Analyzing Domestic Violence: Gibbs Model and Nurse's Role Essay

This essay delves into the complex issue of family violence, utilizing the Gibbs reflective model to analyze the documentary film 'Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America.' The student reflects on the case of Kim Mosher, a victim of domestic abuse, exploring the emotional impact of the film and the strength required to rebuild a life after such trauma. The essay examines the abuser's mindset, the importance of reporting abuse, and the crucial role of nurses in identifying and supporting victims. The student also discusses the potential for early intervention and the need for healthcare professionals to recognize signs of violent behavior. The analysis highlights the long-term effects of domestic violence and the importance of providing support to victims and encouraging them to report abuse to prevent further harm. The essay concludes with an action plan emphasizing the importance of early reporting and the need for nurses to offer unwavering support to victims.

Running Head: DEALING WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE
Dealing with Family Violence
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1DEALING WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE
Domestic violence is sadly still prevalent in society. There are cases of domestic
violence that are reported everywhere. The phenomenon is ghastly and leaves the
victim scarred for the rest of their lives. There are a lot of support groups and non-
governmental organization that deal with the victims of domestic abuse. Sometimes it is
spousal violence and sometimes if the family has underage children, they are also
victim to the violence (Johnson, 2016). Many laws have been in place all across the
globe but still they have failed to prevent the thousands of cases that happen every
year. This essay will analyze the film ‘Power and Control: Domestic Violence in
America’ and relate to the way nurses have to deal with these cases of domestic abuse
and the effect that it has on them (www.youtube.com, 2018).
My current attitude and behavior towards domestic violence could be figured out
by using the Gibbs reflective model, in which one first describes the situation, feels with
respect to the situation, evaluates what is good or bad about the situation, analyzes the
situation, concludes what he or she has learnt from the situation and formulates an
action plan for the situation, should such a situation arise again.
Description
In the Gibbs reflective model, the first thing that has to be done is to identify and
describe the situation, answering several questions related to it, ideally in an objective
manner. First of all, ‘Power and Control: Domestic Violence in America’ is a
documentary film that released in the year 2010 (www.powerandcontrolfilm.com, 2019).
It deals with the real life of Kim Mosher, through her story the director Peter Cohn have
tried to bring forward a picture of the domestic violence that occurs rampantly in the
United States of America (www.powerandcontrolfilm.com, 2019). The story of Kim

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Mosher is that she was physically abused by husband during the time she was married.
She is from the town of Wabasha, Minnesota and has three kids with her former
husband. This documentary traces the life of Kim Mosher as he tries to leave her
husband and the way she gains control of her own life. Her entire life she had only
faced violence and nothing else, she did not have strength left to go and build her own
life, then finally in the year 2008, she decided to leave her husband for good and never
come back (www.powerandcontrolfilm.com, 2019). She did not have any idea on how to
start her new life but when she finally did, she took a shelter in the women’s shelter
home called ‘Safe Haven’ which was a shelter home for battered women in Duluth. She
left with her children and started staying with them. She slowly started to build her own
life and then provide for children. The film also depicts the relation that she has with the
other women who were staying in the shelter home.
Feelings
Referring to the model, the next thing to identify would be to figure out how one
feels about the situation. When I first came across this documentary, I was shocked to
see the plight of Kim Mosher. She is a mother of three yet she has to deal with
everything. She experienced violence on a regular basis and has no money or strength
left to build her life together. The feeling that crossed my mind was the immense
amount of strength that is required to rebuild a life even after going through so much of
pain and suffering. She is the epitome of strength. The fact she not only had to build her
own life but the life of her kids too. This almost seems impossible but she had the
capability to do it. When it comes to the nurses who have to deal with these kinds of

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cases of domestic violence, they have to deal with the matter in a subtle way (Salcedo-
Barrientos at al., 2016).
Evaluation
The next step in the model is to analyze what is good or bad about the situation
and how things could have possibly turned out differently. My reaction to the film was
nothing less than that of shock. I was shocked to see how brutal men can get, what
intrigued me more was the mental condition of the abuser. The abuser is not an outsider
but her husband, the person who loved her, how he can beat up his own wife. There
must be something going on his mind, some sense of entitlement that makes him act
that way. The reaction that Kim Mosher had in the first place was justified as it was her
husband who was inflicting violence on her. She could have reported the crime earlier
and that would have solved the entire problem but she did not, it took her many years
but she finally did what she felt was right in the year 2008, when she moved it of the
house of her husband.
Analysis
The next step in the model requires to analyze the situation. After seeing the
documentary what I realized is that, in order to avoid the years of abuse, what Kim
Mosher needed to do is report the crime the first time it happened. That might have
solved a few problems; she might have been prevented from the years and years of
abuse that she went through. The nurses when dealing with the patient of domestic
violence needs to make sure that the patients reports the case otherwise this violence
might happen to others as well. The nurses should talk to the women and ask them if
they have reported the crime, if not then they should encourage them to do so (Howard

4DEALING WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE
et al., 2013). When it comes to nurses, they also might get attached to the patient
because of the amount of trauma that the person can gone through, but they also need
to make sure they do not get too emotionally attached otherwise that might affect the
kind of care that the patient is receiving. The nurses might notice patterns of repeated
beating; they should not be shocked to see this, because most women do not visit the
hospital the first time they are beaten up (Beccaria et al., 2013). Women are afraid of
reporting the crime so most of the victims are not first timers.
Conclusion
Finally, to conclude the situation with reference to the Gibbs reflective model, the
event could have been stopped completely if there were some kind of signs that could
tell that this person is prone to violence. If they can say that a person is prone to
violence then it could be treated at an early age. The doctors should develop some kind
of screening test that will help them recognize that these people are prone to violence
(Pallitto et al., 2013). There are markers of violent behavior from an early age, if these
behaviors could have been recognized by the doctor at an early age then the violence
could have been stopped but that did not happen and Kim Mosher had to go through all
of that violence. Violence is not inherent; it is developed out some trauma or some
feeling that the child had experienced, that has to be understood by the doctor then only
the violence can be stopped.

5DEALING WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE
Action Plan
Applying the model, one could figure out that the only thing that Kim Mosher
could have done differently is report the crime at an early stage, which might have
prevented her husband from inflicting years for so many years. The nurses should also
recommend this to the patient that they should not refrain from reporting the crime. The
other victims can see her plight and should be encouraged to report the crime as soon
as possible.

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Reference
Beccaria, G., Beccaria, L., Dawson, R., Gorman, D., Harris, J. A., & Hossain, D. (2013).
Nursing student's perceptions and understanding of intimate partner violence.
Nurse education today, 33(8), 907-911.
Howard, L. M., Oram, S., Galley, H., Trevillion, K., & Feder, G. (2013). Domestic
violence and perinatal mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
PLoS medicine, 10(5), e1001452.
Johnson, M. P. (2016). Confl ict and Control: Symmetry and Asymmetry in Domestic
Violence. In Couples in conflict (pp. 125-134). Routledge.
Pallitto, C. C., García‐Moreno, C., Jansen, H. A., Heise, L., Ellsberg, M., Watts, C., &
WHO Multi‐Country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence. (2013).
Intimate partner violence, abortion, and unintended pregnancy: Results from the
WHO Multi‐country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence.
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 120(1), 3-9.
Salcedo-Barrientos, D. M., Miura, P. O., Macedo, V. D., & Egry, E. Y. (2014). How do
primary health care professionals deal with pregnant women who are victims of
domestic violence?. Revista latino-americana de enfermagem, 22(3), 448-453.
www.powerandcontrolfilm.com. (2019). Kim Mosher. Power And Control.
www.youtube.com. (2018). Power and Control - Domestic Violence Documentary.
YouTube.

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