Hebrew University of Jerusalem

9 January 2012

PRESENTERS:

Dr. René Drumm,

Southern Adventist University, School of Social Work

Dr. Marciana Popescu

Fordham University, Graduate School of Social Service

Laurie Cooper,

Southern Adventist University, School of Social Work

Sylvia Mayer Southern Adventist University School of Nursing Tricia Foster Southern Adventist University School of Social Work Marge Seifert Southern Adventist University Resource Librarian

Quantitative Study Background

Qualitative Methodology • Purposive sampling techniques

Brochure

Known domestic violence advocates

Pastors

• 30 in-depth interviews

4

Qualitative Analysis

Grounded theory

Constant comparative method

5

1. What types of survival strategies, coping mechanisms, resilience resources, and elements of personal strength did women use as they lived with and eventually left their abusive relationships?

2. What specific experiences raised participants' awareness on sources of personal strength and resiliency?

3. How can these findings inform social work practice with women in abusive partnerships?

FAITH/SPIRITUALITY

SURVIVAL THRIVING/

HEALING

COPING DISCOVERY

Self-guided Coping

Social Support

Professional Resources

Coping

Understanding Self

Understanding Abuse

Helping Others

Discoveries

SURVIVAL THRIVING/HEALING

FAITH

Self-guided

Coping

Social Support

Professional

Resources

Coping

Mechanisms

• Exercise/working out

• Hobbies (e.g.,

sewing, cooking)

• Employment

• Reading (esp. Bible,

religious books)

• Journaling

I loved to cook, you

know, these other

things I kept busy with

and stayed out of

David’s way. (Janet)

To be honest, the way I

coped was that I had a

little book called God’s

Promises, and I would

read it over and over and

over again to the point

that the pages started to

disintegrate. (Dora)

Self-guided

Coping

Social Support

Professional

Resources

Surviving:

Coping

Mechanisms

• Family

• Friends

My dad believed in me

even if nobody else did. He

thought I was a good person.

I am so thankful for that

because there are a lot of

women who haven’t had that.

And I think that more than

anything else has gotten me

through because I know there

are a few good men out there.

(Abby)

I remember praying

in the night, “Please

God, find someone to

love me.” And I think

that’s what God did,

He gave me good

girlfriends all along

the road, that kept

me from total

abandonment.

(Alma)

Self-guided

Coping

Social Support

Professional

Resources

Coping

Mechanisms

• Mental Health

Resources

• Support Groups

I got out the phone book and I started looking for somebody that I could go talk to. I made a few calls and I picked this lady psychologist. And it was one of the very best things I have ever done for myself. I was telling her my feelings about what was going on and she said, “Why, of course you felt that way.” And I discovered that I was a woman with normal woman feelings. It wasn’t that I had done anything wrong at all. So that was a blessing. (Abby)

[I went to a] support group for about 6

months or so and that’s when I started to

become aware of all that was happening

and I was really in an abusive situation….

By now I started gettin’ a little more

strength by going to the group and

realized what’s happening and they teach

you to, you know, empower yourself.

(Andrea)

Understanding

Self

Understanding

Abuse

Helping Others

Thriving &

Healing:

Discoveries

• Self-worth

• Autonomy

• Personal power

But, for me, it took me going through that a long time to decide one day, “You know what? I really do deserve better. I deserve better than this.” And um, then I started doing something about it. (Nora) I just realized this victim position of, you know, of surviving by not getting him angry—I realized that’s not working…. I just decided to take a position of power.… My thing now was, even if I die, you’re not getting away with this. (Betty)

Understanding

Self

Understanding

Abuse

Helping Others

Thriving &

Healing:

Discoveries

• Naming abuse

• Dynamics of

abuse

• Responsibility

For many years I only said I wasn’t being abused because he never hit me. But I finally came to realize that, uh, yelling at you, and degrading you, and uh keeping you against your will—that this is all part of domestic abuse. (Barbara) I went through several years feeling like I could fix things and when I realized that I couldn’t and the best thing to do was get out, I didn’t have a second thought about going back. It never became a possibility. (Lisa)

Understanding

Self

Understanding

Abuse

Helping Others

Thriving &

Healing:

Discoveries

• Sense of purpose

• Sense of

healing/wholeness

I went to work as a home health nurse. I don’t know how because I had no strength, but God gave me just what I needed because I went to these homes and I took care of these people and it was so healing. And I saw love. I saw love between husbands and wives, and respect. Some of these older couples, they were so frail, but they had such respect and love for each other. It was like God was exposing me to just what I needed. (Rachel) So, in a lot of ways, I was restored through helping somebody else. (Nora)

Self-guided Coping

Social Support

Professional Resources

Coping

Mechanisms

Understanding Self

Understanding Abuse

Helping Others

Discoveries

Faith/Spirituality

SURVIVAL THRIVING/HEALING

I remember sometimes I would just ask God to take

me from one hour to the next, you know. (Nora)

And then at that point when the Lord intervened in

my suicide attempt, I was like, “Ok Lord, I guess you

do care so what are we going to do about this?”…. I

realized God was my only way out of this. (Karla)

I’ve never felt that anybody at the church understood

what I was going through. I felt alone, but I didn’t feel

alone because I had my spiritual life. But if I didn’t

have my faith and I was going through this I don’t

know how I would have gotten through. (Barbara)

[Participant shared experience of being caught out in a

thunderstorm.] It was like the lightning and the thunder

and the rain and the wind, it was just like everything that

was outside of me was the same as it was inside of me

and at last it was being expressed in nature. Because I

couldn’t express it—it had to be a secret everywhere I

went, you know. And it was the most horrible thing to

have to live through, and so when this happened I just

started laughing and laughing. I was laughing so hard I

just fell down. It was so funny. Suddenly I just knew that I

was going to survive. I knew that I was going to live. I

didn’t know what was going to happen but I knew that

God was going to take care of me and everything. (Judy)

HEALING PROCESS: Affected by inner

strengths and understanding of self; AND

helping others (learning to use self to

extend support to others).

The strengths perspective as well as a

healthier approach to spirituality are

important aspects of social work practice

with women survivors of intimate partner

abuse.

Resilience is a PROCESS.

Faith/spirituality is a core contributor to each stage of this process.

Social work practice with women surviving IPV should: Recognize resilience as an ongoing process. Allow women survivors of IPV to contribute to/direct the

intervention process and decide over changes in their lives.

Understand the role of faith/spirituality in the process of healing and in establishing resilience.

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

9 January 2012