The domestic violence survivor assessment: a tool for counseling women in intimate partner violence relationships

doi:10.1016/S0738-3991(01)00216-6

Patient Education and Counseling

Volume 46, Issue 3, March 2002, Pages 221-228

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0738-3991(01)00216-6 Get rights and content

Abstract

Seeking to end violence and distress in their relationship is the goal of women abused by intimate partners. The theoretical framework guiding development of the domestic violence survivor assessment (DVSA) was Landenburger’s theory of entrapment and recovery. Social context and need to balance care for others and herself influence women’s decision-making about abuse. The DVSA was developed collaboratively between researchers and counselors to gain a deeper understanding of battered women’s cognitive states in order to assist them during counseling to effectively resolve the dilemma of their abusive relationships while experiencing personal growth. Five states are identified which a woman may experience on 11 issues concurrently at the personal, relationship or social context levels. Research to validate the DVSA and suggestions on use with women desiring to preserve their relationship or preserve their self or preserve the resolution of change is described. Using the DVSA for assessment, intervention and measuring intermediate outcomes is delineated.

Section snippets

Background

Many researchers have explored the process of change that women experience when resolving abusive relationships. We reviewed qualitative research on the meanings women attach to the journey of change to safe lives as the basis for guiding our instrument development.

Changes in a woman’s behavior are propelled or constrained by the meaning she attaches to her experiences. Understanding the meaning of any relationship becomes more complex as one begins to include the social context of children,

Domestic violence survivor assessment (DVSA)

Working with three community-based agencies to develop and implement outcomes for their women’s domestic violence counseling programs, a need to develop an assessment tool that could be used on admission and discharge to guide interventions and measure outcomes was identified. The agencies were the family violence programs of one rural and one suburban office of United Family Services of Central Maryland and the third was the Counseling and Outreach Department of House of Ruth of Baltimore. All

Target population to serve

The DVSA completed on intake at the community program was reported as useful for systematic review of issues many battered women face and a guide for the initiation of counseling. The providers/advocates at the hospitals report more complete information is provided by women who are in-patients or returning to the ambulatory clinics or domestic violence support program. Women in crisis seen in the emergency department are often unable to focus globally on their life situation at that time.

Practice implications for interventions

The

Conclusion

Counselors are most helpful when they directly discuss the violence and unconditionally accept the client’s definition of the situation [30]. The client’s perceptions are the reality in which she lives. The DVSA is designed to capture her reality and assist counselors to guide her to more deeply understand what she is experiencing, that it is abusive and harmful to her and her children, and that options exist which can transform her life. The goal is empowerment that is as complex as the

Acknowledgements

Patricia Lanning LCSW, Terri Wurmser MSW, and Sandra Rappeport LCSW, administrators at House of Ruth, Baltimore City and Family and Children’s Services of Central Maryland, along with their staff, contributed to the development, testing, and revision of the DVSA. This research was supported by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Grant #R03 HS10731 and NIJ. Maryland STOP Grant #97, 98, 99-043-FVC.

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The domestic violence survivor assessment: a tool for counseling women in intimate partner violence relationships

Abstract

Section snippets

Background

Domestic violence survivor assessment (DVSA)

Target population to serve

Practice implications for interventions

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Women Health Issues

Process of entrapment in and recovery from an abusive relationship

Issues Ment. Health Nurs.

From theory to practice: the development of assessment guides from qualitatively derived theory

Qual. Health Res.

The social construction of deviance: experts on battered women

Soc. Probl.

Using feminist MRI briefing therapy during initial contact with victims of domestic violence

Psychotherapy

Voices of strength and resistance: a contextual and longitudinal analysis of women’s responses to battering over time

J. Interpers. Viol.

Why did she do that? Issues of moral conflict in battered women’s decision-making

Issues Ment. Health Nurs.

Family violence: toward more precise and comprehensive knowing

Issues Ment. Health Nurs.

Women’s reasons for leaving abusive spouses

Health Care Women Int.

The assault of self: stages in coping with battered husbands

Qual. Sociol.

Women’s strategies for survival: developing agency in abusive relationships

J. Family Viol.

How women experience battering: the process of victimization

Soc. Probl.