Beaten into Submissiveness? An Investigation into the Protective Strategies used by Survivors of Domestic Abuse

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced pdf of an article accepted for publication in Journal of Interpersonal Violence following peer review. Laura Irving & Ben Chi-pun Liu, 'Beaten into Submissiveness? An investigation Into the Protective Strategies Used by Survivors of Domestic Abuse', Journal of Interpersonal Violence, first published online 14 December 2016, available online at doi: 10.1177/0886260516682520 © The Author(s) 2016 Published by SAGEThe aim of the study was to identify the prevalence and perceived helpfulness of a variety of protective strategies that were used by female survivors of domestic abuse and to explore factors that may have influenced strategy usage. Forty participants were recruited from a voluntary sector domestic abuse service, commissioned by an outer London local authority in the UK. The measurement tools used were the Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index and the CAADA Domestic Abuse, Stalking and ‘Honour’-Based Violence (DASH) Risk Assessment Checklist. The average age was 33 (SD=7.9, range: 20-57), half reported to be of Asian ethnicity, 37.5% White and 12.5% Black or Mixed ethnicity. The average DASH score was 9.8 (SD=13.2, range: 0-18) and an average of 18 (SD=6.7, range: 1-29) protective strategies were utilised by each participant. All of the most commonly used strategies were from the Placating category. Though Safety Planning strategies were rated as the most helpful by all participants, Placating strategies were also rated as helpful by two-thirds of participants. Stepwise multiple regression showed that Placating was the only significant predictor of DASH score (β=0.375, p<0.05) and accounted for 14% of the variance of DASH score. Findings showed that women utilized a diverse range of protective strategies with placating strategies being most intensely used and rated as helpful. However, placating strategy usage could be a risk factor as opposed to a protective factor. This study has also demonstrated that greater placating strategies were used by White than South Asian women, and women who were employed used more formal strategies. This research has extended the knowledge base of protective strategies that professionals can draw from to underpin decisions and interventions when working with domestic abuse survivors.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Drawing the Line: How African, Caribbean and White British Women Live Out Psychologically Abusive Experiences

The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Violence Against Women, 19 (9):1104-32, Sept 2013 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2013. The online version of this article can be found at: http://vaw.sagepub.com/content/19/9/110

Substance abuse and intimate partner violence: treatment considerations

Given the increased use of marital- and family-based treatments as part of treatment for alcoholism and other drug disorders, providers are increasingly faced with the challenge of addressing intimate partner violence among their patients and their intimate partners. Yet, effective options for clinicians who confront this issue are extremely limited. While the typical response of providers is to refer these cases to some form of batterers' treatment, three fundamental concerns make this strategy problematic: (1) most of the agencies that provide batterers' treatment only accept individuals who are legally mandated to complete their programs; (2) among programs that do accept nonmandated patients, most substance-abusing patients do not accept such referrals or drop out early in the treatment process; and (3) available evidence suggests these programs may not be effective in reducing intimate partner violence. Given these very significant concerns with the current referral approach, coupled with the high incidence of IPV among individuals entering substance abuse treatment, providers need to develop strategies for addressing IPV that can be incorporated and integrated into their base intervention packages

Using Theory to Understand the Barriers to Engagement in Group Offending Behavior Programs

Noncompletion of group offending behavior programs is a common problem, indicating barriers to engagement. While existing theoretical models have accounted for determinants of motivation, little focus has been directed towards barriers to engagement. The authors developed the program engagement theory (PET) which not only accounts for the determinants of engagement and the engagement process, it also considers the barriers to engagement. Interviews and session observations were used to collect data from 23 program facilitators and 28 offenders, which were analyzed using grounded theory. The barriers to engagement were classified as program and referral factors (uninformative referrals, offense-focused programs, rigid and abstract content, didactic delivery, and homework), facilitator characteristics (lack of control: contentious and nonassertive), and group member characteristics (unmotivated, pre-contemplative, and blaming others and young, chaotic, and disruptive). Suggestions as to the design and facilitation of group offending behavior programs, and facilitator training and supervision to overcome barriers to engagement are proposed