Addressing domestic violence | |
Intimate partner abuse and health professionals: new approaches to domestic violence. Gwenneth Roberts, Kelsey Hegarty, Gene Feder, editors. Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone, 2006 (xvi + 240 pp). ISBN 0443074933. |
How times have changed! Fifteen years ago, intimate partner abuse was not an issue discussed in medical circles. Indeed, researchers in this field were often vilified and taken to task on publication of studies exposing the prevalence of this issue and the resultant morbidity associated with it. By contrast, today we see government advertisements on television telling us that “Australia says ‘No’” to domestic violence. Health professionals have a worthy resource in this book edited by Gwenneth Roberts and Kelsey Hegarty from Australia and Gene Feder from the United Kingdom. Intimate partner abuse and health professionals: new approaches to domestic violence gathers together and presents with great rigour the vast literature that has accumulated in this field over recent times. It covers the impact of intimate partner abuse, how common it is, and how health professionals can identify it and respond effectively. Difficult issues are addressed, such as the impact on children and challenges faced by general practitioners in dealing with both the perpetrator and the victim, as well as domestic violence in Indigenous communities and among gay and lesbian couples. The editors are experienced researchers in the area of intimate partner abuse, and the authors they have assembled provide a comprehensive and scholarly text. While practitioners and students may find the book too detailed, this text is ideal for researchers and teachers who require an in-depth understanding of the field, and for whom it provides a valuable synthesis of our current understanding of intimate partner abuse in the health care setting. Danielle Mazza
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