Helping Battered Women

Women battering is one of the most pervasive and dangerous problems in American society today. An estimated 8.7 million women fall victim to violence in their own homes each year. Helping Battered Women provides students with the most current, empirically-based and realistic overview of policies and intervention methods, combining a rich array of perspectives by internationally recognized professors and scholars in the fields of social work, criminology, and clinical psychology. The authors provide cogent and clear arguments for advocacy and social change in such places as battered women's shelters, police precincts, state legislatures, family courts, and criminal courts. The book focuses on a full range of policies and programs which include case management service models, 24-hour hotlines and crisis intervention programs, social worker-police collaboration, mandated arrest of batterers, electronic technology, and group/play therapy for the children of battered women, methods which are all effective in breaking the inter-generational cycle of abuse.

Women battering is one of the most pervasive and dangerous problems in American society. Helping abused women escape and remain free from violent relationships is the challenge the authors of this book have undertaken. They focus on the recently developed and implemented public policies, programs and intervention methods effective in the elimination of domestic violence and breaking the inter-generational cycle of abuse.

Seal Press originally published Helping Her Get Free with the title To Be an Anchor in the Storm. The survivor of an abusive relationship herself and a licensed counselor of abused women for more than a decade, Susan Brewster teaches readers how to recognize the signs of abuse, handle negative feelings, become an effective advocate, deal with the abuser, and more. With a new introduction and updated resource section, this straightforward and compassionate book offers the information needed to help give strength to women who are trying to break free.

The Battered Woman's Survival Guide is the most practical, informative resource guide available for victims of domestic violence and for all those who want to help.

There is life, joy, and love after abuse As a young wife and mother, Kelly White experienced violence and terror at the hands of her husband. She knows firsthand the love–hate relationships women often have with their abusers and the devastating effects these feelings can have on independence and self-confidence. She has sought refuge in a women’s shelter, worked to obtain help from law enforcement and struggled financially and emotionally as a single mother and sole breadwinner. Twenty-five years later, as the leader of nationally recognized programs for battered women, she has helped thousands of women and children rebuild their lives. White’s own story, and those of other women who have survived and thrived, are related here. She also provides practical tools for abused women and the friends, family and professionals who seek to help them. You learn to: recognize dangerous red flags and break through denial use the legal, law-enforcement and organizational resources available in your community overcome fear and stress to build a new life discover the ways in which you are more powerful, competent and capable than you thought White includes important information on the impact of domestic violence on children, the role of drugs and alcohol in abuse, violence against people with disabilities and battering in the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered communities. While violence against women is not a thing of the past, using this resource can help battered women make it a part of their pasts — and create a safe and fulfilling future for themselves and their children.

Topics addressed give readers insight into how abuse affects women and gives concrete ideas to apply in their work with women. You'll find concrete "tool box ideas" for interventions with women, short summaries of the latest research, and handouts to supplement your one-on-one or group work with women.

Ordinary citizens face a frustrating and increasingly complex maze of human service agencies when they seek help for everyday problems, even though one stop information and referral centers have been established to facilitate information seeking in many communities. This book explores the relationship between the information needs of battered women and the information response provided through social networks in six communities of varying size. The book is based on an award-winning study, in which 543 women described their knowledge of the problem of woman abuse and what kinds of information resources would be helpful to an abused woman. In the second phase of the study, 179 interviews were conducted with service providers identified by these women as likely sources of help. A comparison of the interviews demonstrates that the response of information delivery systems does not adequately meet the needs and expectations of those women who would seek such services. The final chapters of the volume focus on the implications of this study for the design of social service systems.

First published in 1998, this study investigates the effectiveness of services for helping women who are survivors of domestic violence. Looking at a sample from Western and Central Oregon, it examines the utilization and perceived effectiveness of resources for survivors and, in doing so, it systematically assesses the efficacy of community and professional services. This book will be of particular interest to social work students and practitioners, but will also be helpful to those studying healthcare and law.