Linguistic Support Services for Immigrant Domestic Violence Victims

Intimate partner violence is increasing among immigrant women in the U.S., but because of language barriers, abused immigrant women may be unable to access formal services. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of geographical location (urban/rural) and percentage of non-native English speakers on the availability of linguistic support services in one highly diverse state-Florida. Using a sample of 258 service providers for domestic violence victims, the results show significant differences between rural and urban providers’ perceptions of the need for linguistic support services in law enforcement, legal, and mental health needs. Urban service providers perceived a greater need for these services than rural service providers. The study found that a higher percentage of non-native English speakers predicted greater bilingual linguistic service availability. Lastly, the study found the more frequently providers perceived a victim’s basic needs to be met, the more likely that providers indicated linguistic support services were frequently met in their service area. Findings indicate that immigrants experiencing abuse who reside in rural areas might endure added difficulties in accessing assistance. While it may not be cost-efficient for rural service providers to hire translators or multilingual staff, such services may be cost-shared with other agencies.     

The Evolution of a Group for Young Children Who Have Witnessed Family Violence

Chldren who have witnessed their mothers being abused by fathers learn aggressive or passive methods of dealing with conflict that leave them at risk for responding with violence or being victimized in their adult relationships. Early intervention holds the promise of short-cutting this intergenerational transmission of violence through teaching alternative means of problem resolution. This paper describes the development of a group for young children, aged 5 to 7 years, that addresses the conflict resolution and safety skills that may be necessary when living in a home where violence has been a problem. Previous groups designed for older children were too didactic and conceptually-based for these younger children. The current group uses storybooks to introduce important issues and the children develop and act out stories related to the feelings and problems discussed.     

A Model for Group Work Practice with Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Victims of Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

The Orthodox Jewish community has only recently acknowledged that religious practice and commitment does not make one immune to suffering from domestic violence. Effective therapeutic techniques for working with battered Orthodox women have only recently begun to emerge.

This article focuses on the use of group work as an effective therapeutic modality for working with abused Orthodox Jewish women. This research highlights the insight, knowledge, and experience of practitioners who facilitate domestic violence groups, focusing on proficiencies and ethnic-sensitive practice strategies that are perceived to lead to successful outcomes.

The application of ethnic-sensitive strategies is discussed to illustrate viable therapeutic considerations for working with this population. Implications and issues for educators and practitioners will be addressed.     

Domestic Violence and Substance Use: Tackling Complexity

Domestic violence and substance use are issues which pervadesocial work practice, yet are often on the margins of the knowledgebase for practitioners and their managers. This article providesan overview of the literature on substance use and domesticviolence, highlighting the problems with the separation of bothpractice and policy in these areas. Research on substance useand the needs of women survivors of domestic violence are explored,alongside the more substantial literature on perpetrators ofdomestic violence and patterns of substance use. The problemsof a simplistic analysis which suggest that there is a causallink between substance use and domestic violence are highlighted.Using data from an on-going research project, the sources ofthe continuing and dysfunctional separation of work in theseareas are explored.     

Men's Domestic Violence Treatment Groups

A survey of all 13 men's domestic violence treatment groups in North Carolina found that such programs were similar in program philosophy and goals but highly divergent in group struc- ture. All programs utilized a feminist orientation which viewed domestic violence as resulting from socio-cultural and social learn- ing factors. Groups generally focused on the development of anger control, problem solving, and communication skills. Groups dif- fered widely in their agency affiliation, relationship with the court as referral source, degree of structure, leadership patterns, number of members, number of sessions, degree of co-ordination between men's and women's programs; follow-up procedures; and sophisti- cation of program evaluation. The diversity of men's domestic violence group treatment models is a result of grassroots laissez faire program development. This diversity offers opportunities to test the effectiveness of various group approaches. Considerations for men's domestic violence treatment programs are outlined. In addition, the need for systematic program evaluation and a statewide co-ordinating mechanism is dis- cussed.     

日本对家庭暴力受害妇女的保护及启示

2001年4月,日本制定《防止来自配偶的暴力及保护被害者的法律》(简称《家暴防止法》),这是日本为解决家庭暴力问题而制定的专门法律,并于当年10月开始正式实施。为防止配偶的暴力以及保护受害者,《家暴防止法》创设保护命令制度并设置配偶暴力咨询援助中心。在这部法律的相关规定中,通过建立妇女保护设施、创办妇女咨询所和配备妇女咨询员,保护受害妇女,力争使受害妇女过上正常人的生活。日本通过立法、官方和民间机构合作形式解决家庭暴力受害妇女的做法,对我国解决家庭暴力受害妇女问题可以提供一些有益的启示。     

Welfare Workers' Cultural Models of Domestic Violence

ABSTRACT

Despite progress in policies and services for domestic violence, service use remains lower than the need suggests. This study, an analysis from a larger project on social service providers, examines welfare workers' shared beliefs about domestic violence. Using a mixed method design utilizing pile sorts (n = 38; 11 child welfare and 29 financial assistance), a survey (n = 57; 24 child welfare and 33 financial assistance), and in-depth interviews (n = 3; two child welfare and one financial assistance)—workers organized their ideas about factors that contribute to domestic violence, rated the factors along key dimensions of meaning (importance, controllability, characteristics of victims or perpetrators, and cause or effect), and shared experiences of their work with domestic violence cases. Financial assistance and child welfare workers organized their beliefs similarly demonstrating consensus on the importance of the factors, and shared beliefs about the factors that were causes and effects of domestic violence. In interviews, child welfare workers emphasized their focus on systems and collaboration. Despite areas of agreement, child welfare and financial assistance workers did not demonstrate consensus on ideas about domestic violence overall. The findings have implications for practice, specifically for improving responses to domestic violence and increasing the use of domestic violence services.     

Young Men as Victims and Perpetrators of Violence in Northern Ireland: A Qualitative Analysis

This article explores issues of masculinity and violence in the lives of young men in disadvantaged areas in Northern Ireland. Qualitative data were collected in four focus groups, one group of young men from the Catholic community, one group of young men from the Protestant community, one group of community representatives, and one group of Young Offenders ( N = 28). Themes were extracted from the data using a grounded approach. Results indicate that social disadvantage is fundamental to experiences of violence and that young men understand the costs and benefits of a masculine identity that incorporates a capacity for violence. Discussion suggests that initiatives to reduce violent behavior should be compatible with socially and culturally acceptable constructions of masculinity.     

Children of the Troubles: The Impact of Political Violence in Northern Ireland

This article explores the effects of political violence on children and young people in Northern Ireland. The article begins with a brief historical account of the Northern Irish conflict and the recently negotiated Belfast Good Friday Agreement of 1998. This account illustrates, as is the case with many conflicts, its basis is religious, national, economic, and political, despite its frequent construction as a battle between Protestant and Roman Catholic. The article goes on to review young peoples' experience of conflict in Northern Ireland and the impact of conflict experiences on three related areas of young people's lives. These include the effects of the conflict on everyday aspects of life, social identity, and mental health .     

亲密关系暴力:男性与女性谁更具攻击性

亲密关系暴力是指现在或曾经处于亲密关系下(如婚姻关系、约会关系、同居关系等)的异性伴侣之间各种形式的身体、心理、性方面的暴力伤害行为。关于亲密关系暴力问题的社会学研究,是对以往的婚姻暴力、约会暴力研究领域的整合与拓展。尽管有的研究者认为应该把同性伴侣暴力也包括进去,但一般情况下亲密关系暴力主要是指异性伴侣攻击。在亲密关系暴力中,究竟是男性更具攻击性,还是女性与男性一样具有攻击性,抑或是女性比男性的攻击性更强?自20世纪70年代后期国外学界开始对婚姻暴力问题展开系统的研究至今,     

谁来照看孩子--从"托教"中探析流动人口子女家庭教育的困惑和需求

研究缘起及方法近年来,农村流动人口子女教育问题已经引起了政府部门、大众媒体和各种研究机构的广泛关注。在社会科学领域,社会学、人口学、教育学等学科从不同角度对这一问题展开分析。相关研究基本集中于对流动人口适龄子女义务教育的观察和思考,其中主要体现在以下几个视点:1、以某一局部地区为基点,通过对这一地区的流动人口子女就学总体状况的调查,发现问题并提出相应的对策和措施(韩嘉玲,2000;赵晔琴,2002);2、抓住流动人口子女的某一种     

Mental Health and Domestic Violence: 'I Call it Symptoms of Abuse'

Correspondence to Dr Cathy Humphreys, School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick CV4 7AL, UK. E-mail: c.f.Humphreys{at}warwick.ac.uk Summary Research evidence now clearly shows a direct link between women'sexperiences of domestic violence and heightened rates of depression,trauma symptoms, and selfharm. A research project based in Women'sAid outreach services provides further evidence of women's experiencesof severe emotional distress. However, their experiences ofmental health services were often found to be negative. A numberof practices within the medical model of mental health wereunhelpful including: the lack of recognition of trauma or provisionof trauma services; making the abuser invisible through focusingon the woman's mental health reified from her experiences ofabuse; blaming the victim; offering medication rather than counsellingsupport; the negative, consequent effects on child contact andchild protection proceedings if the woman is labelled with mentalhealth problems. Alternatively, women found services, oftenin the voluntary sector, helpful when they provided the followinginterventions: helping women name domestic violence; activelyasking about the abuse; attending to safety planning; respondingto women's specialist needs; and actively working with womento recover from abuse experiences. Support for her childrenwas also seen as very helpful. Implications for practice includethe commissioning of further services in the voluntary sector,addressing the inadequate response within the medical model,and increasing the sensitivity of responses to women's emotionaldistress across all sectors.     

Consequences of Domestic Violence against Women: Some Reflections from Rural Bangladesh

The aim of this study was to explore the consequences of domestic violence against rural Bangladeshi women. Drawing on in‐depth qualitative phenomenological interviews with 39 female victims of domestic violence from 8 rural settings of the Netrokona and Mymensingh districts, it was found that domestic violence not only causes serious consequences to the overall health and wellbeing of victims, it also causes negative impacts to their children and family members. For victims, consequences were physical, sexual, reproductive, psychological, and economic. For the children of the victims, consequences were mostly behavioral and psychological, while for family members of the victims, consequences were mainly economic and psychological. This study has significant academic implications because it could trace the consequences of domestic violence in a three dimensional manner. Based on empirical findings, this study proposes policy recommendations, such as campaigning against domestic violence and the proper implementation of laws related to domestic violence.