This paper suggests a conceptual framework for understanding the processes of help-seeking among survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). A cognitive theory from general literature on help-seeking in "stigmatizing" situations suggests three relevant processes or stages of seeking help in the IPV context: defining the problem, deciding to seek help, and selecting a source of support. Individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural factors that influence decision-making at each of these stages are discussed and illustrated with case examples.

A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Help‐Seeking Processes Among Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Using a longitudinal and ecological approach, we investigated the relationships between women's material and emotional resources and strategies and their ability to stay safe over time in a sample of 406 help-seeking African American women The multivariate analysis demonstrated that social support served as a protective factor and resistance strategies as risk factors for reabuse during a 1-year period It also showed an interaction between social support and history of violence such that for participants who had experienced the most severe violence, social support did not serve as a protective factor; however, for the other participants, those with the least amount of social support had a 65% predicted probability of reabuse during the next year, compared to a 20% predicted probability for women reporting the highest level of social support Policy and programmatic implications of these findings are discussed

Women’s Resources and Use of Strategies as Risk and Protective Factors for Reabuse Over Time:

Drawing on the theory of representative bureaucracy, specifically the theory of symbolic representation, we examine whether or not gender representativeness in a police department’s domestic violence unit influences how citizens judge the agency’s performance, trustworthiness, and fairness. To examine this question, we use an online survey experiment in which we vary the representation of female police officers in a hypothetical domestic violence unit as well as the agency’s performance. Results suggest that gender representation does indeed influence the perceived job performance, trustworthiness, and fairness of the agency, as does the agency’s performance. Thus, this study suggests that the symbolic representativeness of the police does causally influence how citizens view and judge a law enforcement agency, and thus in turn perhaps their willingness to cooperate in the coproduction of public safety outcomes.

Representative Bureaucracy in Policing: Does It Increase Perceived Legitimacy?

Listening to Battered Women: A Survivor-Centered Approach to Advocacy, Mental Health, and Justice presents an in-depth, multidisciplinary look at society's responses to domestic violence. Though substantial reforms have been made in the services available to battered women since the 1970s, the book shows how the public and private systems available to victims of domestic violence are still failing to meet the needs of the women who seek help.Using a feminist perspective, authors Lisa Goodman and Deborah Epstein explore and critique the current available services in three different arenas: the domestic violence advocacy community, the mental health profession, and the justice system. In recent years, the options available to battered women have expanded dramatically. However, these reforms have been made at the expense of the contextualized, women-centered focus that was once at the heart of the anti-domestic violence movement.The authors argue that a renewed focus on the principles of the early feminist movement - for example, listening to individual women's voices, promoting supportive communities, and facilitating economic empowerment, could result in substantial progress in efforts to protect and counsel battered women. A series of concrete recommendations for improvements in the advocacy, mental health, and justice systems are also discussed.Researchers interested in the field of violence, gender studies, psychology of women, mental health trauma, or family law, as well as practitioners working with the victims of intimate partner violence, will find this book to be a valuable resource in their efforts.

Listening to Battered Women: A Survivor-Centered Approach to Advocacy, Mental Health, and Justice

Women's Lives

Until fairly recently, prosecutors' offices around the country ignored domestic violence cases, failing to press charges in the vast majority of situations and dropping charges prior to conviction in many others. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, the battered women's movement made significant efforts to improve the criminal justice system's response. One way that this effort has met with substantial success is that many prosecutors' offices now have adopted aggressive "no-drop" policies for domestic violence cases. In these jurisdictions, cases proceed regardless of the victim's preferences about prosecution, even if she recants her original story and testifies for the defense.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2805189_code238438.pdf?abstractid=2805189&mirid=5

Transforming Aggressive Prosecution Policies: Prioritizing Victims’ Long-Term Safety in the Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases

The justice system response to domestic violence.

/pdf/transforming-aggressive-prosecution-policies-prioritizing-3d2ajtv4h7.pdf

Deborah Epstein

Papers

Transforming Aggressive Prosecution Policies: Prioritizing Victims’ Long-Term Safety in the Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases

The justice system response to domestic violence.

Transforming Aggressive Prosecution Policies: Prioritizing Victims' Long-Term Safety in the Prosecution of Domestic Violence Cases

Domestic Violence Victims’ Experiences in the Legal System

Discounting Credibility: Doubting the Testimony and Dismissing the Experiences of Domestic Violence Survivors and Other Women (Author Manuscript)