Part 1: Domestic VIolence Mia, a 22-year-old Army wife, was stationed in Fort Benning with her husband, Joe, her 5-year-old daughter, and her 1-year-old son. She was married at 18 after having her first child. Mia grew up in a small town in Arkansas with her mother and two sisters. She has a high school diploma and previously worked as a cashier before meeting Joe. When they met, she fell instantly in love and she was thrilled about the opportunity to move out of her town and see the world. Joe was 8 years older than Mia and had been deployed twice to Afghanistan. He was born and raised by a military father and lived and breathed the Army values and codes. He tired of his wife depending so much on him, but he was willing to work through it. Fort Benning was their first station and she was new to the military way of life. She was overwhelmed at first but became very comfortable with the other wives. She made fast friends with several of them. Her relationship with Joe seemed blissful, until he started to make demands about whom she was allowed to befriend or where she was allowed to go shopping. Also, Joe began to ask her to speak in a certain tone and not to argue with him over minor issues in the house. Mia started to feel confined and restless. During her second pregnancy, she was feeling uncomfortable as she lay in bed and asked Joe to get her a glass of water. He refused to get up and she had gotten angry. When he grew tired of her pleas, he flipped her over off the bed onto the floor, sat on her legs and punched her in the face. She never reported him. Three months later, he pushed her into a wall. She finally confided in another military spouse who also shared her own experiences with other military spouses suffering with abusive husbands.

Domestic violence is not uncommon in military communities, and there are many stressors or factors that contribute to these situations outside of combat trauma. For this Discussion, review this week’s resources. Consider what stressors contribute to the prevalence of domestic violence.

Post your perspective on why there is a high prevalence of domestic violence in the military. Provide a scholarly article to support your response. Describe two stressors outside of combat reactions that might contribute to domestic violence. Explain one way combat reactions might contribute to the prevalence of domestic violence. Finally, as a social worker, describe one aspect you might focus on to reduce the prevalence of domestic violence among military families.

Be sure to support your post with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.

Part 2: Substance Abuse

Scenario 1: Susan is an active duty personnel. She completed two tours in Afghanistan and is now stationed at Camp Pendleton. She did not suffer any physical injuries during this time on deployment. Her husband reports to the counselor at the family support center that she is drinking more often and is getting drunk more regularly. When she gets drunk, she yells, stumbles around the house, or she passes out. He’s concerned about her, so he calls her commanding officer and reports his concerns. Susan’s commanding officer immediately orders her to counseling for her drinking. You are the helping professional who is meeting with Susan and her husband for the first time. She enters the office, annoyed and disinterested. She looks at you and says, “Before you start, I know why I’m here. I’m ordered to be here by my CO. But I can already tell by looking at you that you have never picked up a weapon. You can’t do a thing for me. What can you tell me about my problems?”

Scenario 2: Trevor is a homeless Vietnam veteran. He has been living on the streets for 28 years. His wife and three children left him 2 years after he returned home from Vietnam after they could no longer handle his heroin addiction, which began while he was in Vietnam. Trevor often walks the street with a cardboard sign saying, “I’m a veteran, please help.” It is rare that someone looks twice at him. He is able to make enough money to support his drug habit or he will steal money if he needs to. Recently, he was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. His daughter went to his arraignment and begged the court to send him to treatment and to have some leniency as he is a veteran and suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. The judge agreed and sentenced him to the Veterans Hospital for treatment. You are meeting with Trevor and his daughter for the first time to discuss recommendations. Trevor looks you up and down and considers his approach. “I used to drown it out. I can’t stop it. Can you? Can you tell me where to go to make it stop?”

For this Discussion, select one of the scenarios provided and consider how you would respond to their situation.

Post as a social worker, how you would respond to the personnel or veteran in the scenario you selected.

Be sure to support your post with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.