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

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was well able to identify with the main types of abuse male victims suffer from her experience and the affects this abuse inflicts on the men. The medical social worker held the view that domestic violence is the same for any person, but when people are not believed as in the case of male victims it is worse. The medical social worker was of the opinion that outside the hospital, services available for male victims are very poor and the only service she knew of was <strong>Amen</strong>. She also found that at times she would disagree with some of her social work colleagues working outside of the hospital in their decisions and would see the need to challenge them, as it is part of her role in the hospital is to advocate on behalf of her clients. In the area of child protection the social worker pointed out that their main priority in any domestic violence situation encountered is the safety and welfare of the child. There are domestic violence procedures in place, but the social worker felt that these are more centred on female victims of domestic violence. In cases where men come forward as male victims, their motives are questioned because it is very unusual for a social worker in child protection to come across a male victim of domestic violence. If a male victim is identified, an appointment is made and an assessment carried out, he is provided with the necessary supports, but the child protection social worker was not aware of any service for male victims of domestic violence. The child protection social worker had no real experience with male victims to comment on the types and the affects of abuse on male victims. But she did highlight 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 experiences. She also found that some social workers could not accept that a man could be a victim of domestic violence. The child protection social worker accepts that male victims exist and that more work with them needs to be done. In the area of community social work the social worker interviewed pointed out that if they had to side with either a male or female victim of domestic violence, they would more than likely side with the female. I feel this is an important point and is the result of society’s view of a man being seen as the perpetrator and not as the victim in cases of domestic violence, influencing outcomes in professional practice. If a male victim is identified an appointment is made and an assessment carried out. The male victim is supported, but the social worker pointed out that he was not aware of any agency or 45
support group for male victims of domestic violence. The social worker could not comment on the types and affects of abuse on male victims because of a lack of experience with male victims of domestic violence. The community social worker also accepts that male victims exist and that more work with them needs to be done. Recommendations 1. There is a need for more literature in the area of male victims of domestic violence in the university’s library. When I looked for these books in the university library very few were present, but there was a lot of material available dealing with the issues surrounding female victims of domestic violence. In today’s society there is an urgent need for the provision of information to be more gender neutral. 2. There is a need for more services for male victims of domestic violence. Which has been highlighted in this dissertation by my three hundred mile round trip to <strong>Amen</strong> in Navan from Cork, to carry out a focus group. It is essential that more community based services are made available through out the country. No one should have to travel the distance I travelled to attend a support group. 3. In addition to providing the above additional services in the community, there is a need for a replication of the domestic violence ‘gender neutral’ policy at Cork University Hospital, to be introduced through out the area of social work practice. As domestic violence is so destructive to human life. 4. In social work training there is a need for a gender-neutral emphasis to be put on the area of domestic violence in relation to victims and perpetrators. It is essential that newly trained social workers should be made more aware, and learn to be more open mined to the fact that men and women are victims of domestic violence. 5. As domestic violence holds no boundaries, there is a need to re-educate society in its believe that women are the only victims of domestic violence. The role of the media and anti-domestic violence campaigns should be to show that the 46
Page 1 and 2: MALE VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE I
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Slap…………
Page 5 and 6: I would like to acknowledge and tha
Page 7 and 8: CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ON
Page 9 and 10: If an abused man seeks help as a vi
Page 11: Chapter two - literature review Cha
Page 14 and 15: elation to male victims of domestic
Page 16 and 17: domestic violence carried out in th
Page 18 and 19: Community studies have consistently
Page 20 and 21: Support groups are the most effecti
Page 22: welfare and the criminal justice sy
Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER THREE - METHOD AND METHODOL
Page 27 and 28: I processed this information and ca
Page 29 and 30: group. These men represented thirty
Page 31 and 32: My own personality was an important
Page 33 and 34: CHAPTER FOUR - DATA ANALYSIS Introd
Page 35 and 36: this kind of pressure, along with t
Page 37 and 38: Findings from the focus group revea
Page 39 and 40: An analysis of the literature revea
Page 41 and 42: experiences. She also found that so
Page 43 and 44: CHAPTER FIVE - CONCLUSION Introduct
Page 45: hard to trust or even find a solici
Page 49 and 50: APPENDIX 1 RESEARCH THEMES 1. Domes
Page 51 and 52: 7. What are the experiences of male
Page 53 and 54: found Amen’s policies to be not a
Page 55 and 56: One man’s words were that “the
Page 57 and 58: They felt that the law could be ver
Page 59 and 60: whatever their partner/spouse was s
Page 61 and 62: like most women that the long-term
Page 63 and 64: assessment and on what you say happ
Page 65 and 66: 5. How available/accessible are ser
Page 67 and 68: 2. If a man reports that he is a vi
Page 69 and 70: BIBLIOGRAPHY Bell, M. and Wilson, K
Page 71 and 72: Kingston, P. and Penhale, B. (1995)

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