Developmental Theories and Change in Domestic Violence Counseling

Introduction

This paper examines the issue of domestic abuse in relation to change management and diversity. According to Burnett and Brenner (2011), domestic violence is the result of the victimization of a person with whom "the abuser has or has had an intimate, romantic, or spousal relationship." Traditionally it includes a pattern of behaviors that attempt to coerce adults or youths who are ordinarily competent into behaviors that establish the abuser as the power figure, so that they maintain control over other members of the party in question. Patterns of behavior that assert control often build upon each other, setting a stage for "future violence" (Burnett & Brenner, 2011).

Psychological abuse, stalking, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and isolation are all forms of domestic abuse, resulting in annual economic costs exceeding $8 million dollars according to the CDC (Burnett & Brenner, 2011). This paper examines developmental theories related to change processes that may help impact the field of domestic violence, so that counselors can develop approaches more likely to stop victimization and decrease the likelihood that women will return to their abusers.

Developmental Theories Related to the Change Process

To understand how to reduce the likelihood that abuse will continue in the future, one must first understand the change process. In the article "Helping Students Think," several developmental theories related to the change process are highlighted. These include Emmerich's (1968) theories, which outline three orientations: "individual differences," which explain the traits and attributes of individuals that reflect how they interpret events and learning material; "ipsative" explanations for why individuals may focus on certain aspects of learning or theories rather than others; and the "classical developmental" orientation, which suggests that people must develop through different hierarchical steps — much like climbing a ladder — and that at each step they inhabit a different personality and cognitive developmental perspective (Schmidt & Davison, 1983). This suggests that during a change process, different variables might affect an individual at different points, causing them to exhibit various personality characteristics throughout.

Other important contributions include the theory of intellectual development offered by King (1977) and Kitchener (1977), which presents a similar framework to Emmerich's developmental orientation. Their Reflective Judgment (RJ) theory explains varying characteristics of personality during change processes. RJ theory posits that differences among subjects may result from various predictable developmental processes, and that one may thus develop through predictable stages of development (Schmidt & Davison, 1983). According to RJ theory, change is as much the result of structural reorganization as it is of incremental leaps in development, suggesting that as a person grows developmentally, their personality shifts and reorganizes accordingly. A counselor educator considering RJ theory might therefore focus on helping clients adapt to their entire environment rather than to one particular setting.

According to Eriksen (2008), the counseling profession's focus on the development process has applied primarily to phasic rather than stage theories in counseling and supervision practice. This reinforces the logic of RJ theory, suggesting that a more comprehensive approach to developmental theory is necessary — one that takes into consideration the entire environment rather than discrete "steps" on a ladder. To address this, a shift toward constructive development is required, one that accounts for the connections evident at each developmental level of the psyche as individuals adapt to change and reach new cognitive and social developmental levels (Eriksen, 2008; Hall & Chandler, 2005; Wagner et al., 2005).

Reflective Judgment Theory and Domestic Violence

Most helpful to the field of domestic abuse is RJ theory, given that domestic violence is itself a patterned process. Just as the abuser is likely to build upon previous incidents of abuse, women and children who are abused are likely to return to victimization-like behaviors in response to abuse, whether that abuse occurs over a short period or throughout the course of their lives. For this reason, a counselor educator or supervisor can research and consider the patterns that lead to victimization, and from this work identify the environments, regions, and both external and internal causes that are most likely to result in domestic abuse.

Rather than attempting to "fix" singular personality traits most likely to lead to abuse — a process often defined as identifying "red flags" among abusers and victims — the domestic violence counselor should consider the sum total of the whole system or pattern. They may also consider the entire developmental change that occurs as a victim leaves an abuser. This approach accounts for the emotions that accompany an individual as they move from one situation to another, since such transitions, even for individuals who have not experienced abuse, typically result in distinct personality and attitudinal shifts.

Conclusion

There are many different developmental stages the counselor educator must consider when addressing change management and the issue of domestic violence, just as there are many developmental theories that address change management itself. These include both stage developmental approaches and phasic developmental approaches. RJ developmental theory, which adopts a more holistic or phasic orientation by examining the entire process of developmental change rather than isolating individual steps, is the most comprehensive framework available to counselor educators addressing domestic violence. Overall, significant strides may be made in the field of domestic violence if a system-wide approach to developmental change is adopted to help counselor educators move forward into the 21st century.