RT Article
T1 Do you feel safe at home? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Tools Used in Medical Settings to Screen for Intimate Partner Violence
JF Journal of family violence
VO 39
IS 5
SP 783
OP 795
A1 Marshall, Laura H.
A1 Vargas, Lucila 1953-
A1 Eltantawy, Nahed
A1 Cruz, Gabriel
A2 Vargas, Lucila 1953-
A2 Eltantawy, Nahed
A2 Cruz, Gabriel
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1893520021
AB Purpose: To evaluate the language used in screening instruments employed by physicians and other health care providers to determine whether a patient is a victim of IPV. Method: We employed Critical Discourse Analysis, including a three-step iterative coding process, to analyze the language used in 40 text- and computer-based screening tools. Results: We found many screening tools contain language that may reinforce the power imbalance inherent in the physician–patient relationship through discourse that denies patient agency, echoes violent imagery with terms that are inherently violent themselves, and reduces the patient to a depersonalized object of a care provider’s actions. Conclusions: The choice of language used in screening instruments that guide physicians’ interactions with patients is crucial, particularly in evaluating patients for intimate partner violence. Violence between intimate partners can be exacerbated by an imbalance in power in a personal relationship. When language mimics that power imbalance in the exam room—a place where patients may already feel diminished agency—the potential arises that a patient will be reluctant to disclose IPV.
K1 Empowerment
K1 Patient agency
K1 Critical Discourse Analysis
K1 Screening instruments
K1 domestic violence
K1 Intimate Partner Violence
DO 10.1007/s10896-023-00527-5