Working With Domestic Violence In Social Work

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Working with Domestic Violence in a Social Work Context. In discussing please refer to relevant policy, research and theory to support your answer.

Introduction.
Medical social work is a sub category of social work which is also sometimes known as hospital social work. Typically, medical social workers work within a hospital or hospice setting or in a skilled nursing facility. Medical social workers work with patients who may be in need of psychosocial help as well as their families. The aim of medical social work is to asses the psychosocial functioning of patients and their families and to intervene as appropriate. Medical social workers assist patients and their families by connecting them to supports on resources within their communities, by providing grief counselling and by helping a patient to expand and strengthen their network of social supports. Medical social workers commonly work in interdisciplinary teams with other professionals such as doctors, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists etc. For the purpose of this area I am going to be discussing domestic violence. “Domestic violence is physical, sexual, psychological and financial violence that takes place within an intimate or family type relationship and that forms a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour”, (Harne, 2008). In the following essay I am going to look at some of the statistics and facts regarding domestic violence. I am then going to briefly discuss some of the policies around domestic violence. Next, I am going to look at domestic violence and social work in a medical setting and finally I am going to briefly discuss the appropriate social work theory in dealing with domestic violence.

Domestic Abuse Facts and Figures.
Domestic violence exists in almost all societies and cultures around the world and “until the late 20th century, it was socially accepted in

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