Domestic Violence Shelter Essay

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Domestic violence shelters emerged out of the 1970s during second-wave feminism to provide a refuge for victims of intimate partner violence. With the provision of food and shelter for women and their children fleeing an abusive home, these shelters can be seen to be positive reform for women. There are many avenues for women’s psychological support, such as support groups and counselling, many of which are offered within these shelters. While these shelters and psychological support undoubtedly provide a crucial service for many women and their children, there are some aspects of them that cannot be seen as positive reform. Many shelters only help women with their immediate problems and do not attempt to stem the growing levels of intimate …show more content…

A representative study (Rees et al. 2011, p. 513) concluded the rates for female victoms in intimate partner violence: 77% for an anxiety disorder, 53% for a mood disorder, 47% for a substance abuse disorder and 56% for post-traumatic stress disorder with 35% having attempted suicide. These statistics clearly show a need for psychological help for these women, and this is reflected in the psychological services offered within domestic violence shelters, support groups and specialised counselling services. There is very limited empirical research done on the efficacy of domestic violence shelters and the psychological help provided, but the scarce body of work indicates that counselling assists in improving these women’s lives dramatically. Tutty, Bidgood & Rothery (1993) evaluated 12 support groups for female victims of intimate partner violence and found that the women who had left their abusive partner and continued to attend the support groups sessions had significantly improved “self-esteem, belonging support, locus of control… [and] perceived stress” (Tufty, Bidgood & Rothery 1993, p. 325). It was found that in comparison to when they started attending sessions, these women held less traditional views of family and marriage and marital functioning. With these conclusion the support groups being instrumental to women’s recovery (Tufty, Bidgood & Rothery, 1993), it can be seen that the creation of psychological support shows positive reform for

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