Understanding Domestic Violence through Social Capital

The assignment content explores the societal determinants of health, specifically focusing on women and community areas. It highlights the links between social determinants and health outcomes, including the impact of domestic violence on women's health. The content also discusses social capital, its types (bonding and bridging), and how it can facilitate interagency efforts to combat domestic violence. Additionally, it touches upon local/national priorities, stakeholders and partnerships, action plans, and references.

Contents
Introduction
Characteristics of the community
Health status of the community
Local factors affecting health
Current provision
Sociograms
Community views on their health needs and services
Local/ national priorities
Stakeholders/ partnerships
Action plan
Conclusion
appendix
references

Introduction
In this report, will focus on domestic violence and abuse on women in Coventry and it will be
indicating the health inequalities by looking at the Marmot Review ‘fair society, Healthy
lives’ and report the progress to the Health and Wellbeing board. It will likewise focus on the
Coventry JSNA 2012 to look at the needs and working with communities using an asset
based approach to empower good health and wellbeing and address the wider determinants of
health using again the asset based approach. Coventry JSNA (2012) says in 2015 to 2016,
there were 5,972 domestic violence offences reported to the police. 38,575 women in
Coventry are likely to experience domestic violence in their lifetime (women voices, 2011).
Furthermore, this report will concentrate on the healthy communities, both the physical and
social characteristics that are needed to promote health, wellbeing and marmot policy
objectives to create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities and the
factors of infrastructure through social capital.

Domestic violence
The government’s definition is ‘any incident or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse in
forms of psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional between adults who are or
have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality’. WHO
(2016) cites that the United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-
based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or
suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of
liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life." From a personal stand point, I view
domestic violence from a feminist perspective that women are oppressed by men, men
inherently seek to dominate and exploit women, patriarchy is the ultimate cause of all the
abuse against women. Marmot Review (2010) notes that domestic violence is rife in the
lifetimes of low income women and is a central determinant of their mental and physical
wellness. Globally domestic violence and abuse (including sexual violence and FGM) causes
more death and disability than cancer, malaria (World Health Organization 1997), Over half
of victims telephone a friend or family member about the maltreatment they are suffering.
Asian / Muslim women face additional cultural barriers that prevent them from seeking help
such as fear of dishonoring family, shame, stigma, taboo and being rejected by the
community. Also, women in these communities are expected to suffer in silence. So, when
they ask for help from family, friends and religious leaders, they are usually advised to be
patient and / or pray for their situation to change. They are also usually blamed for any
problem within the family including the violence and abuse they are subjected to. This fear
of blame can also prevent women from coming forward and getting the help they need.
Domestic violence is therefore under reported in Asian / Muslim communities. For some
women, it is too late to ask for help and are being murdered by their husbands or other family
members as seen in several cases featured in the media. There is also anecdotal evidence that
some women are being taken abroad to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh on the pretense of a
family holiday so they can be murdered there to cover up the crime.

Characteristics of the community
ABCD Approach is a procedure where it emphasis on community assets and skills, abilities
and talents rather than problems and demands. It is a strategy directed towards sustainable,
economic development that is community-driven, by using an ABCD approach enables
communities to build on what assets they should gain what they need and make
improvements to their community, thereby improve individual and community level health
and well-being. A Coventry Haven for women who suffers / survivors of domestic violence,
they expect at their assets and what they can provide for the victims in their system before
they look for assistance from outside. Kretzmannm and McKnight (1993) states that physical
assets such as land, buildings, greenspace and other funds are assets that can be used they are
all valuable resources. The assets of these institutions help the community capture valuable
resources and establish a sense of civil responsibilities. It identifies and mobilizes individual
and community assets, skills, experiences and passions e.g. Everyone has assets and talents
regardless of their status as victims, some might be professionals with different jobs and they
have more skills and are being able to help the community. Individual gifts and assets need to
be recognized and identified. In community development, you cannot manage anything with
people’s demands, only their assets. Deficits or needs are entirely useful to institutions
(Kretzmann and McKnight, 2010) Small informal groups of people, such as women's clubs,
religious belief groups. By empowerment approach, it serves the victims to identify their own
demands and worries and gain the power, skills and confidence to play upon them. It is a
bottom-up strategy which calls for us as health promoters to work as a facilitator and catalyst
for change (WHO, 1998).
Coventry Asset Based working 2015-2016 sets out ways to improve health and quality life
for local citizens, while making the city globally connected and attractive to business and
investors. It recognises the limitations of public services that encourage dependency and
working culture that supports and enables people to find solutions to their problems. ABCD
is a set of values and principles which to supports individuals’ health and well-being through
self- esteem, coping strategies, resilience skills, relationships, friendships, knowledge and
personal resources (Foot and Hopkins, 2010).
ABCD Approach, health models e.g. empowerment approach, models
 Community theories

Health status of the community
Coventry JSNA (2012) says in 2015 to 2016, there were 5,972 domestic violence offences
reported to the police, a 2.16 percent reduction from 6,104 in 2014 to 2015. Coventry city
council’s 2014 to 2015 end of the year performance report notes that there were 5,849 victims
of domestic violence and abuse, an increase from 5,359 in 2013 to 2014. In the past, UK
domestic violence statistics were typically underestimated, due to many people being afraid
to open-up the violence they were suffering (Johnson and Lebow, 2000). Notwithstanding, in
2007-2008, the British crime survey (2010) reported on estimation of 81000 adults aged from
16 to 59years as being victims of domestic abuse. This includes 46000 women and 35000
men. Women’s Aid (2010) noted that one incident of domestic violence in the UK is reported
to the police every minute, two women a week are killed by a current or old male partner.
Women’s aid 25th November 2016, state that one of its horrific findings between 2009 and
2015, 936 women have been killed by men. 598 which is 64% were killed by their current or
former partners, 75 women which is 8% were killed by their sons (women’s aid,2016).
 Statistics- nationally, internationally and locally
 Demographic of the community

Local factors affecting health (social determinant of health)
Speaking of employment/working conditions as determinants of health means that holding a
business is generally positive for your health while unemployment has a substantial adverse
consequence on both your physical and mental wellness. Likewise, it means that workers
will tend to be healthier when they think that their jobs are secure, that the work they do is
important and valued, and when their workplace is not just dependable but also provides
opportunities to reach decisions and grow as people.
Education as a causal factor of health means that health status improves with the stage of
education (which is closely linked with income and social status) Education provides useful
problem-working skills and contributes to the tactile sensation of control and the sensation of
control over one’s life circumstance. It offers opportunities for better jobs, income security,
and satisfaction with employment. It likewise increases your ability to see how you can keep
yourself healthy and to behave on that knowledge by choosing to avoid certain behaviours
and engage in physical activities.
Figure 1 The Social determinant of health by Dahlgren and Whitehead 1991

Figure 2: Intervening Effect of Abuse
For several decades now, researchers have attempted to see the base causes of violence and of
domestic violence. Apparently, this is a complex, multidimensional problem with no single
factor emerging as “the” satisfactory explanation (Gill, 2005). Looking at woman abuse
through a focused discussion on the societal determinants of health can thus be one of many
possible avenues to contribute to the apprehension of this subject. As observed earlier, the
links between various social determinants and the wellness condition of individuals we are
concentrating here on women and community areas have been comparatively well
documented and the evidence pertaining to the top arrow in the above pattern is instantly
unacceptable to dismiss. More recently, it has been acknowledged, including by the World
Health Organization that woman abuse negatively affects health, as women who are assaulted
often suffer serious physical and psychological scars. We know in fact, that abused women
use more health services and are more probable to have poorer social functioning than
women who have not been abused (Cohen & Maclean, 2003). Women victims of spousal
violence are also more probable to have sleep problems, depression or anxiety attacks, and to
utilize medication to help them sleep, to quiet down and to help deal with depression. Few
analysts would therefore doubt the existence of the link between maltreatment and poor
health illustrated by the pointer on the correct position of the above figure 2.
Social
determinants of
health
Health status of
women
Women Abuse

Current provision
Coventry Haven provides a fantastic service for women and children who have experienced
domestic violence;
Figure 3. mapping exercise in Coventry

Sociograms
Social capital is present in the networks, norms, and social trust inherent in associations
whose members serve together in concerted collaborative action. A real sense, social capital
is the store of good-will and obligations generated by social relations. At the core of ABCD
is its focal point on social relationships. Formal and informal associations, networks, and
extended families are treated as assets and as the means to mobilize other assets of the
community. By caring for relationships as assets, ABCD is a practical application of the
concept of social capital. The recent nationwide researches in many countries indicate that
domestic violence remains a serious trouble around the globe. Because of its complex nature,
the most efficacious way to fight it needs the participation of a broader circle of stakeholders
than just specially designated state and organisations. Researchers and practitioners agree that
united inter-agency efforts are required to effectively tackle domestic violence with active
participation of governmental and non-governmental organisations, mass media, church and
local community - all these forming the social capital. One of the main concepts of the social
capital theory is the bridging social capital that links substantial sectors of the community.
Social capital refers to social connections and the attendant trust that enable participants to
move together more effectively to pursue shared objectives (Putnam, 1995). Putnam
identifies two types of social capital: bonding social capital that goes up from networking
within own communities of close acquaintances and family and is good for reciprocity and
mobilizing solidarity within a group. On the other hand, by creating strong in-group loyalty,
bonding social capital may also create strong out-group antagonism (Håkansson, 2009).
Bridging social capital serves broader interests. It links substantial sectors of the community
(Putnam, 1995), socially heterogeneous groups, thus creating new spaces where power,
information and communication can be shared. Putnam refers to this sort of social capital as
an important instrument in increasing the productivity within the society (Baker, 2009) points
out that the bigger collective problem, the more bridging social capital is required.
Figure 4 sociograms -networking/ partnerships

Community views on their health needs and services
 Discuss forums
 Talk about what they do for people
 Does people like them or not
 Peoples testimonials on this organisation H2H Healthwatch

Local / National priorities
 Marmot review, fair society and health lives
 What policies are there for the organisations and people suffer DV
 MARSH AND MARAC
 What is happening nationally, internationally and locally

Stakeholders and Partnership
 Identifying the organisation that doesn’t work together
 How they work together
 How to improve partnership working with Domestic Violence
Why intersectoral collaboration can be difficult to achieve- challenges
 Cuts, funding, different ideas , attitudes etc

Action plan
 Could you identify sociograms

References
British Crime Survey (2010) British Crime Survey, 2007–2008.
www.esds.ac.uk/findingData/snDescription.asp?sn=6066 (accessed 10 November 2016)
Foot and Hopkins ( 2010)A Glass Half Full: How an asset approach can improve community
health and well-being, (Online) Available from http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?
pageId=18364393 (accessed 11 November 2016)
Håkansson, Peter, (2009) The Need for a Micro Model of Social Capital. Working paper
presented at Brown Bag Seminar, Lund University. (Online) Available from
http://www.ed.lu.se/papers/P_H%C3%A5kansson_micro%20model%20of%20soci al
%20capital_maj.pdf (accessed 11 November 2016)
Johnson S, Lebow J (2000) The coming of age of couple therapy: A decade review. Journal
of Marital and family therapy 26(1): 23– 38 CrossRef
Kretzmann, John; McKnight, John (1993). Building Communities from the Inside Out: A
Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community's Assets (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: ACTA
Publications. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-87946-108-9. OCLC 36708153

Putnam, Robert David, (1995) ‘Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social
Capital in America. ‘In Political Science and Politics, edited by Robert J-P. Hauck, 664-683.
American Political Science Association.
Smith M (2008) Reducing the harm of Domestic Violence. Journal of Healthcare Counselling
and Psychotherapy 8(4): 12– 5
Women's Aid (2010) Topic: Statistics.
www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic_violence_topic.asp?
section=0001000100220036&itemTitle=Statistics (accessed 11 November 2016)
Current provision
 Greenspaces
 Community resources
 Healthcare
 Institutions
COVENTRY
HAVEN
Refugee
and migrant
centre
centre
police
Women’s
aid
school
lawyersFreedom
charity
Force
marriage
Social
services
Coventry
cyreania
ns