Vocational Research for the Liberation of Battered Women

Domestic violence interferes with women’s exploration of career interests, pursuit of career goals, and attainment of economic independence. Vocational research may contribute significantly to preventive-intervention efforts against domestic violence and to the liberation of battered women by increasing their economic stability and strengthening their support network. In this article, the authors’ aim is to inspire vocational research with battered women. We use Prilleltensky’s emancipatory communitarian approach to outline a vocational research agenda with battered women and to describe research practices that facilitate collaboration among researchers and community stake-holders and that increase battered women’s self-determination and contribution to their communities. We discuss general research and specific vocational research practices to assist researchers with building research partnerships, recruiting and retaining participants, and disseminating vocational research results to effect social change.

A Tour of a New Paradigm

The authors provide a reaction to the Major Contribution by Richardson in this issue of The Counseling Psychologist on the counseling for work and relationships perspective. The authors examine the trajectory of Richardson’s work, beginning with her seminal article in 1993, which set the stage for a new paradigm for vocational psychology. Richardson’s current contribution fulfills the promise of her earlier work by creating a profound and pragmatic model for counseling that affirms market work, care work, relationships, and the complex social forces that frame these fundamental life experiences. The authors describe the core elements of the new paradigm and identify a few growth edges for this important new perspective. The authors recommend that scholars and practitioners examine their values about the good life and a good society as a means of expanding the scope and impact of Richardson’s work. The article concludes with an exploration of the practice and training implications of Richardson’s work.