Violence Against Women and Social Work Services Case Study

Summary of the Case

The client is a 29-year-old woman, Sophie, who was brought in for a consultation by her colleague after she burst into tears at work and shared a story of domestic violence. Sophie has two children from her first marriage who stay with her every other fortnight. Recently, her new husband, Brian, began to express anger about the children’s stays. Brian is dissatisfied with his job. He constantly tries to control Sophie through frequent phone calls and monitoring her movements and degrades her by calling her stupid and cheap. Last night, Brian tripped Sophie and did not let her go to hospital.

Explaining Sophie’s Situation by Using the Socio-Ecological System

From the point of view of the socio-ecological system, Sophie’s case belongs to the individual and relationship level. Sophie’s problems are caused by the relations within her family. Her husband constantly undermines her self-respect by saying that she is not clever enough or that she dresses badly. Moreover, Brian does not allow Sophie to communicate with her children, which is absolutely inappropriate. They are her children, and she needs to take care of them. The individual level of the socio-ecological system presupposes dealing with the developmental experiences and personality issues that form the client’s reaction to stressors. In Sophie’s situation, such issues are:

• depression due to being stigmatised and underappreciated;
• anxiety because of Brian’s attitude towards her children;
• the impossibility of sharing with someone (her husband controls her every move and phone conversation);
• the inability to obtain medical help when needed (when he caused her to fall, her nose bled, and her wrist was swollen, but he did not allow her to go to hospital);
• a serious threat to her own health as well as her children’s wellbeing.

All these issues demonstrate the relationship problems existing between Sophie and Brian.

Potential Risk Factors for Domestic and Family Violence (D/FV)

The outcomes of gender-based emotional abuse may be as serious as those of physical offence (Petrakis 2018). Emotional abuse involves excessive control over a woman’s life, frequent insults, preventing the female partner from meeting with her friends, not allowing her to visit a doctor, and trying to making her stop going to work. In the current case, issues are present that threaten the safety of Sophie and her children. Brian may get too aggressive and hurt them. The emotional risks include social alienation, gaslighting, and the loss of self-esteem and confidence.

Social alienation may develop because Brian does not allow Sophie to communicate with her friends. Gaslighting is a kind of manipulation that Brian has employed. By making frequent remarks about Sophie’s inability to make right choices, he undermines her belief in what she is doing. As a result, she may start to doubt every thought and belief. Finally, Sophie is at risk for losing her confidence and self-esteem as a result of Brian’s constant remarks regarding her looks and skills. Brian keeps telling her that she is stupid and that her position could be filled by some smart male employee. Therefore, the potential risk factors for D/FV include safety and emotional instability.

The Description of Individuals’ Needs

Sophie, her children, and Brian have different needs related to the case. For Sophie and her children, it is crucial to develop a safety plan and perform a risk assessment to evaluate the possible danger for Sophie and her children and try to prevent this risk. A social worker may use different approaches to assessing the risk. Some of the most effective ones are the Victorian Family Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Management Framework and the Domestic Abuse, Stalking and Harassment and Honour-Based Violence Risk Identification and Assessment and Management Model (Petrakis 2018). In addition, Sophie needs support to build more confidence and self-esteem. This goal may be reached through counselling. It is crucial to explain to the client that there is nothing wrong with her choices and that she is a valuable employee and a responsible mother. Finally, Brian also needs help. He should receive counselling services concerning his career pressure. Also, he should refer to a relevant support service to help him find a stable job. Satisfying the needs of all stakeholders will minimise the risk of emotional abuse and will improve the relationship between the individuals.

Challenges and Opportunities in Working with the Family

In working with Sophie and her family, several rewarding as well as some challenging issues are evident. The major problem is advocating for gender equality. Researchers have noted that men’s perpetration of violence against their intimate partners may be caused by sociological, economic and psychological factors (Fleming et al. 2015). This is a plausible explanation of Brian’s behaviour: due to having problems at work, he expresses his anger through treating his wife without respect. Knudson-Martin et al. (2015) also emphasise the difficulty in proving the emotional abuse present in gender inequality. Thus, the second challenge is the difficulty of identifying the signs of emotional abuse. Another challenge is that the client may not want to get help for her situation, which will limit the possibilities for the social worker to intervene (Code of ethics 2010). What is rewarding in working with Sophie is that it is possible to help not only the client but also her children and husband. Thus, there is an opportunity to change Brian’s attitude towards his wife and stepchildren. By choosing the most appropriate methods, the social worker can explain the problems of gender inequality and emotional abuse and teach Brian how to avoid these negative practices.

Understanding Social Determinants of Health

To perform the best assessment of the client’s situation, a social worker needs to take the social determinants of health into consideration. These elements include social status and income, social support networks and social participation, health literacy, education, culture, racism and discrimination, healthy living conditions, genetics and early life factors, individual behaviours and lifestyle factors and access to health care (Petrakis 2018). In Sophie’s case, the greatest emphasis is on the determinant concerning individual behaviours and lifestyle factors. In particular, the conduct of the client’s husband towards her causes depression and anxiety. Moreover, Sophie and her children are under threat of physical abuse. The major lifestyle factor affecting the family’s social position is presented by Brian’s work problems.

Scholars note the significance of social determinants of health and emphasise the impact of these factors on health outcomes (Braveman & Gottlieb 2014). Braveman and Gottlieb (2014) remark that individuals’ income and social position are some of the most crucial social determinants of health. In Sophie’s case, these factors play a crucial role and are associated with the previously mentioned issue of lifestyle factors. Due to his dissatisfaction with his job and, consequently, income, Brian is angry, and he reflects his anger and dissatisfaction with his wife. Research findings indicate that a rise in social position has a potential for improving health outcomes. Therefore, it is highly possible that Brian’s behaviour will change if he finds a better job with a higher income. Another aspect of social determinants of health is that they are interrelated and impact one another (de Andrade et al. 2015). For instance, an insufficient income may lead to social isolation and inadequate access to health care. It is the duty of the social worker to accumulate the necessary resources in order to help the client and her family resolve social issues.

Using Evidence to Contribute to the Knowledge Base for Practice

Social workers need to perform a variety of activities in the process of their work, such as making risk evaluations, managing existential issues, performing therapeutic interventions, providing support and others (Petrakis 2018). In their analysis of individuals, these specialists focus on different levels: micro, meso and macro (Petrakis 2018). Social workers can make use of the available evidence through analysing similar cases and drawing conclusions related to their clients. They have ample opportunity to contribute to the knowledge base for practice. However, it is noted that they may feel reluctant to perform research. Thus, it is necessary to increase their understanding of the significance of research and encourage them to contribute to the knowledge base for practice. In the given case, the knowledge base concerns violence against women.

The emotional abuse to which Sophie is subjected is known for difficulty of identifying its symptoms (Emotional abuse 2018). Thus, it is crucial to collect the available evidence and contribute to the existing knowledge base. Research by Devries et al. (2013) suggests evidence regarding a global prevalence of men’s violence against women. Using the findings of this research, social workers can enhance their knowledge of emotional abuse and the outcomes that it may cause. Further research valuable for the investigation of violence against women is suggested in a study by Ellsberg et al. (2015), wherein the authors review evidence for interventions aimed at reducing the incidence and prevalence of physical and emotional abuse. Ellsberg et al. (2015) conclude that such options as advocacy and home visits can eliminate the risk of further victimisation. At the same time, Ellsberg et al. (2015) note the lack of sufficient evidence for preventive interventions for perpetrators. Therefore, apart from analysing evidence-based research, social workers’ knowledge base for practice should be enriched by their own investigations and analysis.

Reference List

Braveman, P & Gottlieb, L 2014, ‘The social determinants of health: it’s time to consider the causes of the causes’, Public Health Reports, vol. 129, no. suppl2, pp. 19-31.

Code of ethics 2010, Australian Association of Social Workers, Canberra.

de Andrade, LOM, Filho, AP, Solar, O, Rígoli, F, de Salazar, LM, Serrate, PC-F, Ribeiro, KG, Koller, TS, Cruz, FNB & Atun, R 2015, ‘Social determinants of health, universal health coverage, and sustainable development: case studies from Latin American countries’, The Lancet, vol. 385, no. 9975, pp. 1343-1351.

Devries, KM, Mak, JYT, García-Moreno, C, Petzold, M, Child, JC, Falder, G, Lim, S, Bacchus, LJ, Engell, RE, Rosenfeld, L, Pallitto, C, Vos, T, Abrahams, N & Watts, CH 2013, ‘The global prevalence of intimate partner violence against women’, Science, vol. 340, no. 6140, pp. 1527-1528.

Ellsberg, M, Arango, DJ, Morton, M, Gennari, F, Kiplesund, S, Contreras, M & Watts, C 2015, ‘Prevention of violence against women and girls: what does the evidence say?’, The Lancet, vol. 385, no. 9977, pp. 1555-1566.

Emotional abuse 2018, Web.

Fleming, PJ, McCleary-Sills, J, Morton, M, Levtov, R, Heilman, B & Barker, G 2015, ‘Risk factors for men’s lifetime perpetration of physical violence against intimate partners: results from the international men and gender equality survey (IMAGES) in eight countries’, PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. e118639.

Knudson-Martin, C, Huenergardt, D, Lafontant, K, Bishop, L, Schaepper, J & Wells, M 2015, ‘Competencies for addressing gender and power in couple therapy: a socio emotional approach’, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 205-220.

Petrakis, M (ed) 2018, Social work practice in health, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest.