scholarly journals Empowering Through Psychodrama: A Qualitative Study at Domestic Violence Shelters

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiftach Ron ◽  
Liat Yanai

Psychodrama is a therapeutic method in which the stage is used to enact and reenact life events with the aim of instilling, among other positive changes, hope and empowerment in a wide range of populations suffering from psychological duress. The therapeutic process in psychodrama moves away from the classic treatment of the individual in isolation to treatment of the individual in the context of a group. In domestic violence situations, in which abusive men seek to socially isolate their victims from family and friends, the social support that psychodrama provides can positively influence the psychological health and well-being of the participants. This qualitative study examines the manner in which psychodramatic treatment can empower abused women residing in domestic violence shelters and help them regain control of their lives. An action research study of domestic violence survivors living in a women's shelter in Israel, over a 12-month period, demonstrates the role of psychodrama therapy in promoting the reduction of anxiety, stress, guilt, and self-blame, while reinforcing perceptions of self-worth and confidence. These findings contribute to our understanding of the potential of psychodrama in helping reshape life roles and reframe experiences within a creative process, with the aim of facilitating a transition from powerlessness to powerfulness among vulnerable populations.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Meyer ◽  
Eva Cignacco ◽  
Settimio Monteverde ◽  
Manuel Trachsel ◽  
Luigi Raio ◽  
...  

Introduction Mistreatment during childbirth is an issue of global magnitude that not only violates fundamental human rights but also seriously impacts women's well-being. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon by exploring the individual experiences of women who reported mistreatment during childbirth in Switzerland. Materials and Methods This project used a mixed methods approach to investigate women's experiences of mistreatment during childbirth in general and informal coercion specifically: the present qualitative study expands on the findings from a nationwide online survey on childbirth experience. It combines inductive with theory-guided thematic analysis to study the 7753 comments women wrote in the survey and the subsequent interviews with 11 women who reported being mistreated during childbirth. Results The women described a wide range of experiences of mistreatment during childbirth in both the survey comments and the interviews. Out of all survey participants who wrote at least one comment (n = 3547), 28% described one or more experiences of mistreatment. Six of the seven types of mistreatment listed in Bohren and colleagues' typology of mistreatment during childbirth were found, the most frequent of which were ineffective communication and lack of informed consent. Five further themes were identified in the interviews: informal coercion, risk factors for mistreatment, consequences of mistreatment, examples of good care, and what's needed to improve maternity care. Conclusion The findings from this study show that experiences of mistreatment are a reality in Swiss maternity care and give insight into women's individual experiences as well as how these affect them during and after childbirth. This study emphasises the need to respect women's autonomy in order to prevent mistreatment and empower women to actively participate in decisions. Both individual and systemic efforts are required to prevent mistreatment and guarantee respectful, dignified, and high-quality maternity care for all.


Author(s):  
Svitlana Kalishchuk

The paper raises the issue of exacerbation of psychological problems caused by the political and economic environment, which creates a general social tension and becomes a background that exacerbates the existential problems of the individual. That's why author emphasizes on a particular need for the development of therapeutic direction and a detailed and well-grounded development of therapeutic concepts. It creates ways of an effective solve of current problems of psychological health and well-being of the person. The article explained the conceptual provisions of the establishment, operation and therapeutic work with the symptom. The main characteristics, structure and overall symptom phenomenological expanse from the standpoint of the existential approach of the theory of system solutions and system modeling. Psychological functions of a symptom are considered. Issues of operationalization of a symptom and definition of conceptual provisions of its formation are solved . Basic rules of interpretation of a symptom and interpretation of the concept are described in terms of several approaches. The conceptual provisions of symptom formation that allow to include it in psycho-corrective methods are considered in detail. The methods of the existential-systemic technological approach for providing psychological assistance to the client are analyzed and empirically tested, providing dynamic changes in the content of the "picture of the world" of clients in the cognitive and ontological plans. According to the empirical study, psychosomatic, emotional and behavioral symptoms were presented. It has been shown that symptoms with different specificities have unchanging constituents and functions. It also has been shown that applying an existential approach helps the symptomatic client to produce a new, better reality that will take into account the actual needs and aspirations of the subject. Thus, the main task, which is directed and work with the symptom – is the person's approach to himself/herself, greater sensitivity to his own real existential aspirations.


Author(s):  
Oleg Panchenko

The transition to an informational lifestyle significantly increases the creative potential of society as a whole, and the individual in particular. Along with this, there is a significant increase of the load on the human’s mind under conditions of increasing flows of information and its turbulence. The information environment essentially becomes the main source of information for a person, has a direct impact on his mental activity, on the formation of his social behavior. A person is forced to live in this environment, to perceive its realities adequately, to adapt to information threats from this environment. The awareness of these threats has led to careful attention to information security. A child, being a specific member of a society, nevertheless acts as a full-fledged participant in information relations, and must be in such a state of protection, in which there is no risk associated with information causing harm to his health, physical, mental, spiritual and moral development.A child in his development, processing information, actively assimilates social experience, as well as a system of social connections and relationships, and subsequently reproduces all this in his life. In the course of this process, he acquires the qualities, values, beliefs and forms of behavior that he needs for normal life.Ensuring the information security of a child implies protection because of the destabilizing effect of information on health and mental, spiritual and moral development; creation of conditions for the information environment for positive socialization and individualization of the personality, optimal social, personal, cognitive and physical development, preservation of somatic, mental and psychological health and well-being, the formation of a positive worldview. The latter is possible when determining the main directions of state policy in the interests of children and the key mechanisms for its implementation, based on the generally recognized principles and norms of the international law.


Obiter ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moffat Maitele Ndou

The preamble of the Domestic Violence Act (116 of 1998) (DVA) recognises that domestic violence is a serious social evil and that there are high incidences of domestic violence in South Africa. The preamble further recognises that:a) victims of domestic violence are among the most vulnerable members of society;b) domestic violence takes many forms and may be committed in a wide range of domestic relationships; andc) the remedies previously available to victims of domestic violence have proved to be ineffective.The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) provides various rights that are also applicable to victims of domestic violence. The Constitution guarantees the right to dignity and to freedom and security of the person (see ss 10 and 12 of the Constitution respectively). Domestic violence against any person is a violation of these rights. The DVA further recognises that South Africa has international commitments to end violence against women and children in terms of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A right not to be subjected to domestic violence may not be specifically mentioned in international human rights law instruments, but freedom from all kinds of violence and the right to equality and human dignity is generally emphasised.The purpose of the DVA is to provide a legal remedy in the form of an interdict that prohibits a person from violating the rights of the complainant. In order to give effect to this purpose, section 7(1) of the DVA provides that the court may grant a protection order to protect the rights of the complainant. Section 7(2) of the DVA further grants the court the power to impose any additional conditions that it deems reasonably necessary to protect and provide for the safety, health or well-being of the complainant.In KS v AM (2018 (1) SACR 240 (GJ)), the court found that section 7(2) of the DVA empowered the court to order the seizure of the respondent’s digital equipment to remove any photograph, video, audio and/or records relating to the complainant. This case note examines the decision in KS v AM (supra) and determines whether the decision is justifiable in law. The definition of domestic violence is discussed first and thereafter the remedies available in terms of the DVA are examined. A discussion of the judgment in KS v AM (supra) follows.


According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in the two decades preceding 2014 two member countries, Italy and Spain, experienced productivity decline, while just four member countries, Korea, Ireland, Finland, and the United States, managed to achieve rates of productivity growth in excess of one percent per annum. Rates of productivity growth slowed following the global financial crisis in nearly all member countries. These diverse national productivity performances are aggregates of the productivity performances of individual producers, which are influenced by organizational factors such as the quality of management practices and the adoption of new technologies, and also by institutional features such as the stringency of product and labor market and environmental regulations. At the level of the individual producer, productivity has an important impact on financial performance and survival, while at the aggregate level, productivity is a critical determinant of national well-being. The essays collected in the Handbook provide significant contributions to our understanding of the causes and consequences of productivity growth. Part I contains the editors’ introduction. The chapters in Part II address a variety of measurement issues, from both analytical and practical perspectives. The chapters in Part III address a wide range of productivity issues at the level of the individual producer or industry. The chapters in Part IV address a range of aggregate productivity issues, both domestic and international.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Baker ◽  
Vivien Cooper ◽  
Winnie Tsang ◽  
Isabelle Garnett ◽  
Noelle Blackman

Purpose There is an established literature supporting the idea that families who have children and adults who have a learning disability and/or autism have a greater vulnerability to mental health problems or poor psychological health. There are shortcomings in this literature in that there is a little consideration of the impact the families interaction with services has on their well-being. It is argued that complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), with its focus on prolonged chronic exposure to trauma experiences and the recognition that this can occur in adulthood, may well be an appropriate framework to enable a better understanding of the experiences of families. Design/methodology/approach A total of 214 family members completed a co-produced online survey in relation to potential traumatic events, impacts and support. Findings The experiences of family carers of children and adults with a learning disability and/or who are autistic would appear to be multi-layered and complex, with many experiencing a wide range of traumatic events with the associated emotional and personal sequela. The reported responses are consistent with CPTSD with 10% of having received a diagnosis of PTSD. Their experience was that the system failed not only to provide support but also created additional trauma. Practical implications A trauma-informed approach needs to be adopted by agencies and professionals that serve families to ensure they understand their potential contribution to the trauma families experience. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that has attempted to examine the experience of families using the framework of CPTSD.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Ruqia Safdar Bajwa ◽  
Hamida Bibi

Psychological health directly affects life satisfaction especially to those women who face social and family pressure about their infertility. A wide range of research studies comparing fertile and infertile women documented that there is negative impact of infertility on subjective well-being and global life satisfaction (Abbey et al., 1991, 1992; Callan, 1987; Callan& Hennessey, 1988). The present study was aimed to investigate the impact of psychological health on life satisfaction among fertile and infertile females. Through the convenience sampling technique, a sample of 310 (N=310) fertile and infertile women was selected whose age ranged between 25 to 50 years. Demographic variables included age, employment status, level of education, duration of marital life, type of marriage and family system for both fertile and infertile females. To be included in sample, Women must have been diagnosed with infertility (primary or secondary), they must not have adopted any child, and marriage duration must be at least 2 years and must not have past history of psychiatric illness. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used for current psychological health and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was used to measure life satisfaction. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics, Regression analysis, ANOVA and t-test were used to analyze the data. Results have shown that psychological health has impact on life satisfaction in both fertile and infertile groups of women. Furthermore, results show that level of life satisfaction and psychological health is more prevalent in educated and employed women as compared to uneducated and unemployed women. To conclude, this study will be helpful in resolving psychological problems of the infertile females. Education can increase awareness about infertility and infertile females can meet the challenges of the society and can stand with better health and emotions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Iryna Shtykh ◽  

In the process of professional training of future psychologists, the ability to recognize the mental norm and deviations from it to identify resources to maintain a healthy part of the psyche during counseling, correctional or psychotherapeutic work with the client is important. Professional competencies in pathopsychology involve the formation of the concept of norm and pathology in the worldview of future psychologists, because in any activity of a psychologist the forefront is the qualification of the studied psychological phenomenon as normal or pathological. Purpose. The purpose of this article is a theoretical overview of scientific approaches to understanding the concept of the norm in clinical psychology and its field as pathopsychology, to emphasize the relevance of the concept of the psychological norm in students majoring in Psychology during their training Methods. Theoretical research is carried out using methods of historical analysis, comparison, systematization, and interpretation of facts. Originality. Closely related to the concept of the mental norm is the concept of mental and psychological health. The fundamental difference between the terms "mental health" and "psychological health" is that the former characterizes individual mental processes and mechanisms, and the latter - refers to the individual as a whole, is closely related to the manifestations of the human spirit. In the scientific sense, norm and pathology are two extreme points and there is no clear boundary between them, and it is difficult to differentiate them. The continuum between the two extreme points is filled by the so-called boundary conditions. Within the level approach, there are three levels of human existence: somatic, psychological, and level of moral self-awareness. The "ideal norm" can be considered human well-being at all three levels of its existence Conclusion . Theoretical review of the issue, the problem of mental norms has been and remains controversial not only for pathopsychology, but also for related fields, including medicine. The mental norm is a multidimensional and multilevel formation. There are several approaches in the interpretation of this concept: adaptive, statistical, pathopsychological, phenomenological, from the standpoint of the norm - norm, the norm as an ideal, and many others, but there is no exact, generally accepted, indisputable definition, despite many studies. We can see the prospect of further research in the direction of analysis of modern world social and philosophical trends in understanding the norm, pathology, disease and psychological health of the individual and their introduction into the educational process of training future psychologists.


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