Running head: COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 1

Community Problem Report:

Domestic Violence

Bethany Onopa

The University of Texas at El Paso

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 2

Abstract

Domestic Violence is more common than some may imagine. The reasoning for this may be

caused by the absence of awareness about domestic violence. There are many ways that the

people involved in domestic violence in El Paso, UTEP, young adults as well as any other people

inquiring can be made aware of the help that they can receive. Domestic violence affects people

of all ages in various ways and is not something that should be taken lightly. People should be

more aware of things like this that happen in their community so that they can help prevent and

stop it from occurring.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 3

Domestic Violence

The definition of domestic violence according to domesticviolence.org (2018) is

“behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other.” No matter what type of

relationship it is, as long as you are domestically involved with each other, it is considered

domestic violence if they prevent a partner from contacting family and friends, withholding

money, getting/keeping a job, or stalking, intimidating or threatening and causing physical harm.

As such, many relationships do have their highs and lows, but there should never be any sign of

this kind of behavior because it is not healthy for any individual to experience. Domestic

violence is an issue that does not only affect the victim and the perpetrator, but there is help for

all those affected by it from both the UTEP and El Paso community.

Who Domestic Violence Affects

Domestic violence is a problem that can affect anyone in any family position. Being

involved with domestic violence does not always imply directly. One type of family position

group that is affected almost as much by domestic violence as the direct victims are their

children. According to Carter et al. (1999), children are considered to be the “invisible victims”

of domestic violence. The reasoning behind their life being affected so greatly by these actions is

due their parents, who are supposed to be setting a good example for them, are setting a bad

example that could alter their way of thinking permanently by witnessing the events they do (Pg.

4). Another assumption made about domestic violence according to Horner (2002), is that it is

always the man inflicting damage on the woman, and the men who are victims get pushed aside

and go disregarded. According to studies literature is the beginning of the creation of

stereotyping males as always being the offenders, when that is in fact incorrect. To help bring
COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 4

awareness to this issue, the European Sentinel Network of Practice is involving primary care

practitioners in more screenings to get help for these men (pg. 44).

The term “young adult” simply refers to a person who is in their teens or early twenties.

As a young adult, one would assume, they should be in high school or college, making new

friends and possibly starting to date or think seriously about their relationship between them and

their significant other. Once this mindset of “getting serious” becomes official, one should

always be wary about their significant other by making sure they not only feel completely

comfortable in their choice on making this person an addition to their family but be also assured

that this person is a healthy person to spend the rest of their life with. According to the El Paso

County Attorney (2018), 1 in 5 teens that have been in a serious relationship report being hit,

slapped or pushed by a partner. Some may think that domestic violence is “rare” or “not a

problem in this community” but statistically speaking that is indeed not the case. To further delve

into the known facts (as there are still unknown cases not included) locally, 551 females and 273

males were housed by the Center Against Family Violence Emergency Shelter and 299 of the

total resident were over the age of 17. In a recent year, 5,512 domestic violence cases were

presented to the El Paso District Attorney’s Office (“Facts and Statistics”). The victims housed

there as well as the victims who spoke out are not an accurate statistic as to how many cases are

currently affecting the people in the entire city, but this is a startling number that could

potentially have exponential growth if victims did not have to be afraid to speak out.

Domestic Violence and The Community

All cultures have different standards on how a relationship with a significant other should

be upheld. El Paso is not only a border city between two states as well as two countries, but it is

also home to Fort Bliss, where soldiers from all over the world can be housed, so the culture
COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 5

within this city is quite diverse. According to local statistics, the Center Against Family Violence

Emergency Shelter housed 551 females and 273 males from being domestically violated. This

statistic alone proves that it is not a rare occurrence, and with all the diversity in our city, it is

easy to see that domestic violence happens more often than people may think, and it also

happens to people of all kinds, not just certain ethnic, racial, sexually oriented or any other

specific groups of people.

Domestic violence is not likely to be something that is on the mind of single college

students looking for a potential partner, or who is just starting a relationship with someone new.

Domestic violence can also be referred to as intimate partner abuse, domestic abuse or

relationship abuse, which broadens the spectrum for the different situations between college

students as they discover themselves and their relationship preferences. The Domestic Abuse

Intervention Project has created a list of signs to be watchful for to help our students here at

UTEP, and anyone else who may be inquiring, make sure that their partner is healthy and safe for

them shown in Figure 1.

Who Can Help and Where Can People Get Help From

According to Vincent et al. (2000) in an assessment done on women who seek shelter

from domestic violence, the women who are not able to leave have already developed

psychological problems from the abuse. These problems include depression, low self-esteem,

posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or suicidality but hope should not be lost, and

there is still help for these women (and men) (pg. 79-86). Although it is stereotypical to assume

that women are always the victims and men are always the villains, these assessments can apply

to both men and women on either side of the conflict. According to Vincent et al. (2000) once

more, in an assessment done on how interventions for men who batter can help, they list many
COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 6

different methods that they list both the pros and critiques to (because different methods work for

different people) cognitive-behavioral model, current group practice, and couples therapy. These

suggestions are all helpful ways that men (and women) who want to seek out help.

On our own UTEP campus there are ways for the students specifically to get help. At

UTEP there are many ways to get help as both a victim and a perpetrator, the first being The

OCCCR. The OSCCR is an acronym for The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution,

which was created specifically for handling domestic violence situations on campus at UTEP.

The OSCCR has a website where students can find information on how to contact people to help

them with domestic violence issues they may be dealing with. Simply go to

https://www.utep.edu/student-affairs/osccr/student-conduct/resources.html and scroll down to

find a way that the OSCCR at UTEP can help you.

As for many people who are not students, or students who may simply need help in a

more serious or private situation, when using any web browser, there are plenty of websites

where victims can get shelter and advice as well as places where violators can find places to get

help if they seek it. Someone who seeks immediate help can simply dial 911 on their phone to

receive assistance with an immediate response, and there are other places where anyone can do

research on how to get out of a domestically violent situation. The most commonly used websites

for victims on Google, currently, are domesticviolence.org, takebackhope.com and

thehotline.org. Thehotline.org is also a very helpful place where violators can get help as well as

new-hope.org, and respectphoneline.org. These are but a few of the enormous amount of

resources online that can be utilized for any situation of domestic violence that someone may be

involved in.
COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 7

Conclusion

Domestic violence is a very serious topic that is not only quite common but that people

do not talk about for fear of judgement, their partners or the law. Domestic violence affects many

people of all kinds, and communities should feel obligated to be more informed so that they can

help people involved get the help they need as there are many resources to help them do so.
COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 8

References

Bernal J.A. (2018), ¡NO TE DEJES! Don’t Let Yourself, Rerieved March 31, 2018 from

http://dontletyourself.org/get-educated/facts-and-statistics.html

Carter, L. S., Weithorn, L. A., & Behrman, R. E. (1999). Domestic violence and children:

Analysis and recommendations. The Future of Children, 9(3), 4-20. 10.2307/1602778

Retrieved from http://0-www.jstor.org.lib.utep.edu/stable/1602778

Creative Communication Group (2015), Domestic Violence, Violence Should Not Happen to

Anybody… Ever… Period!, Retrieved April 1, 2018 from http://domesticviolence.org/

Horner, M. S., Carlsten, C., Morvant, C., Lebas, J., Chauvin, P., Webster, J., & Creedy, D. K.

(2002). Domestic violence. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 325(7354), 44-45. Retrieved

from http://0-www.jstor.org.lib.utep.edu/stable/25451764

Nelson, H., Sr. (n.d.). UTEP Events to Bring Awareness During Domestic Violence Prevention

and Action Month. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from http://news.utep.edu/utep-events-to-

bring-awareness-during-domestic-violence-prevention-and-action-month/

Vincent, J. P., & Jouriles, E. N. (2000). Domestic violence: guidelines for research-informed

practice. London; Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2000.

COMMUNITY PROBLEM REPORT 9

Power & Control

Figure 1. “Think of the wheel as a diagram of the tactics an abusive partner uses to keep their

victim in the relationship. While the inside of the wheel is comprised of subtle, continual

behaviors, the outer ring represents physical, visible violence. These are the abusive acts that are

more overt and forceful, and often the intense acts that reinforce the regular use of other more

subtle methods of abuse.” – Domestic Abuse Intervention Project