In the Face of Violence: Rape Crisis Workers Talk About Their Lives

Rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence as social problems have been studied extensively in the literature. However, the experiences of workers who counsel these clients have been given little written attention. The purpose of this study was to explore—in depth—how a group of 21 women rape crisis center workers experienced their jobs. What areas presented challenges and which offered particular satisfaction? Open-ended qualitative interviews were used to generate data on this phenomenon of rape crisis center employment. Findings suggest that, although social work with clients affected by rape, incest, and domestic violence presented workers with a host of challenges, such as increased feelings of vulnerability, difficulty trusting men, and a questioning the overall goodness of society, there were numerous positive effects as well. Workers reported being able to weed abusive people out of their lives and to sharpen their advocacy and sexual assault prevention skills. In an effort to get at the root of the problems affecting their clients, they learned to reach beyond individual interventions and to apply strategies for social change, such as teaching and advocacy. These positive and negative effects of the work influenced the workers, both personally and professionally. They learned new things about themselves and, in turn, contributed to changing the lives of clients and society as a whole. Not only were the 21 workers themselves changed as a result of their work, but their relationship with others, specifically their children and male partners, were also changed. As parents, they were somewhat more cautious and protective; in relationships with men, they were more defensive and skeptical. For many of the workers, rape crisis center employment fostered in them a new or altered feminist ideology. Feminism was found to inform their decisions to join rape crisis centers. This philosophy offered workers a context for understanding the causes of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. Feminism helped frame their experiences of being women in the world, with the realities of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence ever present

Participatory Research for Rape Survivor Groups A Model for Practice

This article proposes a model for rape survivor groups that encompasses the participatory research model in the context of feminist ideology and strategies. The use of a participatory research model for rape survivor groups can be expected both to heal and to produce evidence of the recovery process. In this model, groups design a protocol for writing and disseminating their personal stories of overcoming the trauma of rape. The conceptualization is illustrated by excerpts of experience-based, aggregated group processes that provide guidance for conducting participatory research for rape survivors. Keywords: feminism; participatory research; rape survivors; stories T his article presents a theoretical approach to using the participatory research model with groups of rape survivors. The approach is based on our experiences working with rape survivors and participatory research in separate projects. In this article, we conceptualize and outline how participatory research can both heal and produce data on the rape survival experience. We propose that when rape survivor groups agree to tell and write their experiencedbased stories about how they have survived their trauma, active healing takes place. The stories form a living document of the events and feelings of the current group, which may be expanded on by future groups. The overall model for this project is participatory research in that the stories are considered qualitative data and the project would largely be led by group members. Participatory research, with its emphasis on consciousness-raising, equality in the balance of power between the researcher and participants, and the support of social justice, serves as an excellent medium for empowering and hastening the healing process. It has been identified as an excellent format for feminist research when the focus is on women's experiences and the goals are ending sexism and violence against wome

On Love and Learning: Reflections of a white professor "teaching" black adult students

Most broadly, this essay is my mission, as a white teacher, to examine my teaching process as a way to understand and improve my work with students, particularly black adult students.  Throughout these pages, I show examples of my teaching journal as well as examples of student reading reflections during a semester of teaching Cultural Competency in Human Services to a class of mostly black, African American and Caribbean American adult students, pursuing undergraduate degrees in Human Services.  These excerpts combined with my thinking, questioning, and wondering in response to these examples, I begin a conversation about race, racism, power and privilege, identity and history, topics that are often unspoken or invisible for faculty specifically, but not exclusively, white faculty. Social justice is an ongoing process for both educators and students. Nelson and Witte write that, “critical reflection must be part of any social justice action†(2017, 16).  In this example, I show that and critical reflection is an essential first step for  social justice to begin in a class of adult learners.  In this essay, I take a close look at my assumptions, ideas, feelings and questions specific to the themes of the course.  We learn about each other through conversations about everyday, ordinary topics: holidays, family, loves, favorite foods, politics, sports, poetry.  Small, intimate conversations beginning with openness and wonder spark learning about another person and lay the groundwork for a social justice process. Learning about myself allowed me to be open and curious to learn about my students. This openness paved the way for a relationship based on compassion, interest and care.  Finally, my intention to is to share this teaching example in order to create a model of sorts that can be replicated or adapted by other teachers working with similar groups of adult learners