CLINICAL DECISION-MAKING IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SCENARIOS: THE INFLUENCE OF EXPERIENCE, INFORMATION OBTAINED, PERSONAL BIAS, AND EMOTIONAL CONTAGION
Open Access
- Author:
- Jacob, Charles Jason
- Graduate Program:
- Counselor Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- September 07, 2010
- Committee Members:
- Richard Hazler, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Richard Hazler, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Spencer G Niles, Ph D, Committee Member
Brandon Hunt, Ph D, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member - Keywords:
- personal bias
experience
domestic violence
decision-making
emotional contagion - Abstract:
- This study builds on previous research examining the factors that influence clinician decision-making, specifically in response to domestic violence issues. Data from 219 clinicians (counselors, social workers, and psychologists with a final sample size of 182) were gathered from several online listservs and member directories. The dependent variable was the treatment decision selected by the clinician when presented with a vignette indicating mutual aggression between two gender-neutral clients. The independent variables were the amount of social context information included in the vignette, the participants’ reported years of experience as a clinician, their score on the Beliefs About Male Emotions Scale (BAME), and their score on the Emotional Contagion Scale (ECS). The amount of social context information available to the participant was manipulated as part of the study design. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare mean differences and interaction effects between participants selecting couples treatment and participants selecting individual treatment. Amount of social context information provided to clinicians had a significant impact on decision making, as clinicians with more social context information were less likely to select the couples treatment option. Participants’ years of experience, ECS, and BAME scores were not found to have any significant differences between groups. Participants reporting a past history of encountering battering in their clinical work were significantly less likely to select couples treatment. Participants selecting the couples treatment option indicated significantly less certainty in their selected treatment option than those selecting individual treatment. Implications for practice and research are discussed.