Evaluating the Nature and Prevalence of Economic Empowerment Services Provided to Intimate Partner Abuse Survivors.

Economic empowerment (EE) services promote survivors' economic stability and well-being. A target for intervention and prevention, then, is to offer more effective EE services. The study purpose was to develop a clearer picture of what EE services agencies offer, and how prepared staff are to provide these services.

Informal Help-Seeking in Moments of Acute Danger: Intimate Partner Violence Survivors' Emergency Outreach Efforts and the Forces That Shape Them.

Heightened attention to police brutality has created momentum for alternative, community-based responses to violence, including that inflicted by an intimate partner. But to build effective alternatives, we must know what survivors already do in moments of acute danger when they do not call the police. This study sought to explore these moments from an ecological perspective.

Coercive Control in the Courtroom: the Legal Abuse Scale (LAS).

Intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors seeking safety and justice for themselves and their children through family court and other legal systems may instead encounter their partners' misuse of court processes to further enact coercive control. To illuminate this harmful process, this study sought to create a measure of legal abuse. We developed a list of 27 potential items on the basis of consultation with 23 experts, qualitative interviews, and existing literature.

Risk Factors for Intimate Partner Violence in the Context of Disasters: A Systematic Review.

Women are at increased risk for experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) in the context of disasters. However, the factors that increase this risk are not well understood. The purpose of the current study was to systematically review the literature on IPV in the context of disasters.

"A Community of Survivors": A Grounded Theory of Organizational Support for Survivor-Advocates in Domestic Violence Agencies.

Half of today's domestic violence (DV) advocates are survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) or other forms of abuse. Yet, little is known about the experiences of those who are both survivors and advocates, especially regarding organizational relationships, policies, and culture, and how these factors shape well-being. This grounded theory study of 12 survivor-advocates identified three dimensions of organizational support that contribute survivor-advocates' well-being: acknowledging their trauma-related needs, fostering belonging, and honoring strengths.

Loneliness and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Intimate Partner Violence Survivors.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted the isolation of domestic violence survivors, triggering media coverage and innovative efforts to reach out to those who are trapped in their homes, facing greater danger from their partners than from the virus. But another harmful aspect of this difficult time has received far less attention: survivors' intensified . Although loneliness can be catalyzed by isolation, it is a distinct psychological phenomenon that is internal and subjective in nature.

From Isolation to Connection: The Practices and Promise of Open Domestic Violence Shelters.

Antidomestic violence advocates have begun to question two essential policies that have long defined domestic violence shelters-strict secrecy regarding shelter location and prohibitions on shelter access to all except staff and residents-both of which serve to increase survivors' social isolation and entail coercive rules that resonate painfully with broader oppressive dynamics. In response a growing number of communities have begun experimenting with open shelters, which break from tradition by making their locations public, and allowing visitors. Although this innovation is a sharp departure from tradition, virtually no research exists to explore its philosophical underpinnings, benefits, and challenges.

Survivor-Centered Practice and Survivor Empowerment: Evidence From A Research-Practitioner Partnership.

In the domestic violence field, a survivor-centered approach to services is a shared ideal, but there is little empirical work demonstrating its importance. This study filled that gap, focusing on a key outcome-safety-related empowerment. We gathered data from 177 intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors seeking community-based services, and after one session with an advocate, results revealed a significant change in two of three subscales of the Measure of Victim Empowerment Related to Safety (MOVERS) measure: Internal Tools and Expectations of Support.

Advocacy With Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: What It Is, What It Isn't, and Why It's Critically Important.

Survivors of intimate partner violence arrive at the doors of domestic violence (DV) programs with a wide variety of needs, including long-term safety and healing, housing, economic stability, health and well-being, and community connection. Although some DV programs offer holistic approaches to survivors, many focus the vast majority of their attention and resources on providing emotional support and safety planning rather than advocating with survivors for their access to needed resources and opportunities. Although services focused on emotional support and safety planning are important, they alone are not likely to result in the life changes that many survivors are seeking.

Exploring the Needs and Lived Experiences of Racial and Ethnic Minority Domestic Violence Survivors Through Community-Based Participatory Research: A Systematic Review.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is a methodological approach where community-academic teams build equitable relationships throughout the research process. In the domestic violence (DV) field, CBPR may be particularly important when conducting research with racial and ethnic minority DV survivors, as this group faces concurrent oppressions that inform their lived experiences. To our knowledge, no systematic review has synthesized articles using a CBPR approach to explore the needs and lived experiences of racial and ethnic minority DV survivors.

Psychometric validation of the identity abuse scale among LGBTQ individuals.

Identity abuse (IA) comprises a set of abuse tactics that exploit discriminatory systems including homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia (Tesch & Berkerian, 2015). This study examined the factorial validity of the IA Scale (Woulfe & Goodman, 2018) with a large independent sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals. Participants included 1,049 LGBTQ-identified participants (M  = 27.

Identity Abuse as a Tactic of Violence in LGBTQ Communities: Initial Validation of the Identity Abuse Measure.

Intimate partner violence (IPV; i.e., physical, sexual, or psychological abuse by a current or former partner) remains a public health concern with devastating personal and societal costs.

Injection Depth in Intradermal Therapy: Update and Correction of Published Data.

Background: This paper sought to compare calculated injection depth data with published report claims concerning intradermal therapy and skin rejuvenation of the face, hands, neck, and décolleté.

Objective: A mathematical formula was employed to assess the injection depth, and data from literature were retrieved and compared with the calculated figures to determine whether the claims about the injection depth proved correct.

Methods: Based on a study by Della Volpe et al.

Evaluation of the effects of receiving trauma-informed practices on domestic violence shelter residents.

Domestic violence is a potentially traumatizing experience that has devastating psychological and physical consequences. In response, domestic violence shelter programs have focused increasing attention on helping adult and child survivors understand and heal from this trauma. What have come to be called trauma-informed practices include (a) reflecting an understanding of trauma and its many effects on health and behavior, (b) addressing both physical and psychological safety concerns, (c) using a culturally informed strengths-based approach, (d) helping to illuminate the nature and effects of abuse on survivors' everyday experience; and (e) providing opportunities for clients to regain control over their lives.

Domestic violence survivors' empowerment and mental health: Exploring the role of the alliance with advocates.

Over the last 4 decades, domestic violence (DV) programs-both residential and nonresidential-have sprung up in communities across the country with the aim of helping survivors become safe. These programs place strong emphasis on the relationship between the advocate and survivor as critical to becoming safer and healing from the trauma of abuse. Yet little research has demonstrated the extent to which specific aspects of the advocate-survivor alliance are related to specific indicators of survivor well-being, nor shown what factors might mediate that relationship.

Bringing trauma-informed practice to domestic violence programs: A qualitative analysis of current approaches.

Three out of 10 women and 1 out of 10 men in the United States experience violence at the hands of an intimate partner-often with devastating costs. In response, hundreds of residential and community-based organizations have sprung up to support survivors. Over the last decade, many of these organizations have joined other human service systems in adopting trauma-informed care (TIC), an approach to working with survivors that responds directly to the effects of trauma.

Does Type of Child Risk Affect Whether Mothers Seek Assistance for Intimate Partner Violence From Civil or Criminal Court?

We examined whether risks to children of intimate partner violence survivors affected the type of legal assistance accessed. We hypothesized that the level and type of perceived child risk would be associated with whether women sought a protection order in civil court or filed charges against a current or former intimate partner in criminal court. Using data from a sample of predominantly African American women (N=293), we found that some forms of child risk were positively associated with seeking a civil order of protection but negatively associated with pressing criminal charges.

Bringing a Network-Oriented Approach to Domestic Violence Services: A Focus Group Exploration of Promising Practices.

Despite powerful evidence that informal social support contributes to survivors' safety and well-being, mainstream domestic violence (DV) programs have not developed comprehensive models for helping isolated survivors re-engage with these networks. Although many advocates use network-oriented strategies informally, they often do so without resources, funding, or training. This qualitative focus group study explored advocates' use and perceptions of network-oriented strategies.

Living With and Within the Rules of Domestic Violence Shelters: A Qualitative Exploration of Residents' Experiences.

As emergency domestic violence (DV) shelters have proliferated, there has been an increase in rules that shelter residents must follow. This qualitative descriptive study explores intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors' experiences living with DV shelter rules. Five thematic clusters emerged from interviews with 11 survivors: (1) shelter environment/staff approach, (2) making sense of the rules, (3) staff enforcement of the rules, (4) short-term impact of the rules, and (5) coping.

"I have lost everything": Trade-offs of seeking safety from intimate partner violence.

A primary aim of mainstream domestic violence (DV) programs is to help survivors and their children achieve safety from intimate partner violence. That goal, however, is neither simple nor straightforward. Instead, research demonstrates that the very actions survivors take to achieve safety may trigger a wide range of negative consequences.

Survivor-Defined Practice in Domestic Violence Work: Measure Development and Preliminary Evidence of Link to Empowerment.

Survivor-defined practice, characterized by an emphasis on client choice, partnership, and sensitivity to the unique needs, contexts, and coping strategies of individual survivors, is an aspirational goal of the domestic violence (DV) movement, assumed to be a key contributor to empowerment and other positive outcomes among survivors. Despite its central role in DV program philosophy, training, and practice, however, our ability to assess its presence and its presumed link to well-being has been hampered by the absence of a way to measure it from survivors' perspectives. As part of a larger university-community collaboration, this study had two aims: (a) to develop a measure of survivor-defined practice from the perspective of participants, and (b) to assess its relationship to safety-related empowerment after controlling for other contributors to survivor well-being (e.

Hetero-epitaxial approach by using labile coordination sites to prepare catenated metal-organic frameworks with high surface areas.

A solid-state approach that takes advantage of the ordered 3D arrangement of active secondary building units allows the preparation of new interlocked MOFs that grow hetero-epitaxially on the crystal faces of a precursor phase that acts as a "topological blueprint". The synthetic strategy is exemplified by using rigid acetylene-based ligands to produce highly augmented Cu(II) acetate-based MOFs.

Comparison of victims' reports and court records of intimate partner violence perpetrators' criminal case outcomes.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victims often report feeling confused and uninformed about court proceedings, including even about the final disposition of the case against their partner. This is problematic because victims' decisions in responding to subsequent abuse may be significantly influenced by their beliefs about the outcomes of prior court experiences. Also, researchers often rely on victim report of court case outcomes; discrepancies between women's reports and official records may account for some of the conflicting findings in the empirical literature.

Dimensions of functional social support and depressive symptoms: a longitudinal investigation of women seeking help for intimate partner violence.

Objective: We examined 4 separate dimensions of functional social support (tangible, appraisal, self-esteem, and belonging) as predictors of change in depression over 4.5 years in a sample of women reporting intimate partner violence.

Method: Participants were recruited as they sought help for violence perpetrated by a current or former male partner.

Poverty and mental health practice: within and beyond the 50-minute hour.

Despite the high and increasing prevalence of poverty in the United States, psychologists and allied professionals have done little to develop mental health interventions that are tailored to the specific sociocultural experiences of low-income families. In this article, we describe the sociocultural stressors that accompany the material deprivations of poverty, and the mental health difficulties to which they often give rise. Next, we outline the psychosocial and class-related issues surrounding low-income adults' access to and use of mental health services and suggest a conceptual framework to guide the modification of mental health practice to better accommodate poor peoples' complex needs.