Free Health Dissertations - There Is A Growing Awareness That Domestic Violence Is A Criminal Justice
There is a growing awareness that domestic violence is a criminal justice issue and a public health issue. For advocates, one of the most significant social change opportunities of the decade is to articulate the concerns of battered women within the health system changes that are taking place.
The history of domestic violence is based upon silence and the relegation to the private realm. This means that domestic violence which has been a reality throughout the ages has always been seen as normal, a prerogative of the husband. The feminist movement that gained power in the 1970s focused primarily on the public sector, but also discussed the public/private dichotomy of the liberal democratic society and the reluctance of the state to invade the private sector, i.e. the home, which left children and women subject to domestic violence. The dichotomy became compromised with the state’s involvement with child protection; however this was justified because the child was not an adult and cannot protect themselves. It has not been until recently that domestic violence against women has become a concern; however it is enshrouded within silence and the routine discussion between midwives/social services and their client concerning domestic violence presupposes the duty of these officials to investigate and report possible cases of domestic violence in the aim to publicize domestic violence for the crime it is and follow up with appropriate charges.
2-3 Question, aims and objectives
The main question will be whether there is a duty for the midwife to investigate and report possible cases of domestic violence. If this is so then routine questioning of clients would be essential. The aim of this discussion is to illustrate that the ethical considerations are hindered by the legal problems of liabilities, as well as the public/private dichotomy that is present in liberal democratic systems. The objective this investigation is to present that it is necessary to change the attitudes at governmental, societal and legal levels to ensure that the midwife is protected in her duty to investigate and report suspected cases of domestic violence.
3) Methodology:
3-1 Inclusion criteria
This discussion will be from a theoretical level comparing and contrasting the legal avenues presented to the state on the question whether to impose such a duty, with the requirement to routinely ask questions pertaining to possible domestic violence with the client. This discussion has assumed that this routine questioning necessarily imposes such a duty therefore the discussion surrounds the legal and ethical consequences of such a duty.
3-2 Exclusion criteria
This discussion is from a legal theoretical perspective and has not dealt with quantitative data; rather it deals with a qualitative approach considering the human rights, ethical and legal questions that arises from the duty that routine question presupposes.
