Larry W. Bennett

Effectiveness of hotline, advocacy, counseling, and shelter services for victims of domestic violence: a statewide evaluation.

The authors report the results of an evaluation of services provided by 54 Illinois domestic violence agencies. In collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago evaluation team, domestic violence advocates identified services to be evaluated, specified desired outcomes of those services, and participated in developing measures of those outcomes in both English and Spanish. With in the limitations of the study, outcomes were positive in all four program areas: hotline, counseling, advocacy, and shelter. The authors then discuss implications for evaluation of domestic violence programs that maintain victim safety as a guiding principle.

Gender and Power Issues of Peer Sexual Harassment Among Teenagers

This article describes the roles of gender, power, and relationship in peer sexual harassment for 342 urban high school students. Overall, 87% of girls and 79% of boys report experiencing peer sexual harassment, whereas 77% of girls and 72% of boys report sexually harassing their peers during the school year. Girls experience the more overtly sexual forms of harassment more often than boys and boys perpetrate sexual harassing behaviors more often than girls. Hypotheses of a relationship between power, gender, and the perpetration of peer sexual harassment are supported.

Program Completion and Re-Arrest in a Batterer Intervention System

Objective: The authors examine the effects of batterer intervention program (BIP) completion on domestic violence re-arrest in an urban system of 30 BIPs with a common set of state standards, common program completion criteria, and centralized criminal justice supervision. Method: 899 men arrested for domestic violence were assessed and completed 1 of 30 BIPs. At 2.4 years after intake, the authors reviewed arrest records and modeled domestic violence re-arrest using instrumental variable estimation and logistic regression. Results: There were 14.3% of completers and 34.7% of noncompleters re-arrested for domestic violence. Completing a BIP reduces the odds of re-arrest 39% to 61%. Conclusions: This study supports efforts to engage and retain men in gender-specific BIPs, as well as the value of examining larger systems of BIPs.

Barriers to Cooperation between Domestic-Violence and Substance-Abuse Programs

Staff and administrators drawn from a statewide random sample of 74 chemical-dependency and domestic-violence programs completed a questionnaire on linkage, referral, impairments to interagency cooperation, and beliefs about cross-problem incidence. Survey participants estimated that 46% of the male substance abusers currently in their care were batterers, 60% of the female substance abusers were victims, and 42% of the women now in domestic violence programs were substance abusers. Four of five survey participants believed that these clients would benefit from increased cooperation between chemical-dependence and domestic-violence programs. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Domestic abuse by male alcohol and drug addicts

Sixty-three male inpatient alcohol and drug addicts and 34 of their female partners participated in a study of variables associated with physical and nonphysical abuse of women. Results suggest that domestic abuse by male addicts is not directly related to experience of violence or addiction in the family of origin, external locus of control, or severity of alcohol abuse. Correlates of domestic abuse were an early onset of drug/alcohol-related problems; low income; a history of nonalcohol drug use, particularly cocaine; and a history of arrest and outpatient counseling.

Graduating social work students' perspectives on domestic violence

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined 124 social work students’ views on the causes and dynamics of domestic violence and their recommended interventions in a case scenario. Most students graduated from the master of social work (MSW) program with a mental health perspective on domestic violence. Only a small percentage were aware of specific interventions for domestic violence and many continued to attribute domestic violence to mental health and substance abuse problems in the victim and perpetrator. Graduates with domestic violence experience varied little from their peers in suggested domestic violence interventions or comments about the causes of domestic violence. The findings suggest that a deliberate, focused attempt to inform students about domestic violence is needed, rather than a reliance on general MSW courses. This article presents research on social work graduates’ views on the causes of domestic violence and interventions in domestic violence cases. Domestic violence continues to be a multifaceted problem that an estimated 22% of women experience over their lifetimes (Thoennes & Tjaden, 2000). Many people believe that a woman’s behavior can contribute to intimate partner violence, some believe that women want to be abused, and a large majority believe that women can easily leave abusive relationships (Worden & Carlson, 2005). Overall, most people believe that the causes of domestic violence are rooted in the individual and family; few people view domestic violence as a problem with roots in society or culture (Worden & Carlson, 2005).

Urban Adolescent Mothers Exposed to Community, Family, and Partner Violence Is Cumulative Violence Exposure a Barrier to School Performance and Participation?

Using a risk and resilience perspective, the authors assessed urban adolescent mothers’ exposure to community, family, and partner violence and analyzed the relationships between cumulative violence exposure and multiple school outcomes, within the context of welfare reforms. Positive attitude toward school and social support were examined as moderators of violence exposure on school outcomes. The authors pilot tested the questionnaire with 10 participants, then surveyed 120 adolescent mothers regarding their violence exposure, school performance and participation, positive attitude toward school, and social support. Results indicate very high rates of lifetime exposure to violence; intercorrelations and regression analyses indicate that as violence exposure increases, school outcomes tend to worsen, with positive attitude toward school found to be a significant moderator of the effects of exposure to community violence on behavior problems in school. Implications for researchers, practitioners, school policies and programs, and welfare policies and programs conclude the article.

Evaluating services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault

I. The Political and Social Context of Evaluation 1. The Evolution of the Violence Against Women Social Movement and Services for Victims 2. Collaboration in Evaluation Research II. Key Aspects of Doing an Evaluation 3. Why Evaluate? 4. Basic Concepts in Evaluation 5. Using Evaluation Results III. Lessons Learned 6. Lessons Learned in Evaluating Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services IV. Additional Resources V. References VI. Appendix A. Evaluation Measures for Domestic Violence Services VII. Appendix B. Evaluation Measures for Sexual Assault Services VIII. About the Authors

Effects of Coordinated Services for Drug-Abusing Women Who Are Victims of Intimate Partner Violence

This article summarizes outcomes from a demonstration project on collaboration between substance abuse and domestic violence agencies. Researchers recruited women seeking services for substance abuse or intimate partner violence at 1 of 6 participating agencies. Admitted women were both victims of domestic violence and abusing alcohol or drugs. Following an initial screening, participants were interviewed at program entry (n = 255) and again 4 to 6 months later (n = 128, 50%). Key outcomes were the number of days substances were used in the past 30 days, womens perceptions of harm from battering, and domestic violence self-efficacy. Results suggest participants used substances less frequently and experienced themselves as more efficacious following services, but they were also more fearful of the consequences of domestic violence. Repeated-measures MANOVA found that substance abuse days and domestic violence self-efficacy significantly contributed to the multivariate function. Implications for services for women with co-occurring substance abuse and domestic violence victimization are discussed.

Effects of a Therapeutic Camping Program on Addiction Recovery ☆: The Algonquin Haymarket Relapse Prevention Program

A group of 13 men and women in substance abuse treatment participated in a 3-day residential program experience based on integrated principles from adventure therapy, therapeutic camping, and relapse prevention. The experimental group is compared to a group of 18 men and women who received the usual and customary relapse prevention program. Both groups completed pre- and postintervention questionnaires. There were no differences in drinking-related locus of control, stress, or problem-solving between groups at postinterview, but there were significant improvements in autonomic arousal, frequency of negative thoughts, and alcohol craving. Participants in both groups were interviewed 10 months after the 3-day intervention. Considering individuals who were unreachable as relapsed, the 10-month follow-up relapse rate was 31% for the experimental group and 58% for the comparison group. These results add to the limited body of research supporting outdoor adventure and therapeutic camping experiences integrated with traditional relapse prevention activities as an adjunct to substance abuse treatment.