MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Informing Social ... - Amen

felt that he would not have much experience in legal issues, but that his perception was
that the law just reflects society and is more focused on the female victim.
Male victims of domestic violence and social work
An analysis of the literature revealed the following. Bell and Wilson (2003) pointed out
that social workers, because of the nature of the work, will come in contact with
families who are or have experienced domestic violence. The literature has revealed
some startling views; Mullender (1996) argued that social workers do not see domestic
violence as being relevant to their work. Research by Milner (1996) puts forward that
social workers failed to record the existence of violence which has been reinforced by
research carried out by Jones (1989) and Bell (1996) which highlighted that the
identification of domestic violence was ‘almost incidental’. What I have found
refreshing amongst all of these views was my reading of the domestic violence ‘gender
neutral’ policy being practiced at our very own Cork University Hospital and facilitated
by the social work department, a sign that things can change.
Findings from the focus group revealed that the men had very strong feelings towards
social workers. They were very angry about the way their situations have been dealt
with by the social workers involved. They were concerned with the fact that the social
workers in their cases were very inexperienced and did not seem to be willing to
consider there might be another side to the story, i.e. violence against the man. A main
concern was the response they received from social workers. The men felt they were
not believed, that the social workers involved believed whatever their partner/spouse
was saying over what they were saying. One man’s words were ‘social workers assisted
my wife in kidnapping my children’.
An analysis of the social work interviews revealed the following. The medical social
worker found that there are times that she would not agree with some of her colleagues
in child protection and would challenge some of the decisions made in relation to her
clients at the hospital, as it is part of her role to advocate on behalf of her clients. She
also pointed out that there is a general view that a child is always better off with the
mother, and this is not always the case. The social worker in child protection
highlighted that social workers in Ireland are very young and inexperienced. That they
come from a middle class background and have lead protected lives with few life
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