Linda Vinton

The Nature and Impact of Domestic Violence Across Age Cohorts

This study examined the nature and extent of domestic violence and its impact on psychosocial functioning among women of different age groups. No differences were found across age groups in the severity of violence, nature of injuries, use of alcohol or drugs at the time of the incident, attribution of blame, likelihood to report violence, or rates of childhood physical abuse and depression. However, the older women were more likely to have experienced violence for a longer time, to be in current violent relationships, and to have health and mental health problems than were the younger women. These similarities and differences are discussed in terms of interventions.

EVALUATION OF THE FIRST WEB-BASED ADVANCED STANDING MSW PROGRAM

The first completely Web-based advanced standing master of social work program began in 2002, and 32 students had graduated by 2005. This article presents a preliminary evaluation comparing the first two online cohorts with a face-to-face (F2F) cohort of advanced-standing students. Results showed several demographic differences between groups (e.g., online students were older and had more work experience than F2F students). There were few differences on a variety of educational and satisfaction outcomes with the exception of field, where instructors rated online students lower on several sections of the field evaluation measure. The implications for social work education are discussed.

A Model Collaborative Project Toward Making Domestic Violence Centers Elder Ready

An interagency collaboration was formed in a Florida community with a high proportion of older residents to fill the gaps in services that existed for older domestic violence victims. Results of the collaboration included the creation of safe spaces both inside and out-side the domestic violence shelter. Targeted outreach to older victims resulted in the local domestic violence shelter’s providing more than 100 hours of crisis hotline counseling, case management for six individuals, and emergency sheltering of one older woman during a 6-month period. A plan for replication of the project was developed and disseminated.

A Nationwide Survey of Domestic Violence Shelters' Programming for Older Women

This article describes a nationwide survey of domestic violence shelters that examined special programming for older battered women. More than two fifths of the 428 respondents had sheltered at least one woman age 60 or older during the previous year, and 61 stated they offered special programming for older women. This programming most often was outreach or individual interventions. A majority of the respondents provided education about domestic violence to adult protective services staff and senior centers, but only 22% presented information to aging agency staff. Interactions between domestic violence and service providers for the aged are critical as they discover they have clients in common.

Domestic Violence and Aging: Teaching about Their Intersection.

Women of all ages experience domestic violence, and the population of middle-aged and older women is growing rapidly. This article discusses how women’s issues, domestic violence, aging, and elder abuse all relate to social work education and then suggests how they can be integrated together into the social work curriculum through teaching about elder domestic violence.

Stalking: The Constant Threat of Violence

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have passed antistalking legislation. This article discusses the history and dynamics of stalking and contemporary efforts to define and regulate stalking behavior, along with interventions for victims and stalkers.

An Exploratory Study of Self-Neglectful Elderly

This paper describes and contrasts the characteristics of 227 elders who were reportedly competent but self-neglectful. The sample was found to be disproportionately aged and to have higher rates of disabling conditions such as Alzheimers or other related dementias and alcoholism when compared with the general older population. When contrasted with a sample of elderly who had been maltreated, self-neglectful elders were found more likely to be male and disabled. Services which were offered to self-neglectful elderly were also examined. The author recommends that the type as well as the number of services being offered to self-neglectful elderly be further investigated.

Women's Content in Social Work Curricula: Separate but Equal?

There has been an ongoing debate on whether content on womens issues should be taught in a separate course or integrated throughout the social work curriculum. This study of the knowledge and attitudes of 70 undergraduate social work majors found that all the students had similar attitudes toward womens rights and feminism, but those who had taken a separate course had greater knowledge of female biological processes and the social and historical forces that have affected women.

Professional Administration of Volunteer Programs Now More Than Ever: A Case Example

The need for volunteers is greater than ever, and yet steady volunteerism has declined. This article describes a volunteer program implemented at two community-based aging services agencies that employed professional volunteer administrators. Specific objectives were evaluated after a year, along with cost effectiveness. In one year the administrators recruited and trained 871 new volunteers who performed more than 30,000 hours of primarily in-home services to an average of 226 unduplicated clients per month. Services were valued conservatively at almost

Enhancing Web‐based Courses through a Mutual Aid Framework

300,000 compared to the