ABSTRACT
The importance of conducting evidence based assessment has been widely acknowledged by many professions, including social work. In this study, the U.S. Army, in partnership with University researchers, developed an evidence based assessment protocol to assist the individual social worker in conducting his/her assessment of intimate partner violence. The protocol development process involved posing answerable research questions about intimate partner violence assessment content and method and then adhering to the steps of evidence based practice to answer those questions. Key to the protocol development process was the partnership created between researchers and practitioners as part of an expert panel.
Subject(s)
Clinical Protocols , Military Personnel , Spouse Abuse/diagnosis , Evidence-Based Medicine , Humans , Interviews as Topic , Risk Factors , Social Work , United StatesABSTRACT
A sample of 248 enlisted active duty females married to civilian spouses completed a self-report survey that asked about their own and their spouse's violence. The survey also asked about their sex-role attitudes, marital satisfaction, alcohol use, childhood trauma, and depression. Results identified patterns of intimate partner violence and their relationship to the psychosocial risk factors. Females experiencing severe bidirectional violence were likely to be the most depressed and to have a history of child sexual abuse. Females experiencing minor bidirectional violence did not share any of the psychosocial risk factors found for severe bidirectional violence. Females perpetrating unilateral violence toward their spouses were found to be as satisfied in their marriages as nonviolent couples and less depressed than the females experiencing bidirectional violence.
Subject(s)
Marriage/psychology , Military Personnel/statistics & numerical data , Personal Satisfaction , Spouse Abuse/psychology , Spouse Abuse/statistics & numerical data , Spouses/psychology , Women's Health , Adult , Adult Survivors of Child Abuse/statistics & numerical data , Child , Child Abuse, Sexual/statistics & numerical data , Comorbidity , Depression/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Marriage/statistics & numerical data , Military Personnel/psychology , Risk Factors , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , United States/epidemiology , Women, Working/statistics & numerical data , Young AdultABSTRACT
This article presents findings from a consultation project conducted by faculty from six schools of social work with approximately 150 child welfare supervisors over a two-year period. The purpose of the program was to assist supervisors with their roles as educators, mentors, and coaches for casework staff, specifically in relationship to case practice decisions. The consultation model, the development of the curriculum, the project implementation, and the results of the initial assessment are described.