Physician beliefs about victims of spouse abuse and about the physician role

Our purpose was to measure the beliefs of physicians about victims of spous e abuse and to examine factors related to holding positive (e.g., supportiv e) and negative beliefs about providing services to victims of domestic vio lence. This was a total site sample of 150 physicians (76 responded; RR 51% ), surveyed at one time, practicing in a large general hospital and the sur rounding urban/periurban area. Four specialities are represented: emergency medicine, family practice, obstetrics-gynecology, and psychiatry. Three as pects of beliefs are measured: beliefs toward physician role in assisting v ictims of spouse abuse, beliefs about victims of spouse abuse, and beliefs about resources available to physicians to assist victims of spouse abuse. Almost all (97%) physicians believe it is part of their role to assist vict ims of domestic violence. Almost one third (30%) hold victim-blaming attitu des toward victims of spouse abuse, and the majority (70%) do not believe t hat they have the resources available to them to assist victims of domestic violence. Being female, younger, practicing obstetrics-gynecology, and hav ing fewer years in practice are all significantly related to holding suppor tive (positive) beliefs. The majority of negative beliefs held are about re source availability. Hence, training programs may need to be developed loca lly for physicians and tailored to individual community characteristics. Tr aining programs should also emphasize the importance of understanding the v ictims of spouse abuse and of not blaming the victims for the violence.