Catherine Arney. Photo courtesy of ThirdCoast Digest.

ThirdCoast Digest, a news organization that covers politics, culture and other issues in southeastern Wisconsin, talked to National Association of Social Workers member Catherine Arney about domestic violence.

Arney, MSW, is vice president of clinical services at Pathfinders, a Milwaukee shelter and resource center for homeless youth. Arney said children who grow up in homes where domestic violence is common are at risk of becoming abusers or being abused.

“It doesn’t mean that every child who witnesses domestic abuse grows up to be an abuser or grows up to be abused, but the statistics are really high that they will,” she said. “Especially with young boys.”

Arney also talked about why women stay in domestic relationships, how men who are abusers get help, and how people can help friends and family members who are battered or mentally abused by their partners.

To listen to Arney’s ThirdCoast Digest interview, click here.

You can learn more about how social workers help clients who are victims of domestic violence by clicking here to visit NASW’s “Help Starts Here” consumer Web site. Tricia Bent-Goodley, Phd, LCSW-C, a Howard University social work professor who is a nationally recognized expert on domestic violence, and other social workers also met with Hollywood writers to educate them about women’s health issues, including domestic violence, mental illness and cancer. To read about that meeting, click here.