The Response of Mental Health Services to Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Study of Service Users’ and Professionals’ Experiences
Abstract
PURPOSE: Despite numerous policies advocating for routine enquiry of abuse by mental health professionals, it is not known if such enquiry is acceptable to service users and clinicians. Furthermore, limited evidence exists on clinicians’ response to domestic violence. This study aims to explore the acceptability of routine enquiry and experiences of responding to domestic violence from service user and professional perspectives. METHODS: A qualitative study design was used to conduct individual interviews with a purposive sample of community mental health service users ( n = 24) and professionals ( n = 25). Thematic analysis was employed to establish superordinate and subordinate themes, which were transformed into conceptual maps. RESULTS: All service users considered routine enquiry about domestic violence in mental health settings to be acceptable but a small minority of professionals did not. Service users described positive experiences of help seeking, including receiving acknowledgement for the abuse and support for their multiple needs, and negative experiences, including nonvalidating responses from clinicians following disclosure, discrimination, and an absence of support from services. Main themes for professionals included difficulties in assessment and management of domestic violence, reporting requirements, and unclear referral pathways. CONCLUSIONS: To respond to the needs of mental health service users experiencing domestic violence, services need to articulate a clear care and referral pathway.
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Referral for psychological counselling without a domestic violence and abuse focus does not necessarily meet the needs of women experiencing domestic violence and abuse.
“Referral for psychological counselling without a DVA focus does not necessarily meet the needs of these women.16”
From Help‐seeking amongst women survivors of domestic violence: a qualitative study of pathways towards formal and informal support (2016) · cites this paper as [16]
Health professionals are well placed to identify abuse and sign-post women to specialist services.
“who are therefore well placed to identify abuse and sign-post women to specialist services.15,16”
From Help‐seeking amongst women survivors of domestic violence: a qualitative study of pathways towards formal and informal support (2016) · cites this paper as [16]
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- Authors
- Trevillion, K., Howard, L. M., Morgan, C., Feder, G., Woodall, A., & Rose, D.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Venue
- Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-09-17
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 326-336
- ISSN
- 1078-3903 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-5725
- OpenAlex
- W2123351028
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 9 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 2.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (PB-PG-0906-11026)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Demography › Elder Abuse and Neglect
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies
- Keywords
- domestic violence, mental health services, clinician response, help-seeking, disclosure, discrimination, referral pathways, reporting requirements, community mental health
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Attitude of Health Personnel, Community Mental Health Services, Female, United Kingdom, Health Personnel, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Mental Health Services, Middle Aged, Patient Satisfaction, Domestic Violence, Young Adult
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