This chapter focuses on definitions of domestic violence suggested by stage two participants. This question was asked to ascertain whether any of the healthcare professionals worked to guidelines or a strategic definition of domestic violence. All the stage two participants were asked “How would you define domestic violence?”. Asking this question, in conjunction with questions about the general role of specific healthcare professionals, was intended to examine how participants located domestic violence within medical discourse, both theoretically and in relation to their clinical practice.

The extract above was not a common response, as the majority of healthcare professionals who participated in this research had clinical experience of domestic violence-related injuries, and it was an issue they had considered. In order to contextualise the issue of definitions of domestic violence within general health policy, all of the healthcare professionals who completed the domestic violence and health questionnaire (Abbott and Williamson, 1999) were asked if they worked to a formal policy when treating women who have experienced violence/cruelty from a male partner; 96.7% answered “no” to this question, with only 2.3% answering “yes”. The discussions which take place in the following sections relate, therefore, to the definitions formulated individually by the participants and in response to policyled discussions within the health professions generally. As recent policy initiatives and guidelines (DoH, 2000) have emerged in Britain since this research was conducted, this research also provides baseline comparative data on which to measure the impact of such guidelines.

Generic definitions of domestic violence