Victims of domestic violence and front-line workers: a helping paradigm

Victims of domestic violence present a challenge to law enforcement and emergency room personnel. The authors propose a helping approach to assist these professionals. This paradigm is composed of: active and empathetic listening, acceptance without judgment, identifying victims' strengths, honoring victims as experts, and the process of leaving an abusive relationship. Key Words: domestic violence, law enforcement personnel, emergency room personnel
Domestic violence is a national health problem and involves virtually every sector of society, regardless of ethnicity, social status, religion, sexual orientation, or gender (Caetano, Field, Ramisetty-Mikler, & McGrath, 2005; [...]