hebrew university of jerusalem 9 january 2012traumaconference.huji.ac.il/presentations/drumm.pdf ·...
TRANSCRIPT
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