FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CLINICIAN ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF FAMILY VIOLENCE

Objectives. High rates of family violence and low rates of detection, report, and therapeutic intervention by health professionals are well documented. This study was undertaken to determine what factors influe nce clinicians' decision making about identifying abuse and intervenin g with victims. Methods. Survey data about clinicians' experiences wit h and attitudes toward family violence were gathered by mailed questio nnaire from a random sample of practicing clinicians in six discipline s (n = 1521). Results. Data showed similarities within and wide differ ences among three groups of subjects: dentists/dental hygienists, nurs es physicians, and psychologists!social workers. Overall. a third of s ubjects reported having received no educational content on child, spou se, or elder abuse in their professional training programs. Subjects w ith education on the topic more commonly suspected abuse in their pati ents than those without; among all subjects, spouse abuse was suspecte d more often than child abuse while elder abuse was suspected infreque ntly. Significant numbers of subjects did not view themselves as respo nsible for dealing with problems of family violence. Subjects indicate d low confidence in and low compliance with mandatory reporting laws. Conclusions. There is a need for educators to expand curricula on fami ly violence and for legislators to reexamine mandatory reporting laws.