Motivating Factors in Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence
Image: violenceresource.org

At his California private practice, which he owns and operates alongside his wife, Dr. Jorge Galindo offers court-referred counseling services to a diverse client base. Dr. Jorge Galindo has worked with numerous perpetrators of domestic violence and is certified by Orange County as a domestic violence provider.

At its core, domestic violence stems from complex psychological insecurities in the mind of the perpetrator. Many offenders have what psychologists call a destructive inner monologue, which generates thought patterns centered on insecurities and personal criticisms. These criticisms can focus on the perpetrator himself or herself or on the individual’s partner. If susceptible to a belief in such thoughts, the perpetrator can turn to violence in an effort to assert control.

Destructive thought patterns are more likely to lead to abuse if the offender also develops an inflated sense of connection to the partner. Believing that a partner has the sole responsibility for making the offender happy and whole, the offender begins to desperately assert control. This desire for control may intensify if the offender has prior intimate contact with abusive relationships, such as that suffered by a parent during the offender’s childhood, or if the offender suffers from a mental illness that generates insecure thoughts. These factors may be more likely to result in violence if the offender nurtures internalized social biases, such as a belief in innate superiority over a partner’s gender.

Risk Assessment for Adults in Family Court

Family courts require therapy intervention for involved family members to determine the outcome of a case. Dr. Jorge Galindo provides consultation services and therapy for family court referrals; he shares a private practice in Irvine, California with his wife, Miriam Galindo, Psy.D.. Dr. Jorge Galindo offers co-parenting, reunification, and individual counselling to families that are in the midst of high-conflict divorce.

Adult risk assessment is a significant part of family court cases such as high-conflict divorce. It is a necessary process to determine whether a child or another family member is at risk for emotional or physical harm. It includes evaluating the risk for aggression, the presence of a mental health disorder, or any negative behavior that influences other members of the family.

Assessments may include a risk assessment for the father, a vulnerability assessment for the mother, or vice versa. In some cases, courts can request a joint risk assessment, where both types of assessments will be incorporated for both parents.

These are necessary to determine whether a parent will be allowed to receive custody or visitation rights for a child. The reports are prepared by specialists and therapists assigned to handle the case. Once the results are in, the court will determine how to proceed and decide whether treatment and counselling is necessary.

Functions and Purpose of Juvenile Court Therapy

Juvenile Court Therapy
Image: ocgov.com/gov

Dr. Jorge Galindo serves as a forensic consultant for juvenile courts, where he frequently works to develop programs for rehabilitation and treatment for teenage violence offenders and sex offenders; juvenile courts focus on the rehabilitation of minors through the use of clinical assessment treatment. Sharing an Irvine, California, private practice with his wife, Miriam Galindo, Psy.D, Dr. Jorge Galindo also works with drug and alcohol-related referrals from Orange County’s Juvenile and Adult Probation Departments.

Although the court is designed to hold the youth accountable for their crimes and actions, the goal of rehabilitation is to help the offender return to the community without any risk of harming other citizens. The primary focus is to prevent further delinquent behavior and to minimize the risk for possible adult crime involvement.

Therapeutic intervention includes clinical assessment and counselling. When considering the variables that led to the offense, therapists must differentiate the risk factors between adults and minors. The latter is more vulnerable to peer influence, less oriented to think about the future and less likely to assess risk before acting on impulse.

When it comes to treatment and counselling, there are several avenues that are deemed effective by the National Mental Health Association. These include multi-systemic therapy, functional family therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as several others.