Intersectional and Trauma-Informed Approaches to Employment Services: Insights From Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Service Providers

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122098834
Author(s):  
Sarah Tarshis ◽  
Ramona Alaggia ◽  
Carmen H. Logie
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Employment Services ◽  
Barriers To Employment ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Integrated Approaches ◽  
Insight Into

This article presents qualitative findings from a constructivist grounded theory study that examines intimate partner violence and employment-seeking from the perspectives of 10 service providers. Three distinct themes emerge through analysis: (a) understanding the intersecting barriers to employment faced by survivors, (b) integrated approaches to employment services, and (c) barriers to providing employment services. Findings have important theoretical implications on the intersectional nature of employment-seeking and provide insight into IPV service responses.

Intimate Partner Violence and Employment-Seeking: A Multilevel Examination of Barriers and Facilitators

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052096207
Author(s):  
Sarah Tarshis
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Employment Services ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Barriers To Employment ◽  
Structural Inequities

Intimate partner violence (IPV) impacts career development and negatively influences employment prospects, education attainment, and financial earnings; yet there is a gap in research exploring the experiences of employment-seeking from the perspectives of survivors. An intersectional and social ecological perspective provides an important framework and highlights the multiple intersecting barriers of IPV and employment ranging from mental health concerns such as trauma, anxiety and depression to lack of shelter and childcare, limited access to employment services, and other forms of discrimination. This article responds to this gap in research and provides findings from a constructivist grounded theory study of 16 employment-seeking survivors of IPV. To theorize and understand IPV and employment utilizing an intersectional and social ecological framework, the following research question were addressed: (a) What are the contextual barriers or facilitators that shape the employment-seeking process of survivors of IPV? (b) How do the experiences of discrimination shape the employment-seeking experience of survivors of IPV? (c) What employment services were helpful or unhelpful during the employment-seeking process? Two main themes emerged from analysis: (a) Multilevel barriers to employment and (b) Employment barriers/facilitators to employment-seeking. Findings indicate that survivors of IPV face multiple barriers to employment at the intrapersonal (e.g., depression, anxiety, trauma, low self-esteem), interpersonal (e.g., ties to an abusive partner, responsibilities related to childcare), community (lack of social support, few employment opportunities, poverty), and structural/institutionalized levels (e.g., racism, sexism, transphobia). Implications from these findings illustrate that employment-seeking is shaped by structural inequities, intersecting stigma, individual level barriers, and social identities, as well as experience of abuse, which is an important contribution to IPV research. This study provides insight into the complexities of employment-seeking and helps improve knowledge on the social ecological and intersecting barriers of employment from the perspectives of survivors.

Should Programs Designed to Help IPV Survivors Screen for Mental Health–Related Problems

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 603-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Simmons ◽  
Matthew J. Delaney ◽  
Leslie Lindsey ◽  
Anna Whalley ◽  
Olliette Murry-Drobot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Concept Mapping ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Qualitative Responses

Qualitative responses that 187 service providers gave to a question assessing whether agencies designed to help intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors should screen for mental health-related problems were analyzed using a version of the concept mapping approach. Nine central clusters emerged from the data analysis, which can be linked to three underlying themes: how the identification of mental health-related problems (i.e., labeling) could be misused when working with IPV survivors, ways screening can be appropriately used to help IPV survivors, and barriers that prevent screening. Findings highlight the importance of trauma-informed approaches across all aspects of service delivery.

Compassion Fatigue Among the Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault Workforce: Enhancing Organizational Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122098835
Author(s):  
Rachel J. Voth Schrag ◽  
Leila G. Wood ◽  
Karin Wachter ◽  
Shanti Kulkarni
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Occupational Stress ◽  
Compassion Fatigue ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Trauma Informed

Gaps in knowledge related to occupational stress among the intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault (SA) workforce remain. This study examined associations between key risk factors for occupational stress and compassion fatigue among a sample of IPV/SA service providers in the Southwestern United States ( N = 520). Results of the hierarchical regression analysis identified microaggressions, age, recent life stress, direct practice, and workload as factors associated with compassion fatigue. The findings point to the importance of incorporating trauma-informed organizational approaches to address microaggressions, reduce workload, and support staff experiencing recent stress and providing direct services.

Broadening the ‘Survivor Capsule’ of Intimate Partner Violence Services

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie L Baird ◽  
Ramona Alaggia ◽  
Sarah Maiter
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Theoretical Concept ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Counselling Services ◽  
Women's Experiences

Abstract This study responds to a need to expand current understandings of the ways in which counselling services for intimate partner violence (IPV) address trauma. From the perspectives of fifteen women who accessed IPV counselling services in Ontario, Canada, this feminist intersectional study used constructivist grounded theory methods to explore how services help women heal from trauma. Specifically, the study aimed to understand how counselling services meet the needs of survivors of IPV and respond to their complex identities and experiences of trauma and oppression. Findings exemplify the theoretical concept of a survivor capsule, illustrating ways in which women’s unique lives often do not fit into current IPV services, showing a need for more complex intersectional understandings of women’s experiences of IPV and trauma. These study findings demonstrate the importance of recognising women’s individual needs for multiple services as well as the harm caused when women have to fight to access the services they need. Findings also illustrate the instrumental role of counsellors who provide validation, are connected with women’s experiences, and are knowledgeable about IPV and trauma. Finally, suggestions are put forward for ways in which service providers can create spaces of acceptance rather than services that are stigmatising.

Guiding as Practice: Motivational Interviewing and Trauma-Informed Work With Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence Motivational Interviewing and Intimate Partner Violence Workgroup

Partner Abuse ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-104 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Motivational Interviewing ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Case Vignette ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Treatment Providers ◽  
Trauma Informed

Over the last five years, a new paradigm has emerged in social services. Numerous social service providers are now being asked to provide treatment within a framework of trauma-informed care. Trauma-informed services recognize the pervasive impact of current and previous violence on the everyday lives of many clients. Such services prioritize the establishment of a safe, trusting relationship where trauma can be disclosed. Trauma-informed services also account for the potential effects of clients’ experiences of violence and trauma on their relationship to treatment and to treatment providers. This article describes trauma-informed services and the potential that Motivational Interviewing (MI), an evidence-based, client-centered, and guiding communication style, holds for utilization within trauma-informed work. A case vignette is provided which demonstrates primary MI skills that can be used to create a climate of safety and trust, and effectively elicit and strengthen clients’ motivation for change. A discussion of the case and ethical aspects associated with MI in trauma-informed work is also provided. In addition, suggestions are made as to the potential MI holds for further use with traumatized clients.

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.

How Research Evidence is Defined, Acquired, and Shared Across Systems That Address Intimate Partner Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110259
Author(s):  
Taryn P. Lindhorst ◽  
Erin A. Casey ◽  
Claire Willey-Sthapit ◽  
Barbara Toews
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Research Evidence ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Research Information ◽  
Professional Networks ◽  
Victim Services ◽  
Academic Settings

This exploratory study examined the flow of research evidence through systems that address intimate partner violence (IPV), including victim services, law enforcement, and criminal justice organizations. Qualitative interviews with representatives of these disciplines assessed how respondents define, acquire, and share research evidence. Findings suggest that research evidence is defined more broadly in the field than in academic settings, and is accessed primarily from trusted intermediaries within professional networks. State IPV coalitions and victim service providers are key intermediaries across sectors. Findings suggest the need for more tangible supports to support sharing of research information within and across service sectors.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document