PS508 Unit 5 Partner Violence Paper Example

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This PS508 Unit 5 intimate partner violence paper plans an ethical response after a seafood plant worker in outpatient alcohol treatment discloses that the partner who drives her to every group session takes her paychecks and has choked her twice. Ferrari and colleagues' survey of 260 women using domestic violence services, which found distress rising with the severity of abuse, recasts her drinking as partly a way of coping. Campbell and colleagues' Danger Assessment, completed while the partner is at work, shows elevated risk from choking, financial control and a handgun. The counselor in training, an MS in Psychology addictions concentration student, respects her choice to stay, arranges a private shelter advocate, changes how the program contacts her and links drinking goals to safety. Purdue Global PS 508 sets this case in its fifth unit.

CoursePS508 Ethics for Addictions Professionals
UnitUnit 5
Paper typeIntimate partner violence paper
LengthAbout 1,170 words, 7 pages double-spaced
FormatAPA 7 student paper
SchoolPurdue University Global
ProgramMS in Psychology
UpdatedOctober 2026

Free sample paper for PS508 Unit 5

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The Partner Who Drives Her to Group: A PS508 Unit 5 Paper on Responding Ethically to Disclosed Intimate Partner Violence

[Student Name]

Purdue University Global

PS508: Ethics for Addictions Professionals

Unit 5 Intimate Partner Violence Paper

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The writer, the program, the client, the partner and every detail of the case are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.

What this part is doingPlacing the abuser in the client's route to treatment shows at once why an ordinary referral would not be safe.
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The Disclosure

Rosa is 34 and works the slime line at a seafood plant during the salmon season and on a cleaning crew in the winter. Rosa came to our program in November after being sent home from work twice for drinking on shift. Rosa's partner, Travis, drives her to evening group three times a week and waits in the parking lot. In the fourth week, while Travis was parked outside, Rosa stayed after group and told me that Travis keeps her bank card, decides whom she can see and has put his hands around her throat twice in the past year, most recently in October. Rosa asked me not to tell anyone and said that if Travis found out she had talked about it, "it would be bad."

This paper examines the ethical duties that disclosure created and the response our program chose.

What the Research Says About Women in Rosa's Position

Ferrari et al. (2014) surveyed 260 women enrolled in a trial of a psychological intervention offered through domestic violence support services. Exposure to abuse was high, and so was psychological distress: about three in four women scored above the clinical threshold on a general measure of distress, depression and anxiety levels approached clinical cutoffs and every woman in the sample scored above the threshold for posttraumatic stress disorder. Symptoms rose step by step with the severity of abuse. Substance use was not the study's subject, yet its finding that mental health problems track the severity of abuse suggests that Rosa's drinking may be part of how she copes with what is happening at home, not only a separate problem to treat.

That matters for the treatment plan. A plan aimed only at Rosa's drinking, while the abuse continued, would be treating a symptom while ignoring its source.

Confidentiality and Its Limits

Under the NAADAC code, a counselor shares what a client says without permission only in a few situations, such as a serious danger that can be foreseen, a child or dependent adult who may be mistreated, or a legal mandate (NAADAC, 2021). Rosa is an adult, and she has no children living with her. Our director confirmed that the program's policy, which follows state law, does not require counselors to report violence between adult partners. Rosa's request for privacy therefore has to be honored unless the danger to her becomes so immediate that the duty to protect her life outweighs it.

The ethical issue is not only what we may disclose but how our own routines might expose her. Travis sits in the parking lot during group, sometimes calls the front desk and could see any paperwork Rosa brings home. Respecting Rosa's confidentiality means protecting her from our own carelessness, not only from formal disclosures.

Keeping Rosa's secret was the easy part; the harder ethical work was making sure our appointment cards and phone calls did not give it away.

What this part is doingExtending confidentiality to the program's everyday routines shows the writer understands how disclosure actually happens.
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Assessing Danger

Choking is one of the strongest warning signs for later lethal violence. Campbell et al. (2009) describe the Danger Assessment, a tool built from an eleven-city comparison of femicide cases and abused women in the same cities who survived. Among its questions are whether he has ever strangled her, whether he decides what she does each day, whether he has said he would kill her and whether a firearm is in the home; the weighted total sorts women into risk levels.

With Rosa's permission, I completed the Danger Assessment with her the following week during an individual session scheduled while Travis was at work. Rosa's score placed her in an elevated level of danger, mainly because of the choking, the control over money and a handgun in the house. I shared the result with Rosa in plain words and told her that the instrument suggested a serious risk, without telling her what she must do.

Respecting Rosa's Choices

Rosa did not want to leave Travis or to call the police. Ethics in this situation means respecting her right to make that decision while giving her the information and options to make it safely. Pressuring Rosa to leave, or threatening to stop treatment if she stayed, would have repeated the pattern of control she lives with at home.

We agreed on four steps. First, Rosa met privately with an advocate from the island's domestic violence shelter, which offers confidential services and has a crisis line staffed around the clock. The meeting took place at our office during an individual session, so Travis did not learn of it. Second, Rosa and the advocate built a safety plan covering where she could go, how to keep cash and documents out of Travis's reach and a code word to use with a coworker. Third, we changed how the program contacts Rosa: no voicemails, no mailed letters and appointment cards that list only a time. Fourth, Rosa's treatment plan now includes trauma-informed sessions, and her goals for drinking are tied to her own safety, since drinking with Travis was often when the worst incidents happened.

Documentation

Records of partner violence can be used against a client in custody disputes or seen by an abusive partner. I documented the disclosure, the Danger Assessment score, the referral and the safety measures accurately but without unnecessary detail, and noted that Rosa had asked that nothing be released. Because our records are covered by the federal substance use confidentiality rule, they cannot be released to Travis or used in a proceeding without Rosa's written consent or a court order.

Ethical Tensions That Remain

Two tensions remain unresolved. If Rosa's danger rose to an imminent threat to her life, the duty to protect could require action she has not chosen. I explained this limit to Rosa at the start, as the code requires. The second tension is about group. Travis's presence in the parking lot means the program is, in a sense, hosting her abuser three times a week. We have discussed moving Rosa to a daytime group, which Travis could not attend because of his work schedule, but that change has to be Rosa's choice and timed so it does not raise suspicion.

Conclusion

Rosa's disclosure required more than a referral. Research on women seeking help for abuse suggests her drinking and distress are tied to the severity of what she lives with, and the Danger Assessment showed the risk is serious. The NAADAC code required us to keep her confidence and respect her autonomy, while our own routines had to be changed so they did not expose her. The ethical response combined assessment, advocacy, safety planning and quiet changes to how the program works.

What this part is doingListing four distinct parts of the response in the conclusion shows that ethics in this case was a plan, not a single rule.
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References

Campbell, J. C., Webster, D. W., & Glass, N. (2009). The Danger Assessment: Validation of a lethality risk assessment instrument for intimate partner femicide. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(4), 653-674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260508317180

Ferrari, G., Agnew-Davies, R., Bailey, J., Howard, L., Howarth, E., Peters, T. J., Sardinha, L., & Feder, G. (2014). Domestic violence and mental health: A cross-sectional survey of women seeking help from domestic violence support services. Global Health Action, 7, Article 25519. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.25519

NAADAC. (2021). NAADAC code of ethics. NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. https://www.naadac.org/code-of-ethics

Reading the PS 508 Unit 5 instructions

Unit 5 asks how a counselor should respond ethically when a client discloses domestic or intimate partner violence. Present the disclosure and the client's request. Use research on survivors' mental health to explain how the violence may relate to the client's substance use and treatment. Explain what the NAADAC code and your program's policy require about confidentiality and whether any report is mandated. Describe how you assessed danger, citing a validated tool if one was used. Show how you respected the client's choices while improving safety, including changes to your program's own routines. Address documentation, identify tensions that remain unresolved and conclude with the parts of your response and the reasoning behind them.

Inside the PS508 Unit 5 example

The paper opens with Rosa staying after group while her partner waits in the parking lot. A research section reports Ferrari and colleagues' findings on distress and abuse severity and draws the link to drinking. A confidentiality section explains why no report is required for adult partner violence here and argues that the program's own voicemails and cards could expose her, under a highlighted line on that point. A danger section describes the Danger Assessment and her elevated level. A section on her choices sets out four steps: a private advocate meeting, a safety plan, changed contact routines and trauma-informed treatment. Documentation, remaining tensions and a conclusion complete the paper.

Reading the PS508 Unit 5 grading rubric

Strong papers connect research on survivors to the client's treatment, showing why the violence matters for the substance use plan rather than treating it as a separate referral. Instructors look for an accurate account of confidentiality and reporting duties for adult clients, including the limits the counselor explained. Use of a validated danger assessment, described correctly, earns substantial credit. Respect for the client's autonomy, shown by offering options rather than directives, is central to the ethics of the case. Attention to how ordinary program routines could expose the client shows practical judgment. Careful documentation, honest discussion of unresolved tensions and correct APA citations finish a well-built paper on this sensitive topic.

PS508 Unit 5 help: mistakes that cost points

Many papers on partner violence tell the client what to do, usually to leave, which disregards the client's autonomy and can raise danger. Others assume every disclosure must be reported, confusing adult violence with child or elder abuse laws. Danger is often discussed in general terms when a validated tool would give the counselor and client something concrete to discuss. Students also overlook how phone calls, letters or the abuser's presence at the program could expose the client. Before submitting, make sure your paper states whether a report is required and why, names the danger tool and result, lists at least one change to program routines and explains how the client's own choices shaped the plan.

Get a PS508 Unit 5 example written to your instructions

Send the case and the instructions with the rubric. A custom paper plans an ethical response to one disclosure of partner violence. It arrives within 24-48h, and the first is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.

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PS508 Unit 5 questions, answered

Is mental illness common among women seeking help for domestic violence?

Yes. A survey of 260 women using support services found high rates of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress.

Must a counselor report adult partner violence?

Usually not, unless state law requires it or a child or vulnerable adult is involved; the client's safety and choices guide the response.

How does substance use relate to partner violence in treatment?

Partners may use substances to control, and survivors may use them to cope, so screening and safety planning belong in treatment.

Where can I find a free PS508 Unit 5 sample paper?

The PS508 Unit 5 paper on a client's disclosure of partner violence and a safety-focused response is shown above in full.

What did the program change in the PS508 Unit 5 sample?

It stopped voicemails and mailed letters and switched to appointment cards that show only a time, so the partner would not learn of the disclosure.