Domestic violence and sexual assault service goal priorities

How Helpful Is Bystander Intervention? Perspectives of Dating and Sexual Violence Survivors

While bystander intervention education has demonstrated promise as a strategy to reduce dating and sexual violence (DSV) on campus, little is known about whether survivors on whose behalf the interventions take place find these helpful. This paper uses qualitative, in-depth interviews with 33 DSV survivors to explore their perspectives on bystander intervention. Results indicate that while some interventions were identified as helpful, especially those that provided support to the survivor, many were not helpful enough or even harmful. Further work is needed to understand the consequences of bystander action.

The Working Relationship Between Emergency Room Nurses and Medical Rape Victim Advocates: A Qualitative Examination of Nurses' Perceptions of the Influence of Nurse Training and Experience on Nurse-Advocate Interactions

Nurses and medical advocates respond to sexual assault survivors seeking hospital services. Ideally, both providers work collaboratively. However, this does not always happen. Extant research on the nurse-advocate relationship focuses on Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs). This study examines how ER nurses perceive their training and experience influence the working relationships between emergency room (ER) nurses (not exclusively SANEs) and medical advocates. Key findings indicate nurses perceive increased training improves (a) role understanding, (b) trust, (c) respect, (d) rapport, and (e) appreciation. Less training was associated with poorer role understanding and trust.

Rape Crisis Victim Advocacy: A Systematic Review

While rape crisis center (RCC) advocacy is generally regarded as valuable, there are no prior systematic reviews of the advocacy literature. This review examined RCC advocacy service provision, perceptions and impact of advocacy, and challenges and facilitators to effective service provision. Databases related to health and social sciences were searched including Academic Search Complete, PsychINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, ProQuest, Science Direct, OAlster, WorldCat, and MEDLINE. Empirical articles written in English that examined RCC advocacy service provision and/or impact in the US were included. The researchers reviewed abstracts and titles, and then full texts. Forty-five articles met criteria, were summarized, and double checked. Findings demonstrate advocacy is multi-faceted, beneficial, and challenging. Advocates work directly with survivors and interact with other responders on behalf of survivors. Specifically, advocates provide emotional support, safety plan, support survivors in making decisions, and assist them in navigating other systems. While advocates are generally regarded positively by survivors and responders, some responders have concerns about advocates. In addition, advocates sometimes report victim-blaming and being ill-equipped to meet survivors' needs. Finally, advocates face specific challenges in their work with survivors and responders. Future research using diverse methodological approaches is needed to understand advocacy utilization and reach; survivors' perceptions of advocacy; marginalized survivors' experiences; connections between specific services, implementation, and outcomes; and effective strategies for advocates' interactions with other responders. Additional resources to help advocates serve all survivors effectively and equitably; to support evaluator-practitioner partnerships; and to share unpublished data on advocacy may help contribute to improvements in advocacy practice.

Group Therapy for Survivors of Adult Sexual Assault: A Scoping Review

Across the world, women experience significant rates of sexual assault and there is a need to strengthen support services offered to survivors. Group therapy could provide an important addition to services that support healing and growth; however, the effectiveness of group therapy interventions with survivors of adult sexual assault is not well understood and clearer insights into designing and running group therapy interventions require further exploration. This review synthesizes literature exploring group therapy for survivors of adult sexual assault to inform future interventions and research implementing group therapy. A systematic approach was used to gather literature describing and evaluating group therapy interventions with survivors of adult sexual assault. Of the initial 466 articles identified through a comprehensive search strategy including database and hand searches, 32 met the inclusion criteria by describing a group therapy intervention conducted with survivors of adult sexual assault. A thematic approach to analysis was conducted to synthesize and collate the literature. Findings explore potentially useful strategies and characteristics of group therapy with survivors of adult sexual assault and make recommendations for the design and evaluation of future interventions. Group therapy has potential as a valuable support service provided to survivors but further rigorous research and evaluations are required to better capture outcomes and understand how to design and implement effective interventions.

"Suddenly Everyone's an Expert in Our Field": Campus Victim Advocates and the Promise and Perils of Professionalization

Changes in how campuses respond to sexual assault under Title IX may dramatically alter the experiences of survivors and the roles of responders. This exploratory study examines how the roles of campus-based sexual assault victim advocates are changing and the effects on advocacy and survivors. Although most advocates agree that Title IX has increased awareness and reporting of sexual assault, they are concerned about the loss of confidential outlets for reporting, conflicts with other responders, and devaluation of their role. Some advocates see professionalization as a solution, whereas others worry that professionalization might negatively affect their ability to serve survivors.

What Do Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service Providers Need to Know About Survivors to Deliver Services?

Using survey data, we investigate perspectives of 80 program directors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault agencies regarding whether gathering specific information at intake is helpful in determining survivors' needs for five service areas: legal advocacy, medical advocacy, support group, counseling, and shelter. We explore whether directors' opinions of information-type usefulness differ by type of service agency (single- or dual-focus). Findings show directors perceive the information most helpful to early service provision includes survivors' goals, experiences of violence and trauma, and health status. MANOVA results show no significant differences among directors from single- or dual-focus agencies.

Ethics, Methods, and Measures in Intimate Partner Violence Research: The Current State of the Field

Although intimate partner violence (IPV) is a well-studied topic, surprisingly little consensus among researchers has been reached with regard to the definition and measurement of its major typologies and constructs. The rigorous development and testing of prevention and intervention strategies on a large scale are hampered by many of these methodological difficulties as well as ethical considerations that make conducting IPV research difficult. The author presents a review of the current state of IPV research in these three areas (ethics, methods, and measurement) with suggestions for innovative research possibilities building from this status quo. Moving the field of IPV research forward is necessary to establish a broader evidence base for the prevention and treatment of abuse and to improve outcomes for survivors of IPV.

Perceptions and Use of EMDR Therapy in Rape Crisis Centers

Sexual violence is pervasive and generates significant trauma symptoms that can last a lifetime for survivors. Rape crisis centers provide critically important services for survivors of child sexual abuse and adult sexual assault, including individual and group counseling. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has been found to be an effective treatment for a wide array of trauma symptoms in both children and adults. This study sought to determine the extent to which rape crisis centers use EMDR therapy, practitioners’ perceptions of EMDR, and the provider characteristics that might support or hinder implementation of EMDR in this setting. A statewide web-based survey generated responses from 76 counselors working within 47 rape crisis centers. Results indicate that there is a low-use rate of EMDR (8%) in this setting, perceptions of EMDR were predominately marked by uncertainty, reflecting a lack of familiarity, but there is strong interest in receiving training. The desire for training is complicated by the range of education levels of counseling staff in rape crisis centers with only 54% holding advanced degrees. There is an opportunity and need to build capacity for the implementation of EMDR in this vital service sector, but there are also significant challenges that will need to be addressed.

“It Gave Me My Life Back”

Community-based advocacy services are important in enabling victims to escape domestic abuse and rebuild their lives. This study evaluated a domestic abuse service. Two phases of research were conducted following case-file analysis ( n = 86): surveys ( n = 22) and interviews ( n = 12) with victims, and interviews with key individuals ( n = 12) based in related statutory and community organizations. The findings revealed the holistic model of legal, practical, mental health–related, and advocacy components resulted in a range of benefits to victims and enhanced interagency partnership working. Core elements of a successful needs-led, victim-centered service could be distilled.

Predicting Abused Women With Children Who Return to a Shelter: Development and Use of a Rapid Assessment Triage Tool

To develop a tool to predict risk for return to a shelter, 150 women with children, exiting a domestic violence shelter, were evaluated every 4 months for 24 months to determine risk factors for returning to a shelter. The study identified four risk factors, including danger for murder, woman's age (i.e., older women), tangible support (i.e., access to money, transportation), and child witness to verbal abuse of the mother. An easy to use, quick triage tool with a weighted score was derived, which can identify with 90% accuracy abused women with children most likely to return to shelters.

The association between protective actions and homicide risk: findings from the Oklahoma Lethality Assessment Study

This study focuses on the relationship between women's risk of homicide as measured by the Danger Assessment and 13 protective actions. Participants (N = 432) experienced an incident of police involved intimate partner violence (IPV) and subsequently completed a structured telephone interview. Most women in this sample experienced severe violence and were classified as being at high risk for homicide. Participants engaged in an average of 3.81 (SD = 2.73) protective actions. With the exception of the use of formal domestic violence services, women in the high-risk category were significantly more likely than women in the lower risk category to have used each of the protective actions examined. Implications for research and practice are discussed.