Lauren Bennett Cattaneo

The process of empowerment: a model for use in research and practice.

In this article, we propose a model of the process of empowerment. The notion of empowerment is compelling and much employed across many subfields inside and outside of psychology, but the lack of consistency in the ways prior literature has defined it is an obstacle to meaningful synthesis of findings and consistent application in practice. Our empowerment process model builds on prior work in taking the following steps: articulating empowerment as an iterative process, identifying core elements of that process, and defining the process in a way that is practically useful to both researchers and practitioners with terms that are easily communicated and applied. The components of the model are personally meaningful and power-oriented goals, self-efficacy, knowledge, competence, action, and impact. Individuals move through the process with respect to particular goals, doubling back repeatedly as experience promotes reflection. We make specific recommendations for research and practice and discuss applications to social justice.

Risk Factors for Reabuse in Intimate Partner Violence A Cross-Disciplinary Critical Review

The identification of factors that contribute to reabuse in cases of intimate partner violence is a critical research aim in a variety of disciplines. Such information would have relevance in many contexts where systems or professionals struggle to intervene in such cases, especially in the context of limited resources. This article crosses disciplines to take stock of this body of literature and provide a road map for future research. We include literature in the areas of batterer treatment effectiveness, the effectiveness of criminal and civil court remedies, the evaluation of victim services, and the course of violent relationships over time absent any intervention. We describe the key dimensions along which these studies vary and detail the range of predictors examined by the studies, identifying the most consistent findings. Finally, we make recommendations concerning the methodology and content of future studies.

Through the Lens of Therapeutic Jurisprudence: The Relationship Between Empowerment in the Court System and Well-Being for Intimate Partner Violence Victims

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.

A Transconceptual Model of Empowerment and Resilience: Divergence, Convergence and Interactions in Kindred Community Concepts

Resilience and empowerment are widely employed concepts in community psychology and other social sciences. Although empowerment is more closely associated with community psychology, both concepts hone to community psychology’s strengths-based values, recognizing, respecting, and promoting local capacity and positive outcomes. Both concepts also have been critiqued for lacking clear consensus regarding definition, operationalization, and measurement (Cattaneo and Chapman in Am Psychol 65(7):646–659, 2010; Luthar et al. in Child Dev 71(3):543–562, 2000). This deficiency is reflected in the wide ranging applications of each term independently, and is particularly concerning when the terms are used together or interchangeably. Theoretical work on these concepts’ boundaries and interaction is lacking. This paper builds on the authors’ prior work operationalizing the processes and outcomes of each concept (Brodsky et al. in Am J Community Psychol 47(3–4):217–235, 2011; Cattaneo and Chapman in Am Psychol 65(7):646–659, 2010; Cattaneo and Goodman in Psychol Violence, in press) to present a combined transconceptual model illuminating the divergence, convergence, and interactions between the two. Both resilience and empowerment are fueled by unsatisfying states, but are differentiated by, among other things, internally (resilience) versus externally (empowerment) focused change goals. Goal determinants include context, power differentials, and other risks and resources. These concepts have the potential to facilitate each other, and understanding their interaction can better inform community psychologists’ work with marginalized populations.

The Role of Socioeconomic Status in Helpseeking From Hotlines, Shelters, and Police Among a National Sample of Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

The role of socioeconomic status (SES) in the prevalence and course of intimate partner violence (IPV) has been established, but mechanisms of this role are less clear. An untested assumption has been that women of greater resources are better able to seek help. This study used a national sample of 1,077 women who had experienced IPV to explore the role of income and education in helpseeking from hotlines, shelters, and police. The authors found that SES did not play a large role in the use of hotlines, the least often used service in this study. Women with more income were less likely to use shelters and were less likely to feel they should have used them. There was an interaction between income and severity of violence in predicting police use, such that severity of violence only predicted calling police among higher income women. This finding suggests the possibility of a lower threshold for reporting violence among the lowest income women. The authors discuss the need for research using a more diverse sample of women, and the need to fine tune services according to our emerging understanding of social context.

Barriers to Help Seeking for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive and devastating social problem that is estimated to occur in one of every four opposite-sex relationships and at least one of every five same-sex romantic relationships. These estimates may not represent violence against those who identify as transgender or genderqueer, and very little comprehensive research has been conducted on IPV within these populations. One statewide study on IPV found rates of IPV were as high as one of every two transgender individuals. In order to cope with the effects of abuse or leave an abusive partner, many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and genderqueer (LGBTQ) IPV survivors seek support from others. However, LGBTQ IPV survivors may experience unique difficulties related to their sexual orientation and gender identity when seeking assistance. This article reviews the literature on LGBTQ IPV and suggests three major barriers to help-seeking exist for LGBTQ IPV survivors: a limited understanding of the problem of LGBTQ IPV, stigma, and systemic inequities. The significance and consequences of each barrier are discussed, and suggestions for future research, policy, and practice are provided.

Sexual assault within intimate partner violence: impact on helpseeking in a national sample.

SUMMARY Within intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual assault is often subsumed under the heading of physical abuse, but evidence suggests qualitative differences in outcomes when both types of abuse occur. This study explores the cumulative effect of sexual assault and physical abuse by a current or former intimate partner on helpseeking. Using a dataset of 1,072 IPV victims from 8 states, we found that women who had experienced sexual assault in addition to physical abuse (44%) used more help, but were also more likely to say that they did not seek help when they needed it. Among those who were aware of services, fear was the greatest obstacle to reaching out for help. Implications include the need for information on best practices in addressing the sequelae of both physical and sexual assault in victim service agencies.

Survivor-Defined Practice in Domestic Violence Work Measure Development and Preliminary Evidence of Link to Empowerment

Survivor-defined practice, characterized by an emphasis on client choice, partnership, and sensitivity to the unique needs, contexts, and coping strategies of individual survivors, is an aspirational goal of the domestic violence (DV) movement, assumed to be a key contributor to empowerment and other positive outcomes among survivors. Despite its central role in DV program philosophy, training, and practice, however, our ability to assess its presence and its presumed link to well-being has been hampered by the absence of a way to measure it from survivors’ perspectives. As part of a larger university–community collaboration, this study had two aims: (a) to develop a measure of survivor-defined practice from the perspective of participants, and (b) to assess its relationship to safety-related empowerment after controlling for other contributors to survivor well-being (e.g., financial stability and social support). Results supported the reliability and validity of the Survivor-Defined Practice Scale (SDPS), a nine-item measure that assesses participants’ perception of the degree to which their advocates help them achieve goals they set for themselves, facilitate a spirit of partnership, and show sensitivity to their individual needs and styles. The items combined to form one factor indicating that the three theoretical aspects of survivor-defined practice may be different manifestations of one underlying construct. Results also support the hypothesized link between survivor-defined practice and safety-related empowerment. The SDPS offers DV programs a mechanism for process evaluation that is rigorous and rooted in the feminist empowerment philosophy that so many programs espouse.

The Victim-Informed Prosecution Project: A Quasi-Experimental Test of a Collaborative Model for Cases of Intimate Partner Violence:

The Victim-Informed Prosecution Project (VIP) was designed to amplify the voice of the victim in the prosecution of a battering current or ex-partner through collaboration between the prosecution and victim-centered agencies.This article describes the rationale for and design and implementation of VIP and then explores whether it increased perceived voice.While some VIP services (advocacy and civil protection order representation) were associated with increased perceived voice, the program as a whole was associated with it only in the context of greater contact with prosecutors, when cases were more likely to be felonies.We make specific recommendations for applying this model.

The Role of Socioeconomic Status in Interactions with Police Among a National Sample of Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Using a national dataset of 820 women who had called the police for an incident of intimate partner violence, this study explored the relationship between several components of socioeconomic status (education, income, and employment), race, and the nature of interactions with police. Over and above the effects of control variables (the presence of an advocate on the scene, the severity of violence in the relationship, and prior calls to police), victims with higher education reported less positive interactions, less control during the interactions, and lower effectiveness of police. Race did not moderate these relationships, and the other components of socioeconomic status were not significantly related to any of the outcomes. Exploratory tests of mediation found that the relationship between education and the quality of interactions with police was explained by the fact that more educated victims felt they had less control in these incidents and were less likely to see the offender arrested. Results also provide evidence for the positive impact of advocates on interactions with police. Implications for research and policy are discussed.