Assessing Womens Experiences with Various Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Approaches - Dissertation Example

Current definitions are accommodating relationships of the same sex, and are broadened to include physical, sexual, psychological and emotional abuse (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). Because of the increasing number of cases, IPV is becoming a serious social issue. The National Violence Against Women Survey found that 22.1% of women and 7.4% of men have had experience with physical IPV. It is found to be more common among teens and young adults (Center for Disease Control and Prevention).

Risk factors It has been identified that female sex, older and younger individuals, those belonging to minority ethnic groups and/or lower socioeconomic classes, as well as alcohol use, pose a risk of committing or becoming a victim of IPV (Ernst et al., 2011). Evidence suggests that women sustain more injuries and burdens from IPV than do men (Archer, 2000). In fact, women are more likely than men to be victimized by rape, or stalked by a former partner.4 10-69% of women have also been physically abused by their intimate partners during their lifetime (Heise and Garcia-Moreno, 2002).

Since alcohol or drug intake were seen in more than a third of respondents, a partner with a history of alcohol or drug abuse is at risk of experiencing IPV (Smith and Farole, 2009). However, it is not clear how these factors contribute to the development of IPV (CDC). Pathways for IPV development Because most IPV occur behind closed doors, its early identification and intervention become harder. Understanding the natural development of UPV is an important step in the determination of critical intervention points, and subsequently the optimal strategies and settings to mediate.

There have been many hypotheses as to the development of IPV, the most popular are early childhood exposure to violence and a history of generally hostile and maladaptive parenting (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). On the other hand, many believe that due to the biological and social differences between men and women, and since most households consist of a male and female partner, conflict is inevitable within the family (Smithey and Straus, 2002). IPV in Women In a survey of 3, 750 IPV cases in 16 counties around the United States, it was found that 86% were generally female, alleged perpetrators were generally male (86%), and most cases (84%) were between a male violator and a female victim.

More than half of the cases were re-occurrence of IPV. 25% of the abusers used a weapon such as a firearm, knife or blunt object. Moreover, almost 50% of the reported incidences were witnessed by children (Smith and Farole, 2009). Prevalence Thompson et al. (2006), in their retrospective cohort study, provide a relatively recent picture of the social issue of domestic violence. When 3, 657 women aged 18 to 64 years and living around Washington State and northern Idaho were asked through telephone about their experience of IPV, almost half (44.0%) of the respondents have been a victim of IPV during their adult lifetime.

The abuse re-occurred in their succeeding partner/s for 10.7% to 21.0%, depending on the type of IPV. History of domestic violence lasted for a median of less than a year to 5 years, although 5% to 13% of the respondents were abused for more than 20 years.