without physical contact, and physical aggression with physical contact. Eighty-nine percent (n = 132) of the patients suffered abuse due to episodes of urine leakage. All cases were characterized by verbal punishment associated or not with other types of aggression. Physical punishment without physical contact occurred in 50.8% of the cases, while physical punishment with physical contact accounted for 48.5% of the cases. The main abuser was the mother (87.9%). One patient suffered an intentional severe genital injury, and reconstructive surgery was necessary. There was a significant correlation (p = 0.043, r = -0.768) between the abuser's educational level and punishment severity. Punishment rates due to episodes of urine leakage are alarming. Children and adolescents with enuresis who live with low-educated people can be considered a population at risk of suffering domestic violence.

A Review of Research on Violence in Same-Gender Couples

This paper reviews current research that has primarily focused on domestic violence among same-gender couples. Several key issues pertaining to the identification, assessment, and treatment of domestic violence among same-gender couples are examined and outlined to assist clinicians in effectively working with gay and lesbian clients who may be experiencing domestic violence. Resource information is included to help mental health clinicians recognize specific stressors of marginalized individuals as well as assessment and treatment recommendations are made.

Systematic review of the perceptions and experiences of accessing health services by adult victims of domestic violence

This systematic review synthesizes evidence on the perceptions and experiences of adult victims of domestic violence when accessing healthcare services. The review was concerned with disclosure of domestic violence by adult victims when accessing health services, the responses of healthcare professionals to these victims, victims' perceived barriers to support, and the appropriateness of support and referrals. These aims required the review to focus on studies using in-depth qualitative methods to explore victims' perceptions and experiences. A comprehensive systematic search of 12 databases was carried out in June/July 2005. Application of the review protocol and inclusion criteria resulted in 10 studies (conducted in the UK, USA and Australia) being considered eligible for the review. Data were extracted from these studies and a quality assessment completed. Thematic analysis was carried out to enable the identification of recurrent themes within the included studies. Findings indicate that victims of domestic violence experience difficulties when accessing healthcare services. Victims perceive that these difficulties can be attributed to inappropriate responses by healthcare professionals, discomfort with the healthcare environment, perceived barriers to disclosing domestic violence, and a lack of confidence in the outcomes of disclosure to a health professional. The methodological quality of included studies was variable, but no papers were rejected based on quality issues. These results can contribute to and inform a comprehensive assessment of the experiences of adult victims of domestic violence when accessing healthcare services. The health service is in a unique position to contribute towards the assessment and identification of domestic violence and to provide access to appropriate support. The messages of this study are important for policy-makers and practitioners.

Usefulness of Self-Report Instruments in Assessing Men Accused of Domestic Violence

Clinical assessment of domestic violence has traditionally relied on self-report methods of data collection, using structured interviews and lengthy questionnaires such as the MMPI-2. However, in certain situations such as court-ordered domestic violence evaluations, information obtained through self-report methods may be tainted because of willful impression management on the part of the client. The purpose of the current study was to compare self-report response styles of individuals with varying levels of domestic violence potential in order to determine whether the measures used could accurately differentiate between the groups. Individuals who were currently involved in child custody cases were court ordered to an anger assessment clinic to determine their potential for domestic violence because they had been accused of domestic abuse. Participants were classified into three groups: (a) documented domestic violence (n = 12), (b) high risk for domestic violence (n = 16), and (c) minimal risk for domestic violence (n = 24), and completed several measures of personality including the MMPI-2. Results indicated that the majority of individuals from all three groups used impression management techniques in an attempt to enhance their appearance. However, documented perpetrators of domestic violence still tended to score higher on specific measures of aggression despite their attempts to minimize. These results imply that individuals accused of domestic violence may employ impression management regardless of their guilt or innocence; therefore, the evaluation process should not disproportionately rely on self-reports.

Impact of domestic violence and drug abuse in pregnancy on maternal attachment and infant temperament in teenage mothers in the setting of best clinical practice

We examined whether the prenatal detection of family violence and initiation of a comprehensive prenatal individualised care program could ameliorate the impact of family violence on maternal attachment to her infant at 6-months of age. An assessment of domestic violence was established for each subject at the 1(st) antenatal visit and women were classified as being exposed to domestic violence in pregnancy (EDV) or as being not exposed to domestic violence. Outcomes were determined 6 months postpartum. Of 173 consecutive women who met the eligibility criteria, consent was obtained from 150 (87% response). Women who had been subjected to domestic violence showed reduced overall attachment scores to their infants. Following multivariate analysis, drug use in pregnancy and domestic violence showed a significant independent effect on maternal attachment. Drug abuse and domestic violence were also associated with an increase in the easy-difficult scale of infant temperament. Thus, despite excellence in prenatal care, drug abuse and domestic violence were associated with poorer maternal attachment and assessment of infant temperament, suggesting that additional interventions are still required.

Domestic violence: A study among a group of Turkish women

Objectives: With this study we attempt to explore the reality of domestic violence, its prevalence, type and frequency among a group of Turkish women.Methods: This study was performed between October 2000 and May 2001 in the fourth largest city in Turkey. All women over the age of 15, who visited any of 50 health centres in different districts for different purposes, were asked to participate in the study. 506 of the participants who gave their consent were taken as a study group, and printed questionnaires were filled in during face-to-face interviews.Results: 297 (58.7%) of the participants had experienced domestic violence at least once in their lifetime. The male partner was the primary violent person (49.5%), followed by mother and/or father (14.1%). The type of violence seen most was a combination of physical and psychological violence (45.5%). More than half of the women (58.6%) were experiencing domestic violence frequently and continuously. Reasons given for this violent behaviour were economic hardship (18.9%), followed by alcohol consumption by the violent person (18.5%), and inadequate family relations (15.8%). Of the victims 43.8% accepted this violence, but 26.6% reacted with violence. Women were not willing to abandon their relationships despite marital violence, because of their children (48.2%). Women's and men's higher educational attainments did indicate a decrease in the prevalence of domestic violence.Conclusion: Reasons for continuing the abusive relationship and the effectiveness of the scarce support resources should be evaluated more seriously. The potential role of the primary healthcare provider in eliminating barriers for identification and assessment of domestic violence should not be forgotten. Otherwise, domestic violence will still remain a ‘family matter’, hidden and neglected.