Creating a Digital Trauma Informed Space: Chat and Text Advocacy for Survivors of Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110435
Author(s):  
Leila Wood ◽  
Dixie Hairston ◽  
Rachel Voth Schrag ◽  
Erin Clark ◽  
Ruben Parra-Cardona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Research Team ◽  
Community Organization ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Promising Practice ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Hard To Reach Populations

There is little research on virtual service models like chat and text services in agencies that work with survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA). This study fills a gap in the research by exploring how chat and text services are provided in one IPV and SA-focused community organization. We analyzed chat and text transcripts ( n = 392) from a large multiservice, multivictimization focused agency, and conducted interviews with 11 advocates providing chat and text services through the agency hotline. Staff interviews were analyzed using grounded theory and transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. Results indicate chat/text services provide a space for connection, resource provision, education, and access to resource gain in a timely, concise, and survivor-centered way. The five major goals for chat/text advocacy models include the following: (1) rapid access to support and connection; (2) identification of options and needs for each service user; (3) increased access to resources and supports; (4) expanded understanding of violence, abuse, and harm; and (5) improvement of survivor safety. The research team identified 15 general advocacy skills and 4 chat and text specific skills used by chat/text advocates to reach program goals. Findings highlight the utility of chat/text services for increasing access to support services for survivors of violence, particularly adolescents, emerging adults, those living with an abusive individual, and during times of emergency. Future research should continue to explore the promising practice modality of chat/text services for providing advocacy to underserved and hard-to-reach populations.

Focal Concerns and Intimate Partner Violence Case Processing: Predicting Arrest Using a Stratified Random Sample of Police Case File Data

2021 ◽  
pp. 001112872110104
Author(s):  
Cortney A. Franklin ◽  
Leana A. Bouffard ◽  
Alondra D. Garza ◽  
Amanda Goodson
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Police Department ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Criminal History ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Binary Logistic Regression Model ◽  
Case File ◽  
Focal Concerns

Focal concerns has utility for explaining criminal justice decisions, including among police. At present, there is no research that has examined focal concerns and arrest decisions in non-sexual, intimate partner violence (IPV) cases. This study used a stratified random sample of 776 IPV incidents from an urban police department in one of the five largest and most diverse US cities to assess the effect of focal concerns on arrest. A multivariate binary logistic regression model demonstrated victim injury, suspect IPV and general criminal history, evidence, witnesses, victim preference for formal intervention, women victims, and intoxicated suspects predicted arrest. When the suspect was on scene, this was the strongest predictor of arrest. Implications and future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Adaptation of the barriers to help-seeking for trauma (BHS-TR) scale: a cross-cultural cognitive interview study with female intimate partner violence survivors in Iceland

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Birna Thorvaldsdottir ◽  
Sigridur Halldorsdottir ◽  
Rhonda M. Johnson ◽  
Sigrun Sigurdardottir ◽  
Denise Saint Arnault
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Cognitive Interview ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Interview Study ◽  
Trauma Survivors ◽  
Expert Committee ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Trauma Informed

Abstract Background Even though traumatization is linked to substantially reduced health-related quality of life, help-seeking and service utilization among trauma survivors are very low. To date, there has not been available in Iceland a culturally attuned, self-reported measure on help-seeking barriers after trauma. This study aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the English version of Barriers to Help-Seeking for Trauma (BHS-TR) scale into the Icelandic language and context. Methods The BHS-TR was culturally adapted following well-established and rigorous guidelines, including forward-backward translation, expert committee review, and pretesting through cognitive interviews. Two rounds of interviews with 17 female survivors of intimate partner violence were conducted using a think-aloud technique and verbal probing. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, a combination of deductive and inductive approaches. Results Issues with the BHS-TR that were uncovered in the study were classified into four categories related to general design, translation, cultural aspects, and post-trauma context. The trauma-specific issues emerged as a new category identified in this study and included concepts specific to trauma experiences. Therefore, modifications were of great importance—resulting in the scale becoming more trauma-informed. Revisions made to address identified issues improved the scale, and the process led to an Icelandic version, which appears to be semantically and conceptually equivalent to the original version; additionally, the results provided evidence of content validity. Conclusions As a cognitive interview study, it adds to the growing cognitive interviewing methodology literature. Furthermore, the results provide essential insights into the self-report response process of trauma survivors, highlighting the significance of making health-related research instruments trauma-informed.

scholarly journals Migrant Women’s Help-Seeking Decisions and Use of Support Resources for Intimate Partner Violence in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110001
Author(s):  
Ran Hu ◽  
Jia Xue ◽  
Xiying Wang
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Poisson Model ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sources Of Support

In China, women who domestically relocate from rural or less developed regions to major cities are at a higher risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) than their non-migrant counterparts. Few studies have focused on Chinese domestic migrant women’s help-seeking for IPV and their use of different sources of support. The present study aimed to identify factors that influence migrant women’s help-seeking decisions. In addition, we also examined factors that contribute to migrant women’s use of diverse sources of support for IPV. A sample of 280 migrant women victimized by IPV in the past year at the time of the survey was drawn from a larger cross-sectional study conducted in four major urban cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Using a multinomial logistic regression model and a zero-inflated Poisson model, we found that factors influencing migrant women’s help-seeking decisions and their use of diverse sources of support included socioeconomic factors, IPV type, relationship-related factors, knowledge of China’s first anti-Domestic Violence Law, and perception of the effectiveness of current policies. We discuss implications for future research and interventions.

scholarly journals Violent Couples Seeking Therapy: Bilateral and Unilateral Violence

Partner Abuse ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea A. Madsen ◽  
Sandra M. Stith ◽  
Cynthia J. Thomsen ◽  
Eric E. McCollum
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Couples Therapy ◽  
Physical Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Psychological Aggression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Male Violence ◽  
Female Violence

Little information is available about couples experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) who voluntarily seek couples therapy. We examined the characteristics of 129 couples who sought therapy for IPV to learn more about this population. A majority of the sample, 74%, experienced bilateral physical violence, 16% experienced unilateral male violence, and 5% experienced unilateral female violence. Conflict theory is used to explain the finding that couples experiencing bilateral violence reported higher levels of physical violence and injury than did those experiencing unilateral violence. Bilaterally violent couples also experienced more jealousy and psychological aggression and less relationship satisfaction than either group of unilaterally violent couples. Implications and suggestions for clinicians are offered, as well as ideas for future research.

Social Norms Sustaining Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review of Methodologies for Proxy Measures

2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802110131
Author(s):  
Ilana Seff
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Boolean Search ◽  
The Many

In light of the many robust quantitative data sets that include information on attitudes and behaviors related to intimate partner violence (IPV), and in an effort to expand the evidence base around social norms and IPV, many researchers construct proxy measures of norms within and across groups embedded in the data. While this strategy has become increasingly popular, there is no standardized approach for assessing and constructing these norm proxies, and no review of these approaches has been undertaken to date. This study presents the results of a systematic review of methods used to construct quantitative proxy measures for social norms related to IPV. PubMed, Embase, Popline, and Scopus, and PsycINFO were searched using Boolean search techniques. Inclusion criteria comprised studies published since 2000 in English that either (i) examined a norm proxy related to gender or IPV or (ii) analyzed the relationship between a norm proxy and perpetration of, experiences of, or attitudes toward IPV. Studies that employed qualitative methods or that elicited direct measures of descriptive or injunctive norms were not included. Twenty-six studies were eligible for review. Evidence from this review highlights inconsistencies in how proxies are constructed, how they are assessed to ensure valid representation of norms, and how researchers acknowledge their respective method’s limitations. Key processes and reflections employed by some of the studies are identified and recommended for future research inquiries.

Positive Correlation Between Women’s Status and Intimate Partner Violence Suggests Violence Backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110500
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Kilgallen ◽  
Susan B. Schaffnit ◽  
Yusufu Kumogola ◽  
Anthony Galura ◽  
Mark Urassa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Women's Empowerment ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Women’S Empowerment ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Increased Risk

Urbanization in low and middle-income nations is characterized by economic and demographic shifts largely understood to be beneficial to women’s empowerment. These changes include increased education and wage-labor opportunities, a disruption of traditional patrilocal residence systems, and reductions in spousal age gap and fertility. However, such changes may drive a “violence backlash,” with men increasing intimate partner violence (IPV) in efforts to challenge women’s shifting status. To date, tests of this idea primarily relate to women’s changing economic status, with less known about the demographic correlates of IPV in urbanizing settings. Addressing this, we conducted a cross-sectional study of IPV behavior and attitudes in an urbanizing community in Mwanza, northern Tanzania ( n = 317). Consistent with a violence backlash, IPV was reported more often among women educated at higher levels than their husband, and women earning similar, rather than lower, wages to their husband were more likely to report that he condones IPV. These findings were independent of women’s absolute education and income. Furthermore, less frequent paternal kin contact, and relatively small spousal age gaps, generally understood to boost women’s empowerment, were associated with an increased risk of experiencing IPV. Less frequent paternal kin contact was also associated with an increased likelihood that a husband condones IPV. Contrary to our predictions, relatively lower fertility, generally linked to higher women’s empowerment, did not predict IPV behavior and women with high, rather than low, fertility were more likely to report that their husband condones IPV. Overall, our results support the notion of a violence backlash corresponding to economic changes for women that accompany urbanization. In contrast, demographic changes associated with urbanization have more variable relationships. Drawing on these results, we suggest future research avenues for better understanding the vulnerability of women to IPV in urbanizing settings.

scholarly journals Exploring the intersection of traumatic brain injury and mental health in survivors of intimate partner violence

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Toccalino ◽  
Amy Moore ◽  
Sophia Chuon Gutierrez ◽  
Angela Colantonio ◽  
Christine M. Wickens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Heterosexual Relationships ◽  
Economic Implications

Introduction: One in four Canadian women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased rates of IPV globally and the level of violence encountered, exposing IPV survivors to greater risk of physical injury, including traumatic brain injury (TBI). Up to 75% of survivors are suspected of sustaining a TBI and 50-75% experience mental health or substance use challenges (MHSU) as a result of IPV, resulting in extensive personal, social, and economic implications. Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to synthesize what is currently known in the literature about MHSU and TBI among survivors of IPV and identify gaps. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for relevant articles using a search strategy including text words and subject headings related to TBI, IPV, and MHSU. Two reviewers independently assessed articles for inclusion. Results: The search identified 399 unique articles, 34 of which were included in this study. Of these, 11 articles reported on MHSU in IPV-related TBI and 9 articles reported on both TBI and MHSU in IPV but did not discuss the groups together. The remainder were reviews or theses that noted MHSU in IPV-related TBI. Included articles predominantly focused on cis-gendered women in heterosexual relationships and were conducted in the United States. Only three articles focused on the experiences of Black or Indigenous women and none of the included studies discussed implications of co-occurring TBI and MHSU on survivor’s healthcare-related needs or access to care. Conclusions: Despite the high rates of co-occurring TBI and MHSU among survivors of IPV, there is little research on this intersection and no investigation of the impacts on the health system. Future research should focus on identifying the healthcare-related needs of survivors and identifying and mitigating barriers to access.

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