Domestic Violence: Assessment and Treatment

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Domestic Violence Assessment

Crisis intervention assessment is vital when working with DV victims. Many crisis first responders will be at the scene and they need to assess if the victim is safe in their surroundings and if not they need to implement a safety plan for the victim. The first responder needs to be direct in asking the victim if they feel that they are in any immediate danger and find out if there are any weapons in the house the can be used by the abuser. By also obtaining a the history of the victim in means of finding out how long the abuse has gone on, does it appear be getting more violent, has the abuser given any threats of killing them, and have they had any other calls or hospitalizations due to injuries. By asking direct questions such as if they feel safe with their spouse, are either one of them are using drugs or alcohol, and does their spouse go through the cycle of tension, then battering, and afterwards do they express remorse (Clinton & Hawkins, 2009) If the victim appears to be hurt and needs to seek medical attention the first responder should help coordinate for transport to the hospital and can follow the ambulance to give continue support for the victim.

When a woman attempts to leave their relationship many times the violence will escalate and the victim may be killed at the hands of their abuser (Walby & Allen, 2004). Before a woman is encourage to leave it is vital that first a complete assessment has been done and a safety plan is in place for the victim and her children (Sharpen, 2009). Making sure that the victim has the community resources list of the vital agencies that can assist her and where the local domestic violence shelter is. If the victim wants to flee but does not have transportation calling the police is an option that can be used to provide safe transportation for her.

Myer & Conte (2006) provides a guide for the areas that can be influenced when a person is having a crisis that can be used with DV. The areas that can be affected are: 1) physical needs, such as safety; 2) psychological needs, such as providing crisis counseling for her emotional issues triggered from the abuse; 3) social needs, such as any relationships in her life that have been impacted by the abuse; 4) spiritual needs, such as her relationship with God, her beliefs and personal values. By focusing on all of the above an appropriate plan for treatment can be developed and implemented for the victims care. Since many victims may be shaken up this can be done a little at a time so that the she will not feel overwhelmed.

A tool that the crisis first responder could use is The Domestic Violence Survivor

Assessment (DVSA). This tool was developed by Dienemann, Campbell, Curry, and Landenburger (2002) and it assess six personal and 6 relational issues that a DV victim could have. The six personal issues are: being able to accessing help from their family, friends, and other outside organizations, their self-identity, self-efficacy to their feelings and emotions as they relate to the abuse, their mental health issues such as stress and PTSD, and finally their ability to seek medical and emotional care. The six relational issues are: being able to seek legal assistance, seeing their attachment to their relationship, ability to see the triggers to the abuse, ability to manage their abuser, able to see their options, and being able to manage their own beliefs and norms (2002).

One of the tools the crisis intervention counselor can used to assess the victims spiritual

Spiritual coping skills is the Brief RCOPE. One’s coping methods can either be positive which involves their closeness to God and others and their negative coping methods which involves their struggles with God and others which victims of a trauma may experience. RCOPE measures the following areas: 1) seeking spiritual support 2) spiritual connection 3) collaborative religious coping 4) religious forgiving 5) religious purification 6) religious reappraisal 7) spiritual discontent 8) religious focus 9) interpersonal religious discontent 10) punishing God reappraisal 11) reappraisal of God’s powers 12) benevolent religious reappraisal 13) demonic reappraisal (Pargament, Koeing, & Perez, 2000). After obtaining the RCOPE assessment the crisis counselor will be able to assess where the victim is at and assist her regaining her trust and intimacy with God that she lost due to the DV by her husband.

Crisis Counseling Treatment for Domestic Violence Victims

There are five essential goals that a crisis counselor should work towards when counseling a DV victim. These goals are as follow:

- To eliminate all emotional, physical, sexual, and verbal abuse in their relationship with the abuser.

- To take the legal steps necessary to ensure safety and legal steps against their abuser

- To develop coping skills necessary to maintain emotional and physical wellbeing in this relationship and any future relationship.

- To return to functioning level before the abuse occurred

- To become a resilient survivor rather than a hopeless victim (Jongsma, 2014).

The first item that the counselor needs to look at when counseling a victim is what are their coping mechanism how they are handling their abuse. Many victims may have been abused as a child and have unresolved issues that can interfere with coping with more abuse. The counselor needs to allow the victim to share their story and provide unconditional positive regard and a nonjudgmental attitude. By asking open-ended questions on when the abuse started, what situation was the trigger for the current abuse, and any other abuse that occurred prior to this episode (Jongsma, 2014).

A model that can be used to counsel DV victims is the Behavioral Influence Stairway Model (BISM). Its goal is to working on the development of a positive relationship with the victim and providing assistance for her to seek help and if need leave her abusive husband. The model uses the following steps: 1) active listening- where the victim feels that they are being heard and accepted 2) empathy-being able to see the abuse through their own eyes 3) rapport- a relationship has been developed and therapeutic intervention can begin 4) influence- helping them to begin to change in a positive way (Vecchi, 2009). The final stage can be troublesome because of the fear the victim may have because of the threats their husband may have made.

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