‘I think it just made everything very much more intense’: A qualitative secondary analysis exploring the role of friends and family providing support to survivors of domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, and associated social restrictions, have amplified women’s experiences of domestic abuse (DA). In usual times, female DA survivors reach out to those around them (friends, family members, neighbors, and colleagues) for support. Accessing of both professional and informal support by survivors has increased during the pandemic. Informal supporters are often deeply invested and immersed in situations of DA because of the closeness of relationships. The accounts of informal supporters are rarely sought, yet these are people who may have a considerable awareness of what is happening. The aim of this study was to explore how the pandemic had impacted people’s assessment of abusive situations and their ability to provide informal support. This paper reports a secondary analysis of qualitative data collected in 2020 in England. The data were gathered in 18 in-depth interviews with people who knew a female friend, relative, neighbor, or colleague who had experienced DA. The age range of participants was 25–69 years, three were men and fifteen were women. A reflexive thematic analysis was carried out. Findings indicated: (i) the pandemic had changed people’s ability to read situations and assess risk (ii) perpetrators were exploiting the pandemic to further abuse (iii) within the context of the pandemic there was additional challenge to offering support (iv) informal supporters found creative ways to remain in-touch and to continue offering support. Further research with informal supporters is needed to ascertain how best to support and equip people, without imposing an impossible burden

Living in Queensland: preparing for and communicating in disasters and emergencies

Abstract A series of severe weather events in Queensland during 2010 and 2011 and a greater interest in national security have catalogued a renewed government interest in ensuring that Australians understand the risks and take proactive measures to prepare for disasters. The Living in Queensland Survey uses an ‘all hazards approach’ to ascertain respondents’ attitudes towards disaster preparedness, perceptions of risk, and perceptions of community capacity. The findings highlight what Queenslanders are doing to prepare for natural and terrorist disasters and further illustrate how preparedness behaviour, perceptions of community, and confidence in government have changed since the floods and cyclones of 2011

The Impact on Informal Supporters of Domestic Violence Survivors:A Systematic Literature Review

Domestic violence (DV) is experienced by 1 in 4 women in the United Kingdom during their lifetime, and most survivors will seek informal support from the people around them, even if they choose not to access help from professionals. Support from these relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues can provide a buffer against effects on the survivor’s physical health, mental health, and quality of life, and has been shown to be protective against future abuse. There has been an absence of research studying members of survivors’ networks and, in particular, investigating how the impact of DV might diffuse to affect them. A systematic literature review of reported research (either in peer-reviewed journals or in gray literature) was undertaken to explore the impacts of DV on survivor networks. Of the articles found, 24 had data relating to the topic area, though no study addressed the question directly. Framework analysis and meta-ethnography generated the following themes: physical health impacts, negative impacts on psychological well-being, direct impacts from the perpetrator, and beneficial impacts on psychological well-being. The studies in this review indicated that informal supporters may be experiencing substantial impact, including vicarious trauma and the risk of physical harm. Currently, there is little support available which is directly aimed at informal supporters of DV survivors, thus these findings have practical and policy implications, in order to acknowledge and meet their needs. </jats:p

Emma Jo Williamson

Emma Jo Williamson’s first job after college was in social work before making a career change and teaching Home Economics at Plaquemine High School in Iberville Parish for thirteen years. She then decided to go into school food service. She began her new career as an Assistant Director of the parish for two years before assuming the position of Director. Emma Jo is finally retired after twenty-seven years of serving the children of Iberville Parish.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icn_ohistories/1021/thumbnail.jp

Domestic violence and abuse, coronavirus, and the media narrative

Following lockdowns in countries around the world, reports emerged of a ‘surge’ or ‘spikes’ in the number of domestic violence and abuse cases. It is critical to contextualise this: more men are not starting to be abusive or violent; rather, the patterns of abuse are becoming more frequent. Spiking and surging make us think in terms of more one-off incidents but it is more likely that the pattern of abuse that is already there is increasing in terms of frequency and type because both parties remain together at all times. Amid such a crisis, it is imperative that we continue to see the dynamics of domestic violence and abuse as both a pattern of abusive behaviours and a product of gendered social and cultural norms, rather than a reaction to a specific factor or event, such as COVID-19

Does professional language affect help seeking in young people?:A randomised study

This thesis comprises of a literature review, a research report and a critical appraisal. The overall focus is on factors that affect whether young people seek help for mental health problems. The systematic review assessed whether mental health literacy interventions delivered to children and young people in education settings improved knowledge, attitudes and help seeking. Seven studies reported significant improvements in knowledge, six reported significant improvements in attitudes and three reported significant improvements in help seeking. Appraisal of quality rated two of the nine studies as moderate and seven papers as weak. The quality and reporting standards limited the generalisability of the majority of the findings and it remains unclear whether mental health literacy interventions delivered in education settings to young people are effective. The research study used a cross sectional, online, experimental design and regression analyses to explore whether the language used by professionals to describe mental health problems affects young people’s help seeking intentions. Participants were randomly allocated to conditions and presented with a video clip vignette of either psychiatric language or lay language. The vignette conditions did not directly affect help seeking intentions. Past experience and perceived helpfulness of previous mental health care significantly predicted an increase in help seeking intentions. An interaction effect was also observed where psychiatric language predicted higher help seeking intentions in young people who had past experience of mental health care and lay language predicted higher help seeking intentions in young people who had not. This effect was at a borderline level of statistical significance. Implications for practice and research are discussed and future research to confirm or disprove this interaction is recommended. The critical appraisal extends the discussion from the research paper with a focus on research methodology, how research is presented and theoretical models