Averting the Public Gaze: Social Work's Response to Battered Wives

Abstract

The literature on domestic violence contains scathing comments about social workers. Although consumer satisfaction studies produce a less bleak picture, battered wives do assign a mediocre rating to social workers. Why have social workers averted their gaze from a serious and widespread social problem, despite the profession's claim to be closely involved with individual and family welfare? This paper explores the influences of ideology, theory and the structure of social work delivery. The lack of response by social workers to domestic violence adds weight to the radical and the feminist critiques of the profession.