A Qualitative Analysis of College Women's Leaving Processes in Abusive Relationships

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the process of leaving an abusive dating relationship utilizing a qualitative design. Methods: Participants included 123 college women in abusive dating relationships who participated at the beginning and end of a 10-week academic quarter. Results: Qualitative content analyses were used to analyze the transcribed responses to an open-ended question about women's leaving processes over the interim period. A variety of categories and themes emerged for women in different stages of the leaving process, consistent with the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Investment Model. Data also underscored women's lack of acknowledgment, minimization, and normalization of abuse. Conclusions: These data demonstrate the importance of dating violence intervention and prevention programming on college campuses and offer information that may be useful to college health providers who assist women in abusive dating relationships.     

The role of interagency collaboration in facilitating receipt of behavioral health services for youth involved with child welfare and juvenile justice

Unmet need for behavioral health care is a serious problem for crossover youth, or those simultaneously involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Although a large percentage of crossover youth are serious emotionally disturbed, relatively few receive necessary behavioral health services. Few studies have examined the role of interagency collaboration in facilitating behavioral health service access for crossover youth. This study examined associations for three dimensions of collaboration between local child welfare and juvenile justice agencies - jurisdiction, shared information systems, and overall connectivity - and youths' odds of receiving behavioral health services. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a national survey of families engaged with the child welfare system. Having a single agency accountable for youth care increased youth odds of receiving outpatient and inpatient behavioral health services. Inter-agency sharing of administrative data increased youth odds of inpatient behavioral health service receipt. Clarifying agency accountability and linking databases across sectors may improve service access for youth involved with both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.     

Rural Perspectives on Same-Sex Marriage

This study explored rural perspectives on same-sex marriage with a nonprobability sample (N = 156) of adult respondents recruited in a largely rural state in the upper Midwest. A new 6-item instrument with strong internal consistency (α =.943) found that support for same-sex marriage was widespread without significant differences based on relationship status, education level, rural residence, or biological sex. Sexual orientation predicted support for traditional family values and same-sex marriage which were inversely associated. Findings suggest that the presumption of rural bias and hostility toward alternative sexualities has mitigated in the upper Midwest. Social work practitioners should infer from this study that there is more to rural culture than remoteness, isolation, poverty, stigma, and conservative religious values. The malleability of rural culture may be an unrecognized strength that may provide encouragement to rural social workers advocating for and serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.     

Implemented as intended? Recording family worker activities in a Families First program

In evaluating family preservation services, it is important not only to study the service outcomes and the family characteristics, but also what actually happens during the treatment. This requires a program model. This article describes how a program model works, prescribes how workers should carry it out, and describes how researchers should measure the program's characteristics. The authors use data from Families First in The Netherlands to test the model. Results show that the method of the program meets the specified characteristics. The results are important for treatment, policy, education, and evaluation research.     

Substance use and vulnerability to sexual and physical aggression: a longitudinal study of young adults

Using data from 2,170 individuals who participated in Waves 8 (age 23) and 9 (age 29) of a multiyear panel study, this study examined whether alcohol and marijuana use in young adulthood increase one's risk for experiencing subsequent sexual or physical assault victimization, whether victims' own violent behavior or involvement in the sale of drugs explain any effects of substance use on victimization, and whether these associations differ by gender. Controlling for prior victimization, we found that marijuana use, but not alcohol use, predicted women's and men's subsequent sexual victimization and men's subsequent physical assault victimization, and that heavy alcohol use, but not marijuana use, predicted women's subsequent physical assault victimization. Whereas the links from marijuana use to victimization were explained by users' own violent behavior, the link from alcohol use to women's physical assault victimization was not.     

Demographic and situational factors affecting injury, resistance, completion, and charges brought in sexual assault cases: what is best for arrest?

This study examines demographic and situational factors in an effort to predict whether or not a complainant was injured, used resistance, experienced a completed assault, and whether charges were brought against the offender. If the accused had consumed alcohol or drugs, he was almost seven times more likely to be arrested. The complainant was six times more likely to report rape completion if she had consumed alcohol or drugs and if the complainant fell unconscious at any time during the attack she was significantly less likely to use a resistance strategy. The complainant's use of a compliance strategy at any time during the assault positively predicted not using a physical resistance strategy and sexual assault completion. The reporting of injury positively predicted use a physical resistance strategy and sexual assault completion. If the assault was completed, it was less likely that charges were pressed. Implications of these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are offered.