Recognizing and responding to partner violence: an analog study

The purpose of this study was to modify a study by Hansen, Harway, and Cervantes (1991) that investigated whether clinicians recognized and responded to indicators of intimate partner violence. In the current study participants included 112 mental health clinicians who read a clinical vignette, then responded to several open-ended questions, while still blind to the purpose of the study. Participants then answered several objective questions about how they respond when treating cases of intimate partner violence. Logistic regressions were conducted for recognition of and response to partner violence to determine significant predictors. While the overall models were significant, few significant individual predictors emerged. The significant predictors included: education, mental health discipline, and theoretical orientation.