chpt 13 and 14
There are approximately 430 counties in the United States that experience persistent poverty
, and most of these counties are almost entirely rural.
many states developed specialized domestic violence courts with the goal of incorporating mental health and psychoeducational approaches, such as empowerment theory anger management training, in lieu of jail
. If defendants successfully completed a batterer intervention program (and any other intervention requirements) their sentences were vacated, but if they did not, or they engaged in repeated violence, their sentences were reinstated.
Such shelters typically offer numerous services, including the following:
A 24-hour hotline for immediate access to information and services Immediate safety shelters for domestic violence victims and their children Individual counseling for all victims Survivor support groups Court advocacy Children's programs Teen programs Information referral Medical advocates who provide on-site support at hospitals Immigrant programs (depending on the ethnic makeup of the community)
Rape trauma syndrome
A collection of emotions similar to PTSD, commonly experienced in response to being a survivor of a forced violent sexual assault
Unreasonable guilt
A common clinical issue in helping someone develop new boundaries
Self-Efficacy
A concept originally coined by social psychologist Albert Bandura referring to an individual's belief in his or her competence in completing tasks successfully.
Learned Helplessness
A condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness caused by repeated trauma where they initially have no possibility of escape (or perceive they have no control). Individuals who struggle with learned helplessness often continue to feel and act helpless long after their circumstances change and they have power to change their situation.
Outlaw Motorcycle Gang
A group of motorcycle owners who band together and agree to disobey society's laws, typically for monetary gain and to increase power and terror. The Hell's Angels is considered an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Empowerment Theory
A multi-dimensional social process that helps people gain control over their own lives.
LGBTQ+ Populations
An acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and others, a population of people united by having gender identities or sexual orientations that differ from the heterosexual and the gender majority.
Plea Arrangement
An arrangement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant where the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. Also called a plea bargain and plea deal.
Psychoeducational Approaches
An intervention strategy that combines counseling with education about psychosocial dynamics and other relevant phenomena.
Gender Nonconforming Populations
An umbrella term that refers to people who do not follow other people's ideas or stereotypes about how they should look or act based on the female or male sex they were assigned at birth.
Walk on eggshells
Avoid an explosion in domestic violence relationships
Regardless of the nature of the crime committed, victims of violent crime all have basic needs that can be addressed by the human service providers working with them in treatment (Courtois, 2004). Common treatment goals include:
Building formal and informal social support systems Reinforcing ways to regain a sense of safety Teaching victims how to manage their emotions, such as anger, sadness, and fear Achieving physical and psychological stability Building skills that will help victims regain a sense of personal power and control over their lives Educating the client on the nature of the crime victimization so they know what to expect Reconditioning victims to minimize negative triggering of the traumatic incident Helping victims through the mourning process Seeking resolution and closure which leads to personal growth and allows the victim to regain the confidence and strength to trust people once again
Rape and sexual assault 4 categories
Completed sexual acts Attempted sexual assault Abusive sexual contact Noncontact sexual abuse
Violence Against Women Act
Established policies and mandates for how states were to handle domestic violence cases, such as encouraging mandatory arrests, encouraging interstate enforcement of domestic violence laws, and maintaining state databases on incidences of domestic violence
Social Learning Theory
Explains how people learn new behaviors, values, and attitudes through watching others and modeling after their behavior.
Some of the poorest rural communities are in the South.
Geographically isolated and economically depressed parts of the Mississippi Delta, the Southern Black Belt, and the Appalachia region rank among the poorest regions in the entire country
Batterers' treatment program goals
Increasing awareness of violent behavior Encouraging the batterer to take responsibility for violent behavior
survivor-defined approach considers clients within the context of their environments, encouraging providers to consider factors such as the client's cultural background, including their immigration status, their family situations, their financial status, their level of support outside the relationship, and so on.
It's the unique complexity of survivors' lives that influences their individual goals and the path to achieve their goals
Men also have a greater tendency to turn toward alcohol and drugs in response to the rape..
Men also experience sexual dysfunction and problems getting close to people, particularly in intimate relationships
Effective Counseling Program
Must Address the following Denial Wishful thinking Indiscriminate Forgiveness Protect Fear
statistics
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) there were 150,420 victims of rape or sexual assault (attack or attempted attack, including unwanted sexual contact) in 2014 (compared to 173,610 in 2013 and 118,700 in 2012), of which only about one-third were reported to police (Truman & Langton, 2015). About 75 percent of all women who were raped were assaulted by perpetrators they knew and about 25 percent were assaulted by strangers. African American women are raped at a higher rate (relative to the population) than White or Hispanic women. And indigenous populations (Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hawaiian Natives, and Pacific Islanders) are two-and-one-half times more likely to experience violent sexual assault in their lifetimes.
Social exchange theory
Posits that victims of domestic violence enter into a kind of cost-benefit analysis when attempting to make a decision about whether to stay or leave the abusive relationship
The economic situations in many rural communities began to improve in 2014, except for child poverty, which increased by almost 25 percent since the 2007 recession (USDA, 2015).
Research has shown strong links between poverty and delays in child development, including low educational attainment, social skills deficits, and other challenges that can have long-lasting consequences for children and their families
RTS includes an initial phase where the survivor experiences both psychological and physical symptoms such as feeling extreme fear, persistent crying, and sleep disturbances, as well as other reactions to the actual assault such as the common fear of being killed during the assault.
Survivors in subsequent phases avoid social interaction, experience a loss of self-esteem, feel inappropriate guilt, and in some cases, develop clinical depression. Many survivors minimize their feelings and reactions to the assault and avoid seeking treatment because they do not want to be stigmatized, which can contribute to RTS. In fact, one of the primary reasons most rape crisis advocates refer to clients as survivors rather than as victims is to reduce this stigma by focusing on the strength it takes to survive sexual violence.
One of the poorest areas in the United States is the Appalachian Region, a large geographical area (about 205,000 square miles) extending through 13 states, from northern Mississippi to southern New York, along the Appalachian mountain range.
The Appalachian Region includes all of West Virginia and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Honeymoon like phase
The abusers often telling their new partners that they are the only people in the world they can trust-the only ones who understand them
Intrafamilial Homicides
The homicide of an individual by a family member, such as when one spouse kills the other, or when a child kills a parent (also called parenticide).
A 2003 study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) found little support for the success of batterer intervention programs with regard to recidivism rates, or attitudes toward domestic violence.
The only significant difference found was in the re-offense rates of men who completed programs 26 weeks or longer. Yet, while these men had significantly lower recidivism rates, their attitudes about domestic violence did not appear to change much.
Cycle of Violence
The pattern of interpersonal violence in intimate relationships
Rape
The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim
Prohibition Era
The period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcohol beverages became illegal in the United States through a constitutional amendment.
The Southern Black Belt is an almost all rural region in the southern United States, which includes 11 states that contain counties with high black populations as well as extremely high poverty rates.
The states included in the Southern Black Belt are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Digital Abuse
The use of technologies such as texting and social networking to bully, harass, stalk, or intimidate another person, most often a partner. Similar to cyberstalking.
Locus of Control
They have a tendency to see themselves as responsible for more than they actually are and they do not necessarily recognize when their personal responsibility ends and when someone else's begins
In many rural communities, women are more likely to be employed than men but at significantly lower wages a trend leading to many men feeling displaced.
This dynamic has increased rural men's risk for a range of psychosocial and physical problems, such as substance abuse, depression, and suicide
Victims' movement
To ensure that crime victims have a voice within the community, specifically within the criminal justice system
Batterers' treatment philosophies
Violence is an intentional act Domestic violence uses physical force and intimidation as coercive methods to obtain and maintain control in the relationship Using violence is a learned behavior and as such can be unlearned
Interparental Violence
Violence occurring between parents in a family structure.
a few high-profile cases involving false allegations, such as the Rolling Stone story of "Jackie," the college student from University of Virginia who alleged being gang raped by a group of fraternity members
ackie's story did not stand up to scrutiny and Rolling Stone magazine ultimately recanted the story, leading to a flurry of accusations and counter-accusations regarding definitions, allegations, and narratives
Using a survivor-defined approach with the empowerment process model not only
acknowledges (and in many respects honors) the unique circumstances of each client's life but also allows clients to take control of their lives, empowering them to take an active role in planning their future and their decision-making, which increases their sense of autonomy, self-esteem, and self-efficacy.
1998 study at University of Mannheim in Germany (Bohner et al., 1998) found that such myths actually encourage sexual assault by giving rapists a way of rationalizing their antisocial behavior.
although Western social customs may claim to abhor rape, popular rape myths provide rapists a way around such social mores by encouraging the belief that victims in some way asked for it and that men simply cannot control themselves, and thus they really haven't done anything wrong, or at least nothing that many other men haven't done as well.
children who witness interparental violence are at increased risk of experiencing a range of problems including
being emotionally, physically, and sexually abused, developing emotional and behavioral problems that often extend well into adulthood, and experiencing a range of adversities in their lives, such as having violent relationships, vocational problems, and housing insecurity
Cattaneo and Goodman stress the importance of their model as encompassing
both process and outcome. Far too often clients in violent relationships are assessed (and assess themselves) based on whether they leave their abusive relationship and become self-sufficient (psychologically, socially, and economically), and yet the process of achieving interim empowerment goals incrementally are highly valuable in and of themselves. Many clients, for instance, gain a personal sense of empowerment by gaining financial literacy, long before they leave an abusive relationship.
Research also indicates that boys and girls who witness IPV, particularly against their mother, often respond differently, with boys externalizing their feelings by acting like "warriors" and girls internalizing their feelings by acting like "worriers" (
boys who witness interparent violence, where their fathers abuse their mothers, are socialized to become violent and more likely to perpetrate violence against women as adults, whereas girls in such situations are socialized to be submissive and compliant, thus are more likely to enter into a domestic violence relationship
second wave of depopulation in the 1960s and '70s,
called black flight, when thousands of African Americans migrated north to cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit in search of jobs and better economic opportunities. Those who have remained in the Delta are either too poor to leave, have no place to go, or don't want to leave their families behind
studies found that participants who were ready to change had far higher success rates after
completing a batterer intervention program than those who had little motivation to change (motivational interviewing)
Since the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, incidents of domestic violence have been
cut by more than half, and the national hotline handles about 22,000 calls per month.
Lenore Walker (1979) was the first to coin the phrase
cycle of violence to describe the pattern of interpersonal violence in intimate relationships.
A relatively new model is the empowerment process model, developed by Cattaneo and Goodman (2015). The model focuses on clients establishing
empowerment goals and taking action to achieve these goals. The actions are based on a client's evolving self-efficacy (belief in one's abilities), skills (concrete capabilities), knowledge (information the client must learn to achieve empowerment goals), and access to community resources (formal and informal).
approximately 46 million people live in rural communities,
equaling about 15 percent of the U.S. population
Research has also found that women who remain in abusive relationships long-term (six or more years) experienced
far higher rates of self-blame and unreasonable guilt, often citing guilt associated with self-advocacy (such as calling the police) and a belief that they had betrayed their partners
One in five women (29 million) and one in seven men (16 million) report
having experienced severe violence during their lifetimes
Many rural communities were once thriving "boom towns,"
offering solid incomes and a safe and clean lifestyle for working class families. With the decline of family farming, the lumber industry, and the manufacturing industry (called deindustrialization), many rural communities have fallen on very hard times, resulting in the process of rural depopulation.
A follow-up study on the Duluth Model in 2014 found that about
one-third of participants eventually reoffended, and those who completed at least 24 weeks of treatment experienced the most positive outcomes among all participants, defined as decreases in physical and verbal aggression (
For instance, although sharecropping, which replaced slavery, permitted some African Americans to purchase land, most later lost their investments due to
overt exploitation and inequity and, because of Jim Crow laws, there was little recourse for exploited families.
IPV involves
physical violence, sexual violence, stalking, and psychological aggression. IVP can occur between current or former spouses, cohabitating partners, boyfriends, and girlfriends, dates, and sexual partners. Intimate partners can be either heterosexual or same-sex.
compared to men, women who have experienced IPV also experience higher rates of
psychological trauma and mental illness, including depression, PTSD, anxiety, worry, nightmares, memory problems, and suicidal ideation
victims of sexual assault who are Caucasian and have higher levels of academic education tend to
seek mental health counseling more often than victims of color or those with less education
Approximately one in five women in the United States have been raped
sometime during their lifetime, and more than half of them were raped by intimate partners
Women also have significantly higher rates of physical health problems as a consequence of IPV,
such as chronic pain, gynecological problems, HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, gastrointestinal problems, unwanted pregnancy, miscarriage, and premature births.
Today, the Mississippi Delta is considered
the poorest area in the nation's poorest state and is an example of rural depopulation.
Those who live in chronically poor rural communities, such as those in the Appalachian Region,
understand that they live in a different America, one with few opportunities for advancement.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
A counseling technique commonly used to help victims of domestic violence recognize and change unhealthy relationship styles
Patriarchy
A hierarchical political and social system that privileged males, where men as a group have more power and control women as a group, both structurally and ideologically.
Transitional Shelter
A long-term shelter for female survivors of intimate partner violence focusing on gaining self-sufficiency and autonomy.
Motivational Interviewing
A method that works on facilitating and engaging intrinsic motivation within the client in order to change behavior.
Intimate Partner Violence
A more inclusive term than domestic violence, involves the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse acted out between intimates
Genderqueer
A person who does not subscribe to conventional gender distinctions but identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders.
Duluth Model
A psycho-educational program drawn from feminist theory of domestic violence, which posits that domestic violence is caused by patriarchal ideology, and men's perception that they have the right to control their female partners
Women's Shelter
A temporary shelter for women and their children escaping a domestic violence relationship. Also called a battered women's shelter.
Explosion
Abusive rages can take on several forms including frightening bouts of screaming and yelling
Activity between U.S. gangs and gangs and cartels in Mexico, referred to as Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (MTCO), has also increased significantly in the last two years, with prison gangs often facilitating the connection between the two. Threats against law enforcement, while remaining stable in numbers, have increased in boldness and level of violence (National Gang Report, 2015).
According to the FBI, gangs have two primary goals: to make money and increase their power. The NGR (2015) also reports that street gangs and OMGs have increased their power and reach by seeking employment in law enforcement agencies, the military, and other government institutions, as well as coordinating with other criminal organizations, such as international sex trafficking rings and MTCOs.
The rate of sexual assault ranged by year in college, with freshmen reporting the highest rate and seniors reporting the lowest (11.7 percent). Some universities reported rates as high as 30 percent, exceeded only by sexual assaults of transgender, genderqueer, and other nonconforming or questioning students (TGON).
Additionally, the survey found that the distribution of female undergraduate students who reported having been subjected to sexual harassment ranged from an alarming 49 to 74 percent
In 2014 there were approximately 7.4 million violent and serious violent crimes committed in the United States (compared to just over 8 million in 2013).
Although violent crime has declined in recent years, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey, serious violent crime has increased slightly between 2013 and 2014, particularly serious violence involving a weapon and stranger violence
In response to federal legislation and Victim's Bill of Rights, state prosecution units within prosecutors' offices (state's attorney, district attorney, and attorney general offices) developed specialized units called Victim-Witness Assistance, designed to enforce victims' rights and provide support for victims through the criminal justice process. Human service providers working within these departments offer the following services:
Crisis intervention counseling Referrals to coordinating human services agencies, such as rape crisis centers, battered women's shelters, and crime victim support groups Referrals to advocacy organizations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), who have a presence in court to ensure enforcement of victims' rights Advocacy and accompaniment in court proceedings Special services or units for victims of domestic violence, child victims, older adults, and victims with disabilities Case status updates including notification of all public court proceedings Foreign language translation Assistance with obtaining compensation, such as reimbursement for counseling and medical costs Assistance in preparation and writing of victim impact statements to be read by the victim at the sentencing hearing
Rural poverty in large part stems from a changing economic climate that has in many respects left rural communities behind.
Deindustrialization, including the collapse of the auto manufacturing industry, the 1980s farming crisis, a move away from coal mining to clean energy, and economic globalization have all disproportionately impacted rural communities.
Victim-Witness Assistance
Designed to enforce victims' rights
Ageism
Discrimination based on age.
Ableism
Discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.
Cycle of Violence
Drawn from the work of Lenore Walker, who theorized that domestic violence occurred most often in repeated cycles, beginning with a honey-mooning phase, followed by a tension phase, and culminating in an explosion phase, which then led back to another honeymoon phase, repeating the cycle.
he reason for the lack of studies in this area may be related to the belief that male rape is rare, at least outside prison walls. In fact, historically, the legal definition of rape does not even account for the possibility of men being victims.
Due to the stigma associated with being a victim of male-on-male sexual assault, most incidences of rape go unreported, and thus it is impossible to accurately assess incidence rates.
Abusers, plagued with fears that they will be abandoned, taken advantage of, and humiliated (as many were in their childhoods) exhibit jealousy and possessiveness, and accusations begin.
Emotional immaturity often prevents abusers from being able to separate their internal feelings from possible causes
Because IPV involves an abuse of psychological, sexual, economic, and physical power in order to coerce and oppress a partner, most counseling intervention strategies are based on empowerment theory, which focuses on increasing the personal relationship and social power of victims
Empowerment theory is based on feminist values of social justice, self-determination (personal choice, finding one's voice), and resiliency (overcoming abuse and oppression) Using empowerment theory as the foundation of an intervention strategy relies on a strengths-based approach and focuses on helping clients increase their personal empowerment within the context of their intimate relationship.
Most gang members are between the ages of 13 and 25, but some studies found gangs that have members as young as 10. Most gang members come from backgrounds of poverty and racial oppression, live in high-crime urban communities, and live in neighborhoods with high gang activity (Vigil, 2003). Although there has been a recent increase in female gang activity (Chesney-Lind, 1999), most gangs are still primarily comprised of males.
Every year the FBI releases a report on gang activity in the United States called the National Gang Report (NGR), which provides an assessment of gang activity across the country. The report is based on surveys of law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. The report categorizes gang activity into four categories: (1) street gang activity (neighborhood gangs and national gangs), (2) prison gang activity, (3) outlaw motorcycle gang (OMG) activity, and (4) cross-border gang activity (gang activity between the U.S./Mexico border). This year's report shows an increase in the size of all gangs in the past two years, as well as increases in gang-related crime (National Gang Report, 2015).
Micro-Aggressions
Everyday verbal and nonverbal slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership. Often used in reference to disparate treatment of certain ethnic minority populations and other marginalized groups.
Gang activity has become an increasingly severe problem in recent years, not only with regard to the number of gangs in operation within the United States (estimated to be somewhere between 700,000 and 800,000 nationwide), but also with regard to the type of violent activities in which many gang members participate.
Gang activity remains primarily a big-city phenomenon, with some of the larger cities having more than 30 gangs operating at one time (National Youth Gang Center, 2005). Smaller towns and rural communities also experience gang problems, but these tend to be relatively sporadic with gangs that are loosely organized.
External Locus of Control
Have a tendency to see outside factors as responsible for the events in their lines
Attribution theory
If victims hold their partners at fault for the abusive behavior, attributing the abuse to personality factors such as an inability to manage anger, a refusal to take responsibility for their behavior, or a lack of empathy, then they will be more likely to leave the abusive relationship.
In 2014 alone, the California Department of Corrections confiscated close to 15,000 cell phones from prisoners, many of which were smuggled in by corrupt prison staff in exchange for cash and sex (National Gang Report, 2015).
In response to the dramatic rise of gangs using social media, law enforcement agencies are now actively monitoring social media as a part of their surveillance of gang activity.
For instance, the CDC survey includes incapacitated sexual acts—defined as sexual activity when the respondent was too intoxicated to consent—for women only.
Incapacitated sexual acts constituted two-thirds of all reported rapes on the CDC survey, and yet did not include instructions to rule out instances of voluntary sex while intoxicated. Further, the CDC defined rape of men as forcible sexual activity by another man, but did not include instances where men were too incapacitated to consent to sexual activity with women, or instances where men were forced to penetrate a woman, or receive or give oral sex to a woman (rather these were included as "other sexual violence"). In other words, if a man reports being forced to have sexual intercourse with a woman, the CDC classifies that not as rape, but as "sexual coercion" or "other sexual violence," but if a woman reports being forced to have sexual intercourse with a man, or having sex while intoxicated (voluntarily or involuntarily), that is considered rape.
There are more than 21 million people living in counties marked by persistent poverty.
Nearly 60 percent of the population in these communities are racial and ethnic minorities, with median household incomes of $31,581, more than 40 percent less than the national median. About 20 percent of all those experiencing poverty in the United States live in rural communities, but they are largely invisible, making their challenges difficult to address.
Many batterer intervention programs are based upon the Duluth Model—a psychoeducational program drawn from feminist theory, which posits that domestic violence is caused by patriarchal ideology that promotes the concept that men have the right to control their female partners.
Newer programs use a multifaceted treatment design, based on the premise that battering is a complex problem encompassing a deeply rooted belief system of power and control, thus a combination of psychoeducation, CBT, and anger management in a group setting is more likely to be successful. Programs range in duration from six weeks to one year and are often mandated by the court as a part of sentencing. Batterers are taught to respect personal boundaries, the difference between feelings and actions, and the concept of personal rights and egalitarian relationships. Dynamics of social learning theory, including modeling, are also explored so participants can discover how their violent behavior is likely patterned after a parent or some other influential person in their lives.
Counties are ranked each fiscal year on a five-level ranking system, with "Distressed" being the lowest ranking and "Attainment" being the highest ranking.
Note how most counties in the Appalachian Region have not economically recovered from the 2007 recession. The counties with the most economic distress are located in central and eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, and northeastern Mississippi, right along the spine of the Appalachian mountain range.
Most abusive relationships begin in a honeymoon-like state, with the abusers often telling their new partners that they are the only people in the world they can trust—the only ones who understand them.
Once the abusers feel comfortable in the relationship, a dual process occurs. The abusers begin to feel vulnerable by recognizing their partner's power to hurt them deeply, and as familiarity in the relationship increases, the abusers often increase their sense of entitlement to have all their needs met.
Some of the challenges many of America's small towns face include low educational attainment, high infant mortality rates, poor quality health care, social isolation, poor housing options, high unemployment rates, and limited formal services
People living in rural communities are more likely to smoke tobacco, abuse alcohol and other drugs without treatment options, as well as suffer from a range of chronic lifestyle-related health problems (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease). Yet they are less likely to receive regular health care because of lack of access to quality medical services, lack of money, and poor (or no) health insurance
Rural populations tend to have worse health outcomes than those living in urban communities, and as referenced earlier, many people in rural communities experience a higher than average rate of chronic diseases, many of which are directly related to obesity and other lifestyle choices—eating unhealthy foods, a lack of exercise, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption
Research has found correlations between poverty, food access, and health, which in a rural context can be explained by food deserts—regions where healthy food is a scarcity. A lack of reliable transportation (private and public) can also create barriers to accessing healthy foods
Walker (1979) theorized that many battered women shared a common orientation of learned helplessness—the tendency to see oneself as powerless in controlling life events. As such, Walker predicted that battered women would have an external locus of control (the tendency to place control of their lives and choices outside of their domain of responsibility), be more passive in relationships, and have poorer problem-solving skills, compared to women who had not experienced IPV.
Research has supported aspects of Walker's theory, but not others. Battered women do tend to have significantly poorer problem-solving skills, and they were also more passive in their relationships, but research did not support Walker's theory that battered women had a more external locus of control
Incapacitated Sex
Sexual activity engaged in when a party is too intoxicated on drugs and/or alcohol to consent.
The states of Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest rates of poverty (about 20 percent) and Virginia has the lowest (about 9 percent).
The Southern Black Belt suffers from many of the same social problems as other poor rural regions—chronic and persistent poverty, high unemployment rates with poor employment prospects, low educational attainment, higher than average infant mortality, and higher than average government dependence (
In 1994 the federal government passed the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) established policies and mandates for how states were to handle cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, and dating violence (including stalking).
The act's policies and mandates included encouraging mandatory arrests, encouraging interstate enforcement of domestic violence laws, and maintaining state databases on incidences of domestic violence, as well as establishing a national domestic violence database. This act also provides for numerous grants for educational purposes (e.g., the education of police officers and judges), a domestic violence hotline, battered women's shelters, and improvements in the safety of public areas such as public transportation and parks.
Most human services agencies serving the IPV survivor population require that providers and volunteers complete a 40-plus hour domestic violence training and certification program that focuses on topics such as
The history of domestic violence The complexity of domestic violence The impact of violence on victims The effect of domestic violence on children Cultural competency Advocacy strategies for victims Legal issues, such as orders of protection and domestic violence court
Vicarious Trauma
The impact on a trauma worker or helper that results from empathetic engagement with traumatized clients and their reports of traumatic experiences.
Homophobia
The irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against "homosexuality" or "homosexuals". Note: the term homosexual and homosexuality is now considered an offensive term, which is why these terms are reflected in singular quotation marks.
For the first time since 1927, the legal definition of forcible rape has been changed. According to the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the former definition was: "the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will." That definition, unchanged since 1927, was outdated and narrow. It only included forcible male penile penetration of a female vagina.
The new definition is: "[t]he penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." This is an important victory for advocates since this expanded definition now includes rape of both genders, rape with an object, and sexual acts with anyone who cannot give consent due to mental or physical disability.
VAWA was reauthorized in 2000, again in 2005 as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, and again, after a fierce bipartisan battle, in 2013, focusing on the expanded coverage of the legislation. Prior to the 2013 reauthorization, VAWA did not protect all women who were victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and dating violence and stalking.
The reauthorization, signed into law March 7, 2013 by then President Obama, extended protection to Native women, immigrants (including undocumented immigrants), and same-sex couples (the source of the bipartisan controversy).
Cyberstalking
The repeated use of electronic communications to harass or frighten someone, for example, by sending threatening emails or stalking someone online.
In response to the victims' movement and subsequent federal legislation (42 U.S.C. § 10606[b]), all states now have a Victim's Bill of Rights ensuring certain basic rights to victims as well as protection for victims of violent crime. Although there is some variation from state to state, most states ensure that victims of violent crime be afforded the following rights:
The right to be treated with dignity and fairness and with respect for the victim's dignity and privacy The right to be reasonably protected from the accused offender The right to be notified of court proceedings The right to be present at all public court proceedings related to the offense, unless the court determines that testimony by the victim would be materially affected if the victim heard other testimony at trial The right to confer with the attorney for the government in the case The right to restitution The right to information about the conviction, sentencing, imprisonment, and release of the offender (Victim's Rights Act of 1998)
2015 study found that pregnant women living in rural communities had to travel very long distances for their prenatal care (one to two hours each way), which was particularly challenging during the winter months
The study also found that there were few child care options in rural communities. This situation has been made worse by the decline of manufacturing jobs, which offered regular, set hours, and a move toward service sector jobs, which often involve erratic hours and little opportunity for advancement As a consequence, many women believe they cannot afford to work outside the home, and thus rely on informal employment and government assistance
one in five women are raped while in college, but the variation of sexual assaults and misconduct across universities has put that estimate in question. The Association of American Universities (AAU) conducted a survey of 27 public and private universities across the United States and found that the rate of sexual assault ranged significantly across universities depending on the type of sexual violence or misconduct.
The survey found that overall, about 23 percent of undergraduate female college students reported having been sexually assaulted by physical force, coercion, or while incapacitated since starting college.
Investment model of decision making
The victim evaluating things such as her resources with and without the batterer, her ability to manage risk, and the risk involved in leaving, as well as estimating what will be gained or lost if she leaves the relationship
significantly higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse
These challenges are intensified in areas with a lot of land mass and high population dispersion, such as Alaska, Montana, New Mexico, and North Dakota.
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hate crimes against those perceived to be gay or lesbian, or those with nonconforming gender expression, increased to over 20 percent of all documented hate crimes in the United States in 2011.
This increase makes sexual orientation the second most common target of hate crimes in the United States, more common than religion, ethnicity/national origin, and disabilities (race remains the largest target of hate crimes in the United States).
A comprehensive study facilitated by the DOJ evaluated the gang membership and backgrounds of over 800 gang members from 1985 to 2001 in an attempt to identify some of the reasons why adolescents join gangs.
This study, referred to as the Seattle Social Development Project, confirmed that the majority of gang members are men (90 percent) and that gang members came from diverse ethnic backgrounds including Caucasian (European American), Asian, Latino, Native American, and African American, with African Americans having the highest rates of gang membership. Interestingly, the study found that the majority of gang members joined for only a short time, with 70 percent of youths belonging to a gang for less than a year (Hawkins et al., 2003).
Most batterer treatment programs have similar goals, including increasing awareness of violent behavior and encouraging the batterer to take responsibility for violent behavior. Common program philosophies include the following beliefs:
Violence is an intentional act Domestic violence uses physical force and intimidation as coercive methods to obtain and maintain control in the relationship Using violence is a learned behavior and as such can be unlearned Unfortunately, at least an equal number of participants do not authentically change while in a program.
the out-migration of younger populations, many of whom leave their small towns for jobs or educational opportunities and never return—referred to as depopulation—is outpacing natural population growth, resulting in many small towns experiencing a slow and painful death.
While these population trends are mediated somewhat by in-migration (the return of former residents), out-migration in many small towns is having a devastating effect on the vitality and growth of the community
according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, about two million adult women were raped in 2011. Compare this statistic to the U.S. Department of Justice NCVS, which estimated that there were 238,000 rapes and sexual assaults reported in 2011 (note that this does not mean that 238,000 individual women were raped, but that there were this many incidences of rapes and sexual assaults reported)
Why is there such a difference in estimates? Critics cite gender bias, such as questions designed to elicit an affirmative response from women but a negative response from men
Healthy locus of control
Will be able to recognize when something lies inside or outside their domain of responsibility
Research has found connections between decisions to remain in an abusive relationship and how battered women attribute causality of the abuse.
Women who attributed their partner's abuse to personality factors, such as an inability to manage anger, a refusal to take responsibility for his behavior, or a lack of empathy, were more likely to leave the abusive relationship whereas women who attributed their partners' abusive behavior to forces outside his control, such as work stressors or a bad childhood, were more likely to remain in the relationship
In 1975 Lynda Holmstrom and Ann Burgess coined the term rape trauma syndrome (RTS),
a collection of emotions similar to PTSD, commonly experienced in response to being a survivor of a forced violent sexual assault.
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC),
an economic development agency established by Congress and led by the governors of the 13 Appalachian states, ranks each county in the region by economic status.
Because of social structures that support patriarchy, women are far likelier to be economically dependent on their abuser
and may be culturally and/or socially expected to remain in the relationship and endure the abuse.
Many people who live in rural communities experience deep poverty—chronic and persistent poverty that shows no signs of abating. The income threshold for deep poverty for a family of four is a mere $11,157
and while the cost of living in rural communities is often lower than urban regions, the difference does not account for the fact that it is impossible to effectively raise a family well on just over $10,000 per year
One of the most common practice settings where human service providers will encounter survivors of IPV is a women's shelter, also sometimes called a battered women's shelter,
as well as a transitional shelter (long-term housing focused on gaining permanent self-sufficiency).
The Southern Black Belt was originally named for the color of the fertile soil where slaves worked—a rich black velvet—but the term became known for the demographic makeup of the area when Booker T. Washington,
author and leader in the African American community, used the term in reference to states where the black population was higher than the white.
The goal of the ARC is to facilitate
economic development in each county within the Appalachian Region through a range of economic stimulating activities and the investment in infrastructure.
Rural communities can be defined in several different ways—
geographically, where people live in small isolated towns or farming and ranching communities; demographically, where population density is sparse; or functionally, where a community is characterized by its economy, rural identity, and social and community characteristics
The problem of sexual assault on college campuses, particularly incapacitated sex, has gained considerable attention, as well as generated controversy, in the past few years, in large part due to several high profile on-campus rape allegations.
he attention was warranted because of the alarming rate of sexual assaults on campuses across the country, particularly incapacitated sex, and the perceived general indifference on the part of many college administrators.
The first wave of depopulation occurred during the
height of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and '60s, when Caucasians left the Delta in droves, a process that sociologists refer to as white flight.
Thus, while all forms of sexual assault warrant a serious response, rape and sexual assault targeting populations that have historically
lacked power in society is at the core of sexual assault advocacy for women.
rural enclaves
located within larger cities. Rural enclaves can form when suburban communities encroach on formerly rural areas, or when people from rural towns move to the city for work, and therefore create a rural island in the midst of an urban area sometimes called rural ghettos if they are residentially bounded areas with high poverty, social isolation, and high unemployment.
The Mississippi Delta is known for its serene and beautiful farmland as well as its shameful and violent history of slavery,
longstanding racial segregation, and deep and chronic poverty, much of which is rooted in decades of institutionalized racism, such as post-slavery era Jim Crow laws
Children are among the most vulnerable members of poor rural communities. More than half of all rural children live in low-income families,
many of which live far below the federal poverty line (compared to about one-third of urban children).
Other challenges facing rural communities include higher rates of adolescent smoking, alcohol use, and bullying, and low adolescent educational attainment, with high rates of teens dropping out of high school.
many small towns experience far lower rates of violence than in urban communities, in some rural communities violence is more tolerated by the community and law enforcement, including adolescent violence and acting out. Adolescents often engage in higher risk behaviors in rural communities, often out of boredom
. IPV affects the entire community in lost revenue, lost creativity, mental health problems, and uncompensated medical care. IPV is perpetrated against both men and women, but women are far more often the targets of violence in relationships.
most recent statistics available, over 10 million women and men experience physical violence in an intimate relationship per year in the United States resulting in over 1.3 million injuries and 2,350 deaths
according to research the level of violence of crimes targeting sexual orientation and gender-
nonconformance is considerably higher when compared to hate crimes targeting other types of differences
the empowerment process model utilizes a psychosocial approach to
self-empowerment, guiding the process of self-evolution, while connecting clients to supportive resources within their communities. The model also encompasses a process of reflection, where clients reflect on their progress and make adjustments to their goals, if necessary.
Rather than imposing options for survivors based on a clinician's or agency's timeline or goals, Goodman et al. (2016) suggest
using a survivor-defined approach that takes into consideration the unique situation of clients and the complexity of their lives.
There has also been a steady rise in female single heads of households and multi-partner fertility in rural areas,
which increases social isolation and financial stress, and which has implications for the entire family structure since rural communities are often geographically cut off from necessary resources, such as prenatal care
researchers have noted that violence against women,
while not necessarily more prevalent in rural communities, does tend to be more highly tolerated by local law enforcement and the community in general due to more patriarchal beliefs
