Learning Activity/Research Proposal Project
bwilliams327
Week5Roughdraft.pdf
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Research Proposal Project Draft – Women in Distress
Brenda Rouse
The University of Arizona Global Campus
HUM 5100 Integrative Project for Human Services
Instructor: Claudia McCann
August 8, 2022
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What can be done to help women rebuild trust after overcoming domestic violence?
Introduction and Background
Domestic violence is one of the most common challenges affecting families. It is an
experience that exposes victims to trauma since it affects the victim physically, mentally, and
emotionally. According to the article The Cycle of Domestic Violence, (2019), approximately
40% of Americans have encountered domestic violence though the levels of impact vary entirely.
Some have succumbed to injuries, and others have lived to tell tales and trauma involved. All
domestic violence victims have one thing to come; a challenging healing process that leaves
visible and invisible scars in most cases. However, the experience wipes away trust between the
victim and the victimizer and, by extension, other people that might try having a close
relationship with the victim.
Women in Distress is a national, statecertified, and accredited human service
organization that offers dull services associated with domestic violence to people in Broward
County, Florida. The organization, established in 1974 by Edee Greene and a group of concerned
citizens, is guided by its mission to stop domestic violence abuse for everyone through
intervention, education, and advocacy. Over the years, the organization has expanded from
facility size to service diversification. All these services are meant to assist the victim in
overcoming the trauma, healing completely, and moving on with life like any other person. It is
either within the facility in the shelters constructed or in their homes.
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However, in the many cases of domestic violence that Women in Distress professionals
have come to rescue, almost 80% of them are women who have been abused for a while. The
organization has been working round the clock to understand why women stay in abusive
relationships since the understanding is detrimental to breaking the cycle of domestic violence.
Depending on the situation, the organization helps people involved in domestic violence rekindle
trust so they can live happily as a family. It is hence an organization that has been considered
necessary by the people of Broward County in Florida, leading to high demand for services.
o Statement of the problem
Whenever domestic violence occurs, it has massive visible and invisible effects on the
victim. The victim gets hurt physically, emotionally, and psychologically. The pain of the injury
causes a loss of trust among victims (Robbins & Cook, 2018). The psychological and emotional
distress makes the victim perceive the attacker as someone who cannot be trusted, causing the
victim to live in fear and anxiety whenever the attacker is in sight. Lack of trust affects the
quality of relationships, henceforth something that has proven to affect quality relationships
between couples or parents if the abuse was done on a child. Of importance to note is that in
cases where women are the victim attacked by their intimate partners, they live in fear of
exposing them hence staying longer in abusive relationships making the effect more profound.
Further, Robbins & Cook (2018) state that it is even more challenging to notice that not all
human service providers are professionals when intervening in domestic violence cases, creating
a rift between the service provider and the victim regarding trust.
o Significance of the problem
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Domestic violence is a significant challenge because only a fraction of domestic violence
victims, particularly women, recover (Anderson, Renner, & Danis, 2012). It means most of them
to remain in the shadows as the trauma holds them hostage. It is interesting to note that when
women are in a position to trust all over again and be assured of their safety; they are in a place
to adjust their minds, attitude, and behavior leading to a high rate of recovery that further attracts
resilience and growth (Anderson, Renner, & Danis, 2012). The challenge is significant because
the lack of ample support and inability to report domestic violence cases in time has compelled
many victims to live an average or low quality of life as they cannot free themselves from stress
and trauma.
According to Devakumar et al. (2021), almost 30% of domestic violence victims have
mental conditions that lower the quality of their lives. In the United States, mental health is a
significant challenge and a leading cause of death. As a matter of reality, mental health has been
a cause of domestic violence. The fact that domestic violence interferes with the mental health
status of the victim means that the victim remains at risk of being a perpetrator later in life or
remains a victim since unstable mental health reduces a person's ability to overcome abuse.
The problem is also more significant because there are a lot of reported domestic violence
cases that have only been resolved partially. According to Flasch, Murray, & Crowe (2017),
many women have only been assisted by professionals to heal physically, but psychologically
and emotionally, they are left with scars. The partial healing creates reasons for constant
reminders of the violence, and this means that interventions should be upgraded to offer overall
assistance. As Stanley et al. (2010) claim, most outrageous behaviors, actions and attitudes are
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outward signs of emotional and psychological scars that most domestic violence victims have.
o Populations served
Women in Distress organization does not discriminate and works towards assisting any
person who has suffered from domestic violence. However, women have considered most
vulnerable since a majority of cases that the organization handles are women and the perpetrators
are their intimate partners (Women in Distress, n.d.). Moreover, they are also more vulnerable
due to a lack of proper masculinity to defend themselves from their attackers. The fact that
women have attained their adult age makes trust issues much higher. However, this means that
the organization targets women to assist them in rebuilding their trust while empowering them to
seek assistance in case of domestic violence instead of sticking to an abusive marriage in silence.
o Proposed solution
According to Stanley et al. (2010), a rehabilitation program is the most effective solution
to the increasing cases of domestic violence and women remaining in abusive relationships and
rekindling trust. This is a program where psychological and emotional counseling would be done
for the perpetrator and the victim. The solution would work because it is only when the two are
assisted that higher levels of surety can be attained. These same levels would help the perpetrator
start acting in a manner that would allow the victim to believe in trust again. At the same time,
the victim would be offered general intervention where visible and invisible scars of the violence
would be handled and wiped out gradually. With the two parties playing their role effectively, it
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would be easy to reach a point where the environment is supportive of trust.
o Research questions
Understanding why women stay in abusive relationships is key to breaking the cycle
of domestic violence.
What can be done to help women rebuild trust after overcoming domestic violence?
Methodology
o Conceptual framework
An effort to understand why women remain in abusive relationships making it hard to
break the domestic violence cycle and how best to rebuild trust after a domestic violence attack
is a research issue marked by independent and dependent variables. From the research questions
identified, there is a hypothesis that illustrates research expectations, and this does not ignore the
importance of demonstrating proof of the relationship between identified variables. In this case,
the independent variable is the various causes of domestic violence, for instance, uncontrolled
anger, poor communication leading to misunderstanding, past neglect or abuse causing mental
disability, low selfworth and esteem, access to weapons, peer pressure, and overall poor
upbringing. On the other hand, dependent variables are the effects, for instance, physical injuries,
mental and emotional trauma, death, and lost trust.
Leedy & Ormrod (2019) show a strong relationship between independent and dependent
variables. It is because dependent variables exist as a result of independent variables. This means
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that in the caseindependent variables are contained; there would be no dependent variables. For
instance, a lack of anger management makes it possible for people in a relationship to attack each
other whenever provoked, resulting in a reaction in terms of fighting the partner. Also, a poor
upbringing means that they are taught from early stages not to respect others, to use abusive
language, and even to get physical to force others to do as per their wish. Such a situation
compels a person to become abusive, leading to injury to the other party.
Fear is an independent variable of why women remain in abusive relationships and, in
most cases, comes in different forms. Some women live in fear of attaining financial support
from their spouse hence compelling the woman to remain silent to enjoy financial security.
Others fear retaliation if the husband finds out the woman spoke about the abuse. Others fear
facing life alone and being considered divorcees as they want to maintain good publicity in the
public domain. The dependent variable, as a result, is emotional, psychological, and physical
trauma. Also, such a person remains enslaved economically and socially as the fear of taking the
bold step keeps her stagnated.
o Method
Due to the high number of women affected by domestic violence, it is important to have
statistics involved. A quantitative research method is the most suitable, with preferred designs
being case study designs and quasiexperiments used concurrently to gather data that would
respond to the research questions (Leedy & Ormrod, 2019). The case study design helps several
female victims narrate their order to paint a clear image of domestic violence, why women
remain in abusive relationships, how trust is lost, and how hard it is to rekindle the lost
confidence. Using the case studies and information from professionals, a quasiexperiment
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design would establish the causeeffect relationship of identified variables. The findings from
case studies, oneonone engagements, and information from professionals will be used in
developing the findings and conclusions of the research.
o Design
For this research, descriptive design is the most suitable for elaborating and
demonstrating domestic violence and its complexity.
o Rationale
The descriptive design effectively elaborates the scenario for clarification purposes,
which is important because domestic violence takes different styles and shapes. Only through
description can all styles be explained to the audience in a manner that promotes comprehension
leading to desired goals and objectives.
o Planning strategy
Design the conceptual framework to identify independent and dependent variables
and determine how they relate to each other. By so doing, identifying possible
research outcome
Gathering all pieces of evidence that would help in making research valid and
accurate
They are putting the necessary personnel based on needed skills and training them
on handling their tasks professionally and ethically.
Conducting the research as per the timeline
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Collecting data
Analyzing data and making a complete research report
Developing a conclusion
o Ethical Considerations and Concerns
First, all participants would be professionally selected to ensure that only those
with experience of domestic violence participated. Secondly, their consent would
be sought after they have been brief about the research. Only those who would
consent voluntarily would go through other research stages.
While analyzing data, only shared information would be captured to eliminate
instances of biasness
All the collected data would only be used for the proper purposes
In the case a participant might opt out even after signing the agreement form,
respect would be applied to allow any withdrawal
Management Plan
o Proposed timeline
The research requires ample time to collect and analyze data to develop accurate and
reliable findings. Three months is a suitable timeframe that will allow all research steps to be
handled diligently, resulting in a professional and valid research proposal that will attain desired
outcomes. The crew would prepare all necessary materials in the first month and seek research
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participants. It is also this month that their consent would be sought. The other two months
would be used to collect, analyze, and proofread data.
o Feasibility
From the ample time allocated and time taken to investigate the issue, there is an 85%
possibility that the research would be conducted efficiently and conveniently, leading to high
levels of accuracy and validity. Therefore, this is because much caution has been taken on the
project to ensure that possible errors are avoided and noted hindrances mitigated in advance.
Comprehensive training on conducting successful research has been undertaken to reduce
bottlenecks that might lower the validity of the research.
o Anticipated challenges
Participants shying away from narrating their ordeal led to a high number of
potential candidates turning down participation request
Since the research is complex, financial resources are required to facilitate data
collection and analysis.
It is possible that some participants might not have the right amount of
understanding to set questions leading to inadequate responses that cannot be
relied upon to develop findings and conclusions.
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References
Anderson, K. M., Renner, L. M., & Danis, F. S. (2012). Recovery: Resilience and Growth in the
Aftermath of Domestic Violence. Violence Against Women, 18(11), 1279–1299.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801212470543
Devakumar, D., Palfreyman, A., UthayakumarCumarasamy, A., Ullah, N., Ranasinghe, C.,
Minckas, N., Nadkarni, A., Oram, S., Osrin, D., & Mannell, J. (2021). Mental health of
women and children experiencing family violence in conflict settings: a mixed methods
systematic review. Conflict & Health, 15(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031021
004104
Heather Javaherian, Victoria Krabacher, Krista Andriacco & Dana German (2007)
SurvivinDomestic Violence: Rebuilding One's Life, Occupational Therapy In Health
Care, 21:3, 3559,
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Flasch, P., Murray, C. E., & Crowe, A. (2017). Overcoming Abuse: A Phenomenological
Investigation of the Journey to Recovery From Past Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, 32(22), 3373–3401. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515599161
Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2019). Practical research: Planning and design (12th ed.).
Pearson.
Stanley, N., Miller, P., Richardson Foster, H., & Thomson, G. (2010). A stopstart response:
Social services' interventions with children and families notified following domestic
violence incidents. The British Journal of Social Work, 41(2), 296313.
Robbins, R., & Cook, K. (2018). 'Don't even get us started on social workers': domestic violence,
social work, and trust—an anecdote from research. The British Journal of Social Work,
48(6), 16641681. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcx125
The Cycle of Domestic Violence: Understanding Why Women Return to Abusive Partners. (2019,
April 12). Women against Crime | Albuquerque, New Mexico.
https://womenagainstcrime.com/thecycleofdomesticviolenceunderstanding
whywomenreturntoabusivepartners/
Women In Distress | Broward County, Inc. (n.d.). https://www.womenindistress.org/
