Essay Examples - Psychology Essays
Theories of psychotherapy in relation to Domestic violence
My thoughts on psychotherapy as a therapeutic discipline are mixed. While I appreciate the value of the so-called talking therapy, for example, expressing thoughts and feelings to another person to unravel meanings and impact of life events.
I also feel there is a danger of the therapist to rely too much on theoretical knowledge and assume cases presented to them can be explained by the text book. The mere fact that clients are considered 'cases' leads to the assumption that the individual in the given case is lost or distracted from being the unique aspect of analysis.
The problem of evaluating psychological theories, or any theories for that matter, is often that you are trying to 'prove or disprove' the relevance and reliability of it. Therefore, there is a danger of trying to assess whether the person fits the theory, opposed to whether the theory fits in with the individuals unique events. However, the subject of domestic violence can mean very different things to different people - for example age, sex, class and culture may play an important role in how the individual interprets acts of aggression.
This therefore has an impact on how one defines domestic violence. The American Medical Association defines intimate partner abuse as "the physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse to an individual perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner. While this term is gender-neutral, women are more likely to experience physical injuries and incur psychological consequences of intimate partner abuse." (Rodriguez, Bauer, McLoughlin, and Grumbach (1999).
However, when looking at women's perception and definition of violence, although the majority of women classified domestic violence as physical violence resulting in bodily harm, more women defined mental torture as domestic violence, than threats of physical violence (80% verse 68%) - (Mooney, 1993). It is important in any piece of research into domestic violence - where views are asked from the victims or perpetrators, that a definition is sought from the victims themselves, to seek out what they consider to be violence- this will then help to determine its impact on the individual.
The impact of violence may be a more significant factor than the actual act of violence itself. For example, Mooney (1993) draws on evidence from 1,000 individuals from the North London Domestic Violence survey alongside in-depth interviews that she conducted in Britain, to reveal over a third of respondents considered mental cruelty (verbal abuse, being deprived of money, clothes, sleep, going out etc) as a main contributor to domestic violence.
Therefore, it would be useful in psychotherapy for the psychotherapists to consider the diversity in definitions and meanings of what constitutes 'domestic violence' from a clinical perspective, but more importantly from the clients own perspective. After all, it is the client's unique experiences that you are dealing with, and the focus should be on how the individual has interpreted events that have occurred in their life. As how the individual has internalised aspects of their life helps to add understanding of possible reasons towards the past, present and potential future of the individual's life.
A key psychological theory which taps into this belief is that of Bowlby's attachment theory. This theory argues that relationships formed in early childhood have a significant influence on relationships formed throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood. The purpose of this discussion is to determine the suitability of using Bowlby's attachment theory as a viable tool in the practise of psychotherapy. This discuss will pay particular attention to it's relevance towards understanding domestic violence between intimate partners. I will also refer to my own experiences of domestic violence within the family and ask how this can impact on my own thoughts and behaviour in terms of my relationships within and away from the family scene.
Research suggests that early life experiences have an enduring long-term impact on adult relationships (Worley Walsh and Lewis, 2004). For example, what we learn in our childhood, acts as a template for how we see the world and how we then act within it. From birth, life is about seeking survival and security, if this is established we develop a need to create a self-awareness and identity, which reflects how we see ourselves in relation to others and the world around us.
The theory of Object Relations places relationships at the centre of what it is to be human. The theory purposes that essential to human existence is our needs for social interaction and that our need for others is primary. The theory also claims that the basics of what we learn about social interactions in childhood are often carried through into adulthood. To compliment this the object relations theory, Bowlby's attachment theory is interesting in relation to the understanding of domestic violence - due to the fact it can be applied to both sides of the predicament - from the perpetrators perspective and the sufferer's point of view. Both theories are based on human interactions within intimate relationships - the primary relationship being that of the self and the caregiver.
Therefore, as this relationship is said to be universal and an instinctual element of human beings - this can be interpreted as the foundations of forming relationships throughout life. Bowlby (1969) believes that the child instinctively begins to understand or assess his or her surroundings and forms internal associations and images of their environment. This model has been found to influence a child's perceptions from early childhood on into adulthood (Sroufe, 1988). Bowlby (1969) also claimed that the task of the child is to establish a relationship with the caregiver that, through proximity, ensures protection.
The parental response provides this proximity and contact to ensure protection and, ultimately, survival. In contrast, if the child is maltreatment (faced with threat or fear) this causes an over-activation of the attachment need. This is often ironically in relation to the abuser who is both the source of threat and the hope for its containment (Rajecki, Lamb, & Obmascher, 1978). Therefore, the attachment theory has an important theoretical basis on which theories of domestic violence could be based upon.
Bowlby (1969), as well as other clinicians (see Ainsworth et al, 1978) report consistent findings that children's responses to loss or threat to security represent themselves in a somewhat predictable way. For example, the loss or lack of proximity to their care giver results in a typical sequence of behaviour being displayed to represent their feelings: first, the child protests with anger and rage; second, the child becomes depressed and shows despair; and finally, the child becomes detached from people and the environment (Bowlby 1982).
How the care giver reacts to these behaviours contributes to the healthy well-being and growth of the child. Attachment theory relies on the interaction between three components. These components are the individual's social world, their emotions and their physical responses to each of these elements. Physical factors influencing attachment involve aspects of human physiology including hormones and the central nervous system. A child's innate desire is to seek comfort and security.
Therefore, the importance of physical touch and other senses can elicit (or hinder) a sense of security in environments that induce fear - for example, loss of proximity to their care giver (Bowlby, 1973). Emotional bonds are developed (or not developed) rapidly in infants, and once established, they are long-lasting. The role of emotions in the attachment process aids to assist in appraisal of the infant's internal images of security and trust.
Social reciprocity is the purpose of attachment. The child learns to act upon the amount of trust they have in the caregiver's capacity to appreciate his discomfort of being in an insecure situation. Thus the behaviour of the child in such situations is reflected in the security of the bond between infant and caregiver (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978). It is argued that only if the child can accurately assess the affective state of another person can they productively participate in social interactions effectively.
Often the first interactive process for a child is between themselves and their parents. Therefore Ainsworth argued that parenting styles have an important role to play in how a child assesses situations of distress or discomfort. Ainsworth et al (1978) observed that parents, who reacted insensitively or unpredictably towards their child, result in the child tending to either avoid the caregiver after a brief period of separation (anxious-avoidant) or refuse to be comforted by her on her return (anxious-resistant). This is because the child is uncertain of the level of security the parent gives them.
In contrast children who had been parented in a more sensitive and responsive manner sought comfort from the caregiver following brief separation, due to having a more confident assessment of the relationship between themselves and their care-giver. This then allows the child to act more independent and develops into exploratory behaviour, as they are more comfortable with unknown territory, as they feel secure they have a secure base to return to.
So, how does this theoretical knowledge of relationship formations help in the understanding of domestic violence within intimate adult relationships? Is the theory suggesting that a certain type of individual is more prone to acting violent towards other people than others are? Or is the theory implying that a certain type of individual will be more prone to suffer domestic violence, than others? For example, the attachment theory would insinuate that the individual enduring violence from their partner looks towards them as both the threat and the source of relief of the abusive behaviour. Dutton and Painter (1981) develops this further and used the term 'traumatic bonding' to describe the strong emotional attachment that evolves between victims/survivors and their abusers.
This pattern of co-dependency is often born out of the abusive relationship - not a prerequisite for it to form in the first place. This happens in relationships where there is a distinct power imbalance. This can be true of my own parent's relationship which was characterised by aggressive outbursts from either side after my mother was diagnosed with a life-changing illness. Up until this point I remembered my parents to be loving and caring individuals - towards each other, and towards my brother and me. In the first twelve years of my life family roles were quite defined - my mum was a stay-at-home mum - looking after the home and children. My father was an electrician, who worked on a shift rotation, his main role being the traditional bread winner.
We were the typical nuclear family. Until, my mum fell seriously ill with multiple sclerosis. The disease changed my mum into a different person - she was not capable of doing things or articulating things the way she used to. She was no longer the mother I used to rely on, no longer the wife my dad used to have fun with. Roles were reversed. My dad was suddenly taking on the role of mum and dad to me and my brother, and taking on the mothering role to my mum as well. I think the pressure on my father to perform these roles became too much.
Combined with the frustrated that my mum felt over her illness, the atmosphere at home was very volatile and plagued with violent outbursts between my parents. My father being the more physically able of the two did lash out physically. Yet my mother was very cruel with her words and often manipulated my father into doing things for her. It looked to me like she was angry with my father - because he was fit and able, she resented her illness, and found it easier to vent her resentment out onto my father - than deal with and accept what had happened to her.
Walker (1979) outlines a cycle of violence where the victim/survivor comes to rely on their abuser for emotional comfort after an abusive incident as this is commonly a time when the abuser is kind and loving towards the victim/survivor. It may be possible that although my mum felt it unacceptable to be physically hurt by my dad, she also felt a great deal of dependency towards him. Not only because she was in a less physically able situation that my father, but that she saw no alternative to being with him. After-all, until this life-changing ordeal occurred in our family, we were happy. My father truly loved my mother, and these outbursts were purely caused by the unfairness of how our lives had changed in a way we had no control over.
I think it was more about adjusting to change - and seeking power over the situation, than seeking power over each other. Some researchers (see Mooney (1993) have reported that females who have experienced violence towards them believe it to be an act that reinforces feelings of power/makes their partners' feel important (36% of those surveyed agree). Other explanations include; that it may reveal how their partners feel. For example issues of insecurity/inability to deal with their feelings (36% of those surveyed agree). Therefore, the later may explain why my father resorted to expressing his frustrations out in this way. Alternatively, the former explanation may explain why my mother felt it appropriate to use manipulative actions to cope with her changing status within the home.
So, you may be wondering if my parent's situation ever resolved itself - and how. Well, yes it did. I can not for certain say how, but I believe they have changed and are certainly more content with life and with each other than they ever have been in the fifteen years since my mum's illness rocked my family. I believe that this is so because both my parents had and still have a lot of faith in their relationship and in each other. This faith may be said to stem back into their earlier relationships with their own parents. Both my parents came from secure and loving families, and can therefore be said to have formed reliable and trusting attachments in their early years of life. This template has then been transferred into their adult life.
Therefore, this may have grounded my parents into allowing themselves to be involved in insecure and frightening situations, as they have learnt through exploration and experience that they are strong enough to get through it and maintain a good attachment with the other person. I feel that perhaps my parent's time of uncertainty at the beginning of my mum illness was expressed by anxious-avoidant or anxious-resistant behaviour - and this was purely a consequence and reaction to the external influences of the situation.
My parents reacted individually against the change happening out of their control, and then they reacted against each other's fears and anxieties. It was possibly a consequence of time that helped them realise that a significant change had occurred - yet their relationship was the reason they were together - their initial bond/attachment was what had held them together. It was time to focus on that, rather than the anger and uncertainty of something they could never be certain about.
Having experienced a degree of domestic violence within the home, you may wonder how this has had an impact on my own personal relationships within and outside the family. Well, despite a turbulent time during my adolescent years, my relationship with both parents is very strong. This may be a consequence of solid attachments being formed in my early childhood. However, during my teens I acted very anxious-resistant towards my parents, seeking both security from them, yet reacting in fear of their rejection.
I felt very confused through my teens and angry towards my dad for not providing me with the security I needed. I felt despair towards my mother and desperately wanted her attention, so that it felt like she was a mother to me again. My first proper relationship with the opposite sex was with a caring kind man, who said to me that he wanted to someone to share his hugs with. I thought we were a perfect match, because all I really wanted was for someone to show they loved me and to shower me with hugs.
I later realised that I had transferred what I felt like I was missing out on at home into this relationship. My now ex-boyfriend became my surrogate dad - providing for me in a similar way to what I thought I needed from my own dad. Therefore, my need for hugs can be interpreted as my need for the physical contact - that helps to create a sense of security in environments that otherwise elicit threat or uncertainty.
Why did I feel this need for affection? Where did my ideas or ideal of what affection was derive from? I believe that my ideas of security and comfort derived from my earliest experiences of it - i.e. from my early childhood attachments with my parents. However, when my parents went through a stage of turmoil, my ideal of affection and security was challenged in the form of where I was to receive this affection from. This adds support to Bowlby's claims that when faced with threat or fear, there is an over-activation of attachment need. I desperately needed to feel loved by my parents - yet did not understand their actions towards each other.
In my cry for affection - I began to think that if I could prevent them arguing their attention would turn back to me - thus providing me with the security I once had from them. This of course failed and I reacted as Bowlby and others predicted -I became depressed and showed despair. I was confused, lost and did not know how I was suppose to act within the chaos of my world. The two people I had trust in were displaying inconsistent behaviour for me to rely on. Therefore, my withdrawn but desperate behaviour reflected the security of the bond I felt I had at the time with my parents.
Thus, in great need of affection, I formed a new attachment with someone else to represent the security I was lacking. Although this relationship was ill-fated, I have since re-kindle a strong bond with my parents and found love with someone in a healthier manner. Therefore, I do feel that attachments made in the early years of life do have an important and ever-lasting effect towards how we form and maintain relationships. Overall I think these attachments form the basis of how we see and behave within relationships.
I feel that possible distractions or devastations (such as domestic violence) that occur within one's life-time can be worked through and overcome if the attachment formed is strong and secure from the beginning. I was lucky; both my parents brought me into a world of love and security, as they were brought into this world by their parents too. However, I feel things may have been different if my parents, or one of my parents, had not formed strong attachments in their own childhood.
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References
Ainsworth, M.D., S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation. New York: Basic Books.
Bowlby, J., (1982)."Attachment." New York: Basic Books Inc.
Dutton, D. and Painter, S. (1981) Traumatic bonding: The development of emotional attachments in battered women and other relationships of intermittent abuse, Victimology: An International Journal, 6, pp. 139-155 cited on Seeley, J and Plunkett, C (2002). Women and Domestic Violence: Standards for Counselling Practice'. The Salvation Army Crisis Service. Inner South Domestic Violence Service cited on http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/reports/Women&Domestic_Violence_Counselling_Standards.pdf
Mooney, J (1993). The Miranda Crime and Community Survey. Middlesex University. Centre for Criminology. Cited in Mooney, J (2000) Gender, Violence and
The Social Order. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Chapter, 5,6, 7.
Sroufe, L.A. (1988) "The Role of Infant-Caregiver Attachment in Development." From "Clinical Implication of Attachment." New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Rajecki, D. W., Lamb, M., & Obmascher, P. (1978). Toward a general theory of infantile attachment: A comparative review of aspects of the social bond. The Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 3, 417-464.
Rodriguez, M., Bauer, H., McLoughlin, E., and K. Grumbach. (1999) Screening and Intervention for Intimate Partner Abuse: Practices and Attitudes of Primary Care Physicians. The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1999;282:468-474
Walker, L. (1979). The battered woman, New York: Harper and Row. Cited in Fonagy, P. (1999). Male perpetrators of violence against women: An attachment theory perspective. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 1, 7-27.
Worley K.O. Walsh S.; Lewis K. (2004). An examination of parenting experiences in male perpetrators of domestic violence: Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, A qualitative study. Volume 77, Number 1, pp. 35-54(20).
Fonagy, P. (1999). Male perpetrators of violence against women: An attachment theory perspective. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 1, 7-27.
Mooney, J (2000) Gender, Violence and the Social Order. Chapter, 5, 6, 7. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Newton, C. J. (2001). Domestic Violence: An Overview. Cited on http://www.therapistfinder.net/Domestic-Violence - TherapistFinder.net Mental Health Journal in February, 2001.
Seeley, J and Plunkett, C (2002). Women and Domestic Violence: Standards for Counselling Practice'. The Salvation Army Crisis Service. Inner South Domestic Violence Service cited on http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/reports/Women&Domestic_Violence_Counselling_Standards.pdf.
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