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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. After piloting these items, we administered them to a sample of 222 survivor-mothers who had been involved in family law proceedings. We then used both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Rasch analysis (RA) to create a final measure. Analyses yielded the 14-item Legal Abuse Scale (LAS). Factor analysis supported two subscales: Harm to Self/Motherhood (i.e., using the court to harm the survivor as a person and a mother) and Harm to Finances (i.e., using the court to harm the survivor financially). The LAS is a tool that will enable systematic assessment of legal abuse in family court and other legal proceedings, an expansion of research on this form of coercive control, and further development of policy and practice that recognizes and responds to it., Author(s): Ellen R. Gutowski [sup.1] , Lisa A. Goodman [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.17063.33, 0000 0001 2157 2938, Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, , Toronto, [...]

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 loneliness. Although loneliness can be catalyzed by isolation, it is a distinct psychological phenomenon that is internal and subjective in nature. Loneliness is not only acutely painful in its own right; it also inflicts a range of long lasting, health-related harms, and heightens survivors' vulnerability to violence, creating a vicious cycle that may continue long after strict stay-at-home and physical distancing policies end. This may be particularly true for marginalized survivors, for whom larger structural inequalities and institutional failures compound the negative impact of loneliness. This brief report describes what we know about the nature and costs of survivor loneliness and uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a lens through which to review the ways current DV interventions may help alleviate loneliness (as distinct from isolation), and how these might be expanded to enhance survivor wellbeing, immediately and even after a return to 'normal.', Author(s): Lisa A. Goodman [sup.1] , Deborah Epstein [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.208226.c, 0000 0004 0444 7053, Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, , 310 Campion Hall, [...]

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that draws upon a collaborative research strategy and has two main objectives: 1) Translating and adapting into French the Measure of Victim Empowerment Related to Safety (MOVERS scale) (Goodman et al. Psychology of Violence, 5(4), 355-366, 2015a (See CR21)); 2) Validating the French version of the MOVERS scale in a population of French-Canadian women receiving shelter services. The French-Canadian MOVERS (FCM) was administered to 189 women receiving shelter services in the province of Québec (Canada). The factorial structure, reliability and validity of the FCM were tested. This paper highlights that the FCM replicates the three dimensions found in the original version (Goodman et al. Psychology of Violence, 5(4), 355-366, 2015a (See CR21)), displays significant correlations with measures of depression, anxiety and stress, self-esteem, perceived social support, satisfaction with life and self-efficacy, and has overall good reliability estimates. The FCM is a valid and reliable scale to assess safety-related empowerment among women receiving shelter services. Furthermore, the scale provides interesting opportunities to shelter workers, which will be discussed in the paper., Author(s): Isabelle Côté [sup.1] , Joël Gagnon [sup.2] , Simon Lapierre [sup.3] , Dominique Damant [sup.4] , Stéphanie Louis Jean Esprival [sup.1] , Lisa A. Goodman [sup.5] Author Affiliations: (1) [...]

This qualitative descriptive study examines the perspectives of 19 mothers who survived intimate partner violence (IPV) and sought custody of one or more children through the family court system. We explored these mothers' perceptions of the nature of court processes from start to finish, their understandings of the impact of court processes and outcomes on their well-being, and their recommendations for improvements to facilitate a process that is sensitive to survivors' experiences with IPV. Mothers interviewed in this study described an experience that was largely invalidating and distressing, compounding the adverse effects of IPV on their well-being. Qualitative content analysis yielded six clusters: 1) survivors must enter into a court environment that implicitly presumes the absence of trauma, 2) survivors face obstacles to getting their stories of abuse across and heard, 3) survivors experience harmful and helpful interactions with court professionals, 4) survivors endure distress in the courtroom, 5) survivors suffer psychosocial consequences outside of the courtroom, and 6) survivors make recommendations for an improved custody process that is sensitive to experiences of IPV. Results paint a picture of a family court system that has the potential to cause grave, lasting harms to survivor-mothers who are separating from abusive partners., Author(s): Ellen Gutowski [sup.1], Lisa A. Goodman [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.208226.c, 0000 0004 0444 7053, Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Campion Hall, Boston College, , 02467, Chestnut [...]

Domestic violence (DV) advocates aim to restore survivors' choice and control, a process that involves sharing power with survivors, to the extent possible. At the same time, as mandated reporters, they are legally required to observe, evaluate, and potentially report survivors' parenting to the Department of Children and Families (DCF), an activity that involves exerting enormous power over survivors. Although research has long documented the tension between systems that support DV survivor-mothers and systems that support children, almost no research has explored how advocates think about and manage on a daily basis these perhaps contradictory roles. This study aimed to fill this gap. Using a qualitative, focus-group methodology, we conducted six focus groups with advocates across four programs. Findings demonstrate that advocates perceive profound tension between their role as facilitators of empowerment and their obligations as mandated reporters, especially given their (advocates') general distrust of DCF. They use myriad strategies to manage the resultant conflict, including inward facing strategies, designed to manage their own biases and see survivors in context; survivor-facing strategies, designed to name, share, and use their power in every way possible within the systemic constraints they face; and system-facing strategies that balance cooperation with DCF and continued advocacy for survivor-mothers. Despite their thoughtful and strategic efforts to minimize 'power-over' dynamics, however, advocates report that navigating this tension often exacts an emotional toll on them, causes irreparable damage to their advocacy relationships, and harm survivors. A number of actionable recommendations follow, including the need to establish opportunities for survivors to talk with each other, outside the earshot of staff, about their parenting challenges., Author(s): Lisa A. Goodman [sup.1] , Jennifer E. Fauci [sup.1] , Helen P. Hailes [sup.1] , Laura Gonzalez [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.208226.c, 0000 0004 0444 7053, Boston College, , [...]

When intimate partner violence survivors seek help from public institutions, including domestic violence programs, they necessarily submit to the scrutiny of staff who are required to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect to the state child protective system. This prospect would frighten anyone but has particular weight for survivor-parents who - during a period of enormous stress, chaos, and trauma - are often held responsible for the conditions of abuse they are trying to end or escape. So, what happens when they enter such systems? How do survivors think about and manage the experience of being evaluated, and more acutely, the looming possibility of a mandated report? And how do advocates, trained to restore power to survivors navigate their roles as mandated reporters? Each of the articles in this special section describes a piece of this puzzle. But the profound implications of their findings cannot be understood clearly without an understanding of the historical and structural contexts of oppression in which they play out - contexts that many survivors know only too well. This article aims to review briefly the broader social, historical, and structural contexts of mandated reporting and the linked phenomena of parenting surveillance and the forced separation of families of color. Centering these broader legacies of violence and other harms expands our capacity to ask the right research questions and support survivors more effectively as they seek help from systems they need for safety and healing, but that they also rightly fear., Author(s): Lisa A. Goodman [sup.1] , Jennifer E. Fauci [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.208226.c, 0000 0004 0444 7053, Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Lynch School of Education, Boston [...]

For survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), the act of seeking help from a domestic violence (DV) shelter can incur enormous costs. One cost is what we refer to as 'parenting surveillance:' that is, DV advocates can monitor, evaluate, and sometimes control survivors' parenting-activities given weight through their mandated reporter role. Although surveillance has long been a feature of state intervention into family life, particularly for low-income women of color, it is largely unexplored in the DV shelter system. This is a striking gap: Though most DV programs are committed to supporting survivors' autonomy and empowerment, the surveillance of parenting may echo abusive dynamics from which survivors are attempting to escape. This qualitative-descriptive study aimed to explore survivor-mothers' experiences of parenting surveillance among 12 residents of four shelters. Qualitative content analysis yielded five clusters: Survivor-mothers (1) experience and witness parenting surveillance in their programs even as they also find support, (2) describe negative psychological responses to surveillance, (3) report effects on parenting from surveillance, (4) cope with and resist surveillance, and (5) offer recommendations that minimize or diminish surveillance. Although surveillance is a structural phenomenon, baked into the policies and practices of DV shelters, participants' experiences of it vary based on their personal identities and histories and their relationships with advocates. Despite these variations, however, the costs of surveillance for mothers is significant. For advocates, addressing this phenomenon requires pragmatic and relational shifts grounded in empathy for survivor-mothers' subjective experience of parenting in challenging conditions., Author(s): Jennifer E. Fauci [sup.1] [sup.2] , Lisa A. Goodman [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.208226.c, 0000 0004 0444 7053, Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology, Boston College, , 140 Commonwealth Avenue, [...]

Programs for domestic violence (DV) victims and their families have grown exponentially over the last four decades. The evidence demonstrating the extent of their effectiveness, however, often has been criticized as stemming from studies lacking scientific rigor. A core reason for this critique is the widespread belief that credible evidence can derive only from research grounded in randomized control trials (RCTs). Although the RCT method has its strengths, we argue that it is rarely an optimal--or even a possible--approach for evaluating multifaceted DV programs. This article reviews the reasons that RCT is a poor fit for such programs and argues that a more inclusive conceptualization of credible evidence is critical to expanding our knowledge base about how DV programs affect survivors' safety and well-being.

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. We collected data from 154 providers. Survivors most requested, and agencies most frequently provided, housing services. EE services offered did not differ by agency location, staff size, or number of clients. Providers' confidence was greater if they completed high school; their agency offered more EE services; and they completed voluntary training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author(s): Kristie A. Thomas [sup.1] , Lisa A. Goodman [sup.2] , Elizabeth Schön Vainer [sup.3] , Deborah Heimel [sup.4] , Ronit Barkai [sup.5] , Deborah Collins-Gousby [sup.6] Author Affiliations: (1) [...]

In the absence of ongoing involvement in the communities that are the subjects of research, even well-intentioned researchers can develop questions that are not relevant to community needs, employ methods that hurt community members, or disseminate findings in ways that are inaccessible to those most affected. Recognizing these harms, a growing number of domestic violence (DV) researchers have embraced community-based participatory research (CBPR), an approach in which researchers and community members share power at every level of the research process, co-creating knowledge that can be applied to enhance community well-being. Despite growing interest in this approach, however, there are insufficient opportunities for interested researchers to learn how to actually engage in it, especially in the DV context. To remedy this gap, the authors of this paper collaborated to develop an online toolkit for emerging researchers interested in CPBR. This brief report frames the need for CBPR in DV research using short vignettes that come from our own research experience; introduces Power Through Partnerships: A CBPR Toolkit for Domestic Violence Researchers; and presents recommendations for developing, promoting, and disseminating future CBPR research. We chose to announce the development and availability of this toolkit in an academic journal in order to highlight its scholarly and practical relevance for researcher audiences who might be less familiar with the CBPR approach., Author(s): Lisa A. Goodman [sup.1] , Kristie A. Thomas [sup.2] , Nkiru Nnawulezi [sup.3] , Carrie Lippy [sup.4] , Josephine V. Serrata [sup.5] , Susan Ghanbarpour [sup.6] , Cris Sullivan [...]

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. The first aim was to identify risk factors predicting women's exposure to IPV. The second aim was to identify disaster-specific risk factors for IPV. The third aim was to construct a social ecological framework of risk factors for IPV in disasters at the individual, relationship/household, community, and structural levels. A systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines (PRISMA; Moher et al., 2009). Articles were identified using keywords in seven ProQuest databases. Of the 67 articles identified for full-text review, 24 were eligible for inclusion. Studies were evaluated based on critical appraisal of methodology using an adapted version of the Mixed Methods Appraisals Tool (MMAT; Hong et al., 2018). Findings suggest that disasters give rise to unique risk factors across social ecologies which interact with pre-existing characteristics of social vulnerability to increase women's risk of IPV. Findings inform violence prevention strategies within the context of disaster response and therefore have implications for research, policy, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. Three hundred eighty-eight participants completed the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (Cohen, Mermelstein, Kamarck, & Hoberman, 1985), the Conflict Tactics Scale-2 (Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, & Sugarman, 1996), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977) at the baseline assessment. Participants were reevaluated on 9 follow-up assessment occasions over approximately 4.5 years, during which they completed the CES-D. Results: Growth curve analyses revealed that belonging, or the perceived availability of people one can do things with, was the only dimension that predicted changes in depressive symptoms when controlling for initial depressive symptom levels. Higher levels of belonging support reported at the baseline assessment were associated with larger decreases in depression. Conclusions: The findings of the current study suggest that interventions should consider ways to get survivors connected to informal social networks. Neither perceived availability of material aid nor availability of someone to talk about one's problems or serve as a positive comparison when comparing oneself to others was associated with decreased depression over time. Only perceived availability of people one can do things with (i.e., belonging support) exhibited salutary effects. (Contains 3 tables, 3 figures and 5 footnotes.)

A large body of cross-sectional and longitudinal research demonstrates the important contribution of informal social networks to the well-being and safety of female survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Most survivors turn to family and friends before, during, and after their involvement with formal services; and many rely solely on informal forms of support. Yet surprisingly little research exists on the subjective experiences of informal network members themselves. This study used grounded theory to represent the dynamic and fluid process through which network members become aware of the violence in their friend or family member's intimate relationship, make meaning of the violence, develop a narrative regarding their own role in the situation, and use that narrative to guide subsequent decision making about whether and how to engage with the survivor and/or abusive partner. The authors discuss implications of this model for developing a range of network-oriented intervention and prevention strategies. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 2 notes.)

Research has established the connection between intimate partner violence victims' empowering experiences in the court system and their satisfaction with the process, but not between these experiences and victims' broader wellbeing, a link suggested by the framework of therapeutic jurisprudence. This study investigated the relationship between empowerment and victim depression, quality of life, fear, and intention to use the system in the future among 142 court-involved women. At 3 and 6 months after recruitment, over and above repeat abuse, the outcome of the criminal case, and expectations about the court system, more empowering experiences in the court predicted improvement in depression and quality of life, in addition to stronger intention to use the system in the future if needed. Implications include the need for research on what aspects of victim experience in the court are empowering and evaluations of innovations that can increase the likelihood they will occur. (Contains 3 tables.)

Despite assumptions that leaving the batterer offers the best chance for improvement in battered women's lives, few studies provide conclusive data on this issue. Although many women eventually reunite with partners, also unexamined is the influence of relationship course over time. Five waves of data from 206 low-income, largely Black, help-seeking battered women revealed minimal differences in emotional well-being either initially or over time for women following different relationship trajectories during the course of 1 year. Consistency in relationship status (completely apart, completely together) tended to be associated with sharper drops in violence during the year; abuse tended to decrease most slowly among women who were in and out of their relationship over time. Findings suggest that the act of leaving is not necessarily associated with improvements for victims--how the process of leaving occurs may be more influential. Challenging common assumptions, women remaining with partners may sometimes fare better than women who leave.

This article describes a qualitative study of how low-income women who are struggling with symptoms of depression experience feminist relational advocacy, a new model that is informed by feminist, multicultural, and community psychology theories. Using qualitative content analysis of participant interviews, the authors describe the processes and outcomes of feminist relational advocacy from participants' perspectives; they also consider how emergent themes fit with principles of the model, including the importance of women's narratives, the inseparability of emotional and practical support, the centrality of the advocacy relationship, and oppression as a source of emotional distress. The article concludes with a discussion of the practice and research implications of the study, highlighting the possibilities of feminist relational advocacy as a new tool for counseling psychologists and the lessons for advocacy models in general. (Contains 6 notes.)

A key question facing researchers of intimate partner violence is how the real-life contexts of victims' lives should affect state policy. The bulk of recently adopted and much touted criminal justice reforms have taken the form of relatively inflexible, one-size-fits-all mandatory responses focused on counseling, restraining, and punishing batterers. Even the protection order system relies far more heavily on batterer treatment programs than on victim support to prevent future violence. Together, these reforms have largely sacrificed the contextualized, woman-centered focus from which the antidomestic violence movement originated. Recently, however, a small body of research has emerged indicating that responding flexibly to victims' needs and providing them with advocacy and broad social support could be a more successful strategy for keeping women safe. These data highlight the importance of expanding victim-centered resources and reincorporating a particularized perspective into current policy and practice. Development of this literature should guide future reform efforts.

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. Using a qualitative descriptive methodology, we conducted 25 interviews with a diverse sample of intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors. Each described the first, the worst, and the most recent IPV incident, whom they reached out to and why, the outcomes of their help-seeking, and the individual, interpersonal, and psychosocial influences on the process. Even in the face of severe violence, what participants most wanted was someone who would listen without judgment. Direct interpersonal factors that influenced their help-seeking included their partner's controlling behavior, as well as their network members' capacities, perspectives on IPV, and feelings about the survivor. Broader influential factors included the radiating effects of IPV and other forms of trauma in survivors' networks. Participants offered recommendations on how domestic violence (DV) programs could both strengthen survivors' networks and provide them with targeted community support in moments of grave danger. As we continue to develop community-based alternatives to police intervention, DV programs have a critical opportunity to build on survivors' own recommendations. This process must address the ongoing effects of trauma that hamper the ability of so many network members to support survivors in crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the centrality of court interventions to the U.S. response to intimate partner violence (IPV), it is crucial to evaluate their impact on reabuse. To do so, this study examined whether female IPV victims' experiences of abuse in the year following a criminal court case against their partner varied by case outcome or by whether the batterer had or had not been incarcerated. Consistent with prior research, we found no main effect differences in reabuse trajectories by court case outcome or by incarceration. We also examined variables that might moderate the impact of case outcome and incarceration on reabuse and found that although batterer legal history did not affect the impact of case outcome, his age, Time 1 employment status, the couple's Time 1 living arrangement, and duration of abuse did interact with case outcome. No variables tested moderated the relationship between incarceration and reabuse over time. Findings suggest that in certain cases there may be benefits to case outcomes that leave potential consequences hanging over the offender's head. These results also add to the growing body of evidence questioning the efficacy of one-size-fits-all approaches to IPV cases. Keywords Battered women * Criminal court * Abuse * Legal, Over the past 40 years there has been a cultural shift in the United States wherein intimate partner violence (IPV) is now considered a social problem requiring a societal response, [...]

This study describes a qualitative study of student advocates' experiences of their work with low-income women struggling with symptoms of depression. Using an advocacy model called Relationship-Centered Advocacy, these 1st-year counseling psychology graduate students worked intensively with their 'partners' for 9 months. Advocate--partner teams met together each week, developing collaborative relationships and addressing the women's emotional and material needs in integrated ways. Using qualitative content analysis of participant interviews and journal entries, this study describes emergent themes involving negotiating the advocacy relationship, insider--outsider dynamics, responding to perceptions of privilege and disparity, and gaining professional and personal insights. It concludes with a discussion of the practice and research implications, highlighting the possibilities of Relationship-Centered Advocacy as a new training tool. DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01006.x