The Role in The Continuum of Services for Human Services

Domestic Abuse Workers

Role in the Continuum of Services

A common misconception concerning domestic abuse pertains to the focus of human service worker engagement. Human service workers must often engage perpetrators in order to find solutions that end the domestic abuse issue. Workers with the continuum of service within domestic abuse must challenge abusers (safely) to alter their behavior as well as helping them stabilize their situations (Hasenfeld, 2010).

Service Strategies

Strategies to work with abusers are often mired in complexity due to the comorbid nature of the causes of domestic abuse (Hasenfeld, 2010). Abusers may have mental health issues as well as environmental issues that cause violence. When abusers are viewed in this manner the most effective responses generally require a holistic approach that involves a range of resources and different agencies.

The primary goal for the human service worker in domestic abuse situations is to provide knowledge and resources that effectively help families. Within this goal, workers will provide coordinated support from different agencies as well as addressing the needs of the client. Besides counseling, workers may need to provide housing, financial, and other services to the client (Hasenfeld, 2010). It is important to remember that strategies that assist the client (abuser) are intended to help vulnerable families by stabilizing the situation.

References

Hasenfeld, Y. (2010). Human services as complex organizations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Thousand Oaks.

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