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Abstract:
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The purpose of the study was to loosely replicate a study by Hansen, Harway, and Cervantes (1991) that investigated whether clinicians recognized and responded to indicators of domestic violence (DV) in couples presenting for therapy. The current study is an attempt to improve some methodological flaws from the Hansen et al. (1991) study. Participants included 112 mental health clinicians who either self-selected from the Internet, or were randomly selected from licensed mental health practioners in the state of Texas. Participants read a couple therapy clinical vignette with several indicators of partner violence. They then responded to four open-ended questions, while still blind to the purpose of the study. Then participants answered several objective questions about how they respond when treating cases of DV. Two logistic regressions were conducted using recognition or response as outcome variables in order to determine significant predictors. The overall models were significant, but few significant individual predictors emerged. The significant predictors from the recognition model were: education, mental health discipline, and theoretical orientation. The significant predictors from the response model were: education, mental heahh discipline, and theoretical orientation.The data from the open-ended questions were analyzed qualitatively, via content analysis, which yielded several content categories. The three primary content categories for the recognition of violence questions were: alcohol abuse, history of abuse in family of origin, and gender issues. The content categories for the response to violence questions were: individual issues, marital issues and physical abuse. |