J Korean Acad Fam Med.  2002 Mar;23(3):344-352.

Attitude and knowledge of residents on domestic violence

• Lee IG
• Paek YJ
• Park MS
• Park IS

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nowadays there is an upsurge of, social concern on domestic violence. The role of doctors in the prevention and screening of domestic violence is becoming important. Therefore, we selected medical residents to find out about the attitude and knowledge of doctors on domestic violence.
METHODS
From 2000 March to October, we surveyed questionnaires to residents. The contents included the attitude on the victims, assailants and the children of domestic violence, whether they had the will to report domestic violence to the police or not, and finally the knowledge about the law on domestic violence.
RESULTS
Among 210 residents, 95 (45.2%) answered. Almost 90% of the subjects agreed to the necessity of social intervention on the assailants. And most residents agreed that the psychosocial impact of domestic violence to the exposed children was important. 65 (68.4%) residents said they would report to the police when they recognized victims of domestic violence during their consultation. 27-68% answered correctly about the law related to domestic violence. 40% agreed to the need of education for domestic violence.
CONCLUSION
The residents had little knowledge on domestic violence law. Therefore, it is essential for residents to be educated accordingly. The factors of marital status and sexual difference of doctors on domestic violence should be investigated.

Keyword

domestic violence; resident; knowledge; attitude

MeSH Terms

Child
Domestic Violence*
Education
Humans
Jurisprudence
Marital Status
Mass Screening
Police
Surveys and Questionnaires