Stimulus piece

A group of researchers conducted a case study to help counsellors develop effective interventions to assist female victims of domestic violence in developing countries. To carry out the study, a hospital in a small local community in a West African country was asked to identify women who had suffered from or were suspected of suffering from domestic violence. Counsellors were sent to discuss the research goals with the women and in the end, 20 women agreed to participate in the study. Most of these women lived in arranged marriages and had children. The researchers used focus group interviews to collect data. The interviews were videotaped and later transcribed for analysis.

About two-thirds of the women reported that their husbands abused them almost daily. The violence was physical, verbal, emotional, and sexual. The violence was sometimes encouraged by the husband’s family. All the women found that the violence was unacceptable but few of them had ever talked about it before. They suffered from violence and abuse but nearly all wanted to maintain their marriage. The reasons for this were for example economic, or fear of social stigma, fear for their lives, or for fear of losing their children.

The researchers suggested a number of possible strategies to avoid violence in the families based on this study. The best way to help and support the victims would be to target the abusive partners for individual therapy and counseling to stop the violence, but family therapy involving the extended family and couples counseling was also suggested as strategies.

Generally, the perpetrators of violence refused to talk about violence or receive counseling. They were supported in their decision by family and friends. Couples counseling proved somewhat successful for the upper-class families, who were afraid of the social stigma of a legal solution and did not want to involve the extended family. During counseling, the couples were told to follow a code of conduct prohibiting violence, and they were taught how to better communicate. They also got the opportunity to discuss gender role expectations and possible ways of resolving conflict without violence. However, for most women, the solution of individual therapy was the only option. Individual therapy helped them to solve one problem at a time.

A follow-up of home visits was conducted to find out if violence had stopped and if attitudes about domestic violence had changed. Only a small percentage of the women reported violence after the intervention had begun. Half of the women were no longer living with their husbands at the end of the intervention but the separations were reported to be friendly in nearly half of the cases.