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Family violence

Laun, S. (2015). Effectiveness of Psychoeducation for Adult Survivors of Sexual and Domestic Violence.

Psychoeducation for adult survivors of domestic violence.

This research was based in a community-based non-profit organization and aimed to assess psychoeducational programs for adult survivors of domestic violence. Although these programs are offered regularly, little has been done towards evaluating their effectiveness. Therefore, the researcher in this study wanted to assess the effectiveness of these programs for this population. A number of hypotheses were tested in this study to assert if psychoeducation programs will reduce trauma among domestic violence survivors. The participants in this research were female adults over the age of eighteen who had a history of domestic violence. The researcher used self-administered questionnaires to collect data in this study.

In this case, the psychoeducational programs were designed by a team of professionals with 15 and above years of experience. Sixty-one participants took part in the domestic violence program. The sessions were provided once per week, and the participants had to attend eight sessions to complete the program. Each session was one hour long. Six topics were chosen for this program; they focused on educating, empowering, and supporting survivors. These programs were supposed to decrease trauma symptoms among the participants and increase their knowledge of domestic violence.

The researcher concluded that psychoeducational programs reduced trauma symptoms and increased knowledge of domestic violence among survivors. This program is an effective method because it is cost-effective and can be used for a large group of people. It not only helps survivors reduce trauma symptoms, but it also educates them on domestic violence. Thus, it is a great way to curb domestic violence. Besides, meeting with other people in the same situation as you can build self-esteem.

Hackett, S., McWhirter, P. T., & Lesher, S. (2016). The therapeutic efficacy of domestic violence victim interventions. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 123-132.

Therapeutic interventions for victims of domestic violence.

This research aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the joint mental health programs for women and children who have been victims of domestic violence. The researchers also analyzed these interventions to determine if their outcomes were affected by the employment measure. Although a lot has been researched on interventions for domestic violence victims, nothing had been addressed concerning the efficacy of these interventions before this research. The researchers conducted seventeen investigations to assess if therapeutic interventions had any effects on the victims of domestic violence selected for this research.

The participants in this research were women and children who had been exposed to domestic violence. The researchers assessed the therapeutic interventions and the effect size to determine whether treatment was affected by external stress such as aggression and psychological adjustment such as anxiety. The researchers also evaluated whether self-concepts such as self-esteem and social adjustments such as cooperativeness affected treatment. Other factors that the researchers assessed, in this case, were family relations and maltreatment events like the victim returning to the perpetrator.

The researchers concluded that therapeutic interventions for victims of domestic violence were affected by a number of factors. Therapeutic interventions are effective for victims of domestic violence because they help them overcome the trauma. Having a joint mental health program for both women and children victims will help them gain a deeper understanding of the situation. Joint programs will help these victims meet people who have gone through a similar situation, which will increase their positivity towards the treatment approach.

Ferrari, G., Feder, G., Agnew-Davies, R., Bailey, J. E., Hollinghurst, S., Howard, L., ... & Peters, T. J. (2018). Psychological advocacy towards healing (PATH): A randomized controlled trial of psychological intervention in a domestic violence service setting. PloS one, 13(11), e0205485.

Psychological intervention for women survivors of domestic violence.

Domestic violence is often associated with mental illness. Psychological interventions such as cognitive-behavioral therapies and counseling fail because they dot meet domestic violence survivors' needs. Therefore, this research aimed at introducing another intervention (PATH) for women survivors of domestic violence. The researchers conducted a trial on the intervention to assess its effectiveness. The independent Trial Steering Committee oversaw the trial. Two agencies of domestic violence were selected to recruit participants for this research. Questionnaires were used to collect data in this research. These questionnaires were completed after four, eight, and twelve months.

The research participants were women, sixteen years old, and above who had come to seek help from the two agencies because of domestic violence. Two hundred and sixty women took part in this research; 130 were in intervention, and 130 were in control groups. The program consisted of eight sessions of specialist psychological advocacy and two sessions for follow up. The specialists had received a 25-day training before the commencement of this research. Outcomes of the program were measured after 12 months. The research compared the outcomes of PATH and those of normal advocacy care.

The researcher concluded that the Psychological Advocacy Towards Healing (PATH) intervention had greater improvements in participants' mental health than normal advocacy care. The importance of this intervention is that it reduces the impacts of domestic violence and improves the mental health of participants. It is also a cost-effective method of intervention that can be used for a large group of participants.

Latif, M., & Khanam, S. J. (2017). Effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy in reducing anxiety, depression, and violence in women affected by intimate partner violence: a randomized controlled trial from a low-income country. Journal of Postgraduate Medical Institute (Peshawar-Pakistan), 31(4).

Reducing anxiety and depression among women, victims of domestic violence.

A lot has been researched on the application of cognitive-behavioral therapy on women survivors of domestic violence. However, little has been done to assess the effectiveness of this intervention to this population. The researchers in this study aimed to investigate the efficiency of cognitive-behavioral therapy in reducing anxiety and depression among women who have been affected by domestic violence. This research was based in Karachi city. the researchers randomly collected a sample of women from shelter homes and non-governmental organizations to take part in this research. To be eligible to participate, the women had to have been married for at least two years.

Based on the selection criteria, 200 women qualified as participants in the research. The women were aged between 24.5 and 36.5 years. There were divided into two groups: treatment and control. The treatment was a cognitive behavioral therapy group and the control self-help group based on cognitive behavioral therapy. There were ten sessions in this program, and the assessment was conducted before and at the end of the intervention. Participant feedback was collected weekly.

The researcher concluded that there was a significant difference in improvement among the two groups. Women in cognitive behavioral therapy groups had better results than those in self-help groups. Therefore, cognitive-behavioral therapy groups are effective in managing anxiety and depression among women who have been affected by domestic violence. These groups allow these women to interact, which further enhances their response to treatment. It is also a cost-effective intervention that can be used with large groups of participants.

Wilson, J. M., Fauci, J. E., & Goodman, L. A. (2015). Bringing trauma-informed practice to domestic violence programs: A qualitative analysis of current approaches. American journal of orthopsychiatry, 85(6), 586.

Trauma-informed programs for female and male survivors of domestic violence.

Three and one of every ten females and males respectively have experienced domestic violence. This comes at great costs, and thus various community-based organizations have come up to offer help to these survivors. Many of these organizations have adopted trauma-informed programs as an approach to respond to the effects of trauma. Although many efforts have been made to describe trauma-informed care in relation to domestic violence, there is a significant gap in the knowledge of the specific applications of trauma-informed care in domestic violence programs. This is the gap that this research aimed to bridge.

This research used archival data where key documents describing trauma-informed approaches were identified in domestic violence programs. The authors then conducted a qualitative analysis of the content to identify core themes. Six principles were identified from the analysis. Each of these is comprised of a set of concrete practices. The principles included emotional safety, how to restore choice and control, how to facilitate connection, how to support coping, how to respond to content and identity, and how to build strengths.

The researchers concluded that trauma-informed practices are ideal for domestic violence programs. There were, however, differences in individual healing and broad community contexts. This approach is, therefore, effective because it can be used for both large and small populations. Also, it does not require any specialized training.

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