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Recognising and responding to partner abuse : challenging the key facts Goodyear-Smith, Felicity

By: Material type: ArticleArticleSeries: New Zealand Medical JournalPublication details: 2004 New Zealand Medical Association,Description: 6 p. ; computer file : PDF format (27Kb) ; computer file : World Wide WebISSN:
  • 1175-8716
Subject(s): Online resources: In: New Zealand Medical Journal 117(1202) 24 Sept 2004Summary: The paper presents research to show that the claim of a higher prevalence in women can be made for physical assault and for sexual abuse, but not for physical, verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse, as the relative frequencies of men and women verbally or emotionally/psychologically abusing their partners, or exposing a child to such abuse are unknown. In relation to the Ministry's claim that the majority of women do not object to routine questions about abuse from health practitioners, the author finds that research suggests, on the contrary, between 25-50% of women are not comfortable with screening, and GPs will be reluctant to screen women patients if 3 or 4 out of every 10 object to being asked. The author notes it is hard to see how figures stating that over a lifetime, 15-35% of women experience abuse are derived from the reference given by the Ministry, as the report cited highlights the extremely uneven distribution of violent victimisation, with only a very small percentage of the population being victims of significant recurrent violence. The article also questions figures cited by the Ministry for the co-occurrence of partner abuse with child abuse, and the annual cost to health of family violence. The author states that the 'power and control wheel' cited in the Ministry's publication is not evidence-based, but based on the assumption that men abuse because they hold the power in our society; however this is not a universally accepted model, and alternatively it can be argued that use of violence is not the act of a powerful man, but rather of one who finds himself relatively powerless. The author concludes that the desire to reduce and prevent inter-partner violence does not justify exaggeration or distortion of the evidence to further the cause. It is suggested that the Ministry of Health should disseminate accurate information based on critical appraisal of the research literature. The author notes that a particular intervention might seem to be a good idea but if it is based on faulty assumptions, it may be neither effective nor safe. The management of domestic violence requires similar rigorous scientific evaluation as do other areas of clinical intervention.
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New Zealand Medical Journal 117(1202) 24 Sept 2004

The paper presents research to show that the claim of a higher prevalence in women can be made for physical assault and for sexual abuse, but not for physical, verbal, emotional, or psychological abuse, as the relative frequencies of men and women verbally or emotionally/psychologically abusing their partners, or exposing a child to such abuse are unknown. In relation to the Ministry's claim that the majority of women do not object to routine questions about abuse from health practitioners, the author finds that research suggests, on the contrary, between 25-50% of women are not comfortable with screening, and GPs will be reluctant to screen women patients if 3 or 4 out of every 10 object to being asked. The author notes it is hard to see how figures stating that over a lifetime, 15-35% of women experience abuse are derived from the reference given by the Ministry, as the report cited highlights the extremely uneven distribution of violent victimisation, with only a very small percentage of the population being victims of significant recurrent violence. The article also questions figures cited by the Ministry for the co-occurrence of partner abuse with child abuse, and the annual cost to health of family violence. The author states that the 'power and control wheel' cited in the Ministry's publication is not evidence-based, but based on the assumption that men abuse because they hold the power in our society; however this is not a universally accepted model, and alternatively it can be argued that use of violence is not the act of a powerful man, but rather of one who finds himself relatively powerless. The author concludes that the desire to reduce and prevent inter-partner violence does not justify exaggeration or distortion of the evidence to further the cause. It is suggested that the Ministry of Health should disseminate accurate information based on critical appraisal of the research literature. The author notes that a particular intervention might seem to be a good idea but if it is based on faulty assumptions, it may be neither effective nor safe. The management of domestic violence requires similar rigorous scientific evaluation as do other areas of clinical intervention.