NCJ Number
184565
Date Published
August 1999
Length
55 pages
Annotation
A panel discusses the importance of including in domestic violence research and services victims from various backgrounds and situations with diverse characteristics and experiences of abuse.
Abstract
One panel member reports on a "brainstorming" session that solicited a listing of diverse groups of people who may have experienced domestic violence. Among the list produced are incarcerated women, men and youth, disabled women, immigrant women, homeless women and children, migrant women and children, older persons, individuals in nursing homes, and multi-racial individuals. The problem for practitioners and researchers is to find abused individuals in these various groups, engage them in conversation about their personal experiences, and gain their cooperation in research or service participation. Sometimes, however, people from marginal groups are screened out of research or programming because of communication problems (non-English-speaking) or because they have characteristics with which the researchers or practitioners feel incapable of dealing, such as criminal backgrounds, drug addiction, or mental illness. A panel member notes that practitioners and advocates are likely to be more zealous than researchers in seeking out populations of women whose backgrounds, characteristics, or ethnic identities differ from mainstream victims of domestic violence. Researchers should focus on such practitioners and advocates so as to advance research and knowledge that will be helpful in serving these diverse populations of victims. One panel member describes research in Seattle, Wash., that focused on the prevalence of domestic violence among a minority population.