Ch 9: Intimate partner violence

Overview:

-          Can range from harsh criticism to aggressive brutality between adults in an intimate relationships

-          Child abuse and elder abuse are considered domestic violence. Treated different legally under those who cannot help themselves (though long-term IPV’s may also be stuck in the situations.

-          Battered wife syndrome: chronic yet inescapable victimization

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3 ways to distinguish subtype of offenders

o   Severity of violence

o   Generalist of violence

o   Presence/absence of psychopathology/personality disorders

-          2 types of intimate violence:

o   Male power and dominance

o   Mutual conflict between partners

Cultural, value-power, and systemic considerations

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Cultural dimensions have beend ID’d as considerations affecting IPV that include gender, race, and ethnic/national origin. Other considerations include religion, sexual orientation, and disability

-          Important in avoinding nondiscrimination elements of ethical codes noted previously

-          There isn’t necessarily noe set pattern to address and discuss IPV in therapy. Notes layers of values and powers the help determine how things should be handled

-          Values:

o   Personal values: personal beliefs or values may shade the therapist’s capacity to work with couples with IPV or build alliance with one or the other client

o   Professional layer of values: hierarchy or duties, attending to concerns about client safety and therapist role

o   Institutional values: associated with social custom, legal precedent, and risk management in liability may converge/conflict with personal/professional values

-          Powers:

o   Legitimate power: to compel the actions of others through the use of powers that oten align with inst. Values

o   Referent power: aligned with personal values….entails using one’s persuasive ability to charm, manipulate or impress based on one’s status. This can be problematic as change come from one charismatic pressures more than real desire.

o   Expert power: informed by professional values…most viable framework for influencing clients in and IPV circumstance. It’s giving care that is tempered by reality and professionalism.

Principles, traditions, and uniquenessses

This discussed how dealing with IPV’s would be in connection with the basic principles to therapy.

-          Beneficence: focus that benefits > harm/risks. Statistically, women are usually better off leaving the situation than remaining

-          Nonmaleficence: do no harm – leaving a person unchallenged/unaided in a dangerous situation can be seen as broaching this

-          Principle of justice: equal treatment. Because this is considered a unique circumstance, unique treatment would be needed

-          Fidelity: faithfulness and loyalty to clients. Discusses really assuring loyalty with the victimized above maintenance of the relationship and the victimizer

-          Autonomy: there should be a cautious balance between no misusing their position, becoming overly directive and leading to transference issues. But also, the situation may warrant more directed therapy

Decision making models and options for resolution

Kitchener’s four processes:

-          Entails sensitivity, knowledge, and perceptiveness to interpret that a surrounding requires an ethical decision

-          Emph on ethical course of action. Actions reflecting intuition at the personal layer of vals

-          Integration of personal and professional val in a decision

-          Action

Treatment alternatives:

Feminist lit

-          Reinforcing the predominant societal conditioning that made them passic and dependent. …recognizing the potential need to patiently await developmental movement toward increased independence, positive self-worth, and autonomous action

Four interrelated clinical positions as a means of ensuring ethical practice

-          Overt goal of therapy: stopping intrafamily violence whenever it’s present

-          Intrafmily violence is the focus, neutrality should not be a primary therapeutic procedure

-          Therapists should use their ethical judgment in asserting indic responsibility for violent behavior

-          Family therapy is contraindicated unless the violent fam member is able to contract or nonviolence