Sarah Waller’s Help-Seeking Model: Understanding African American Women Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Help-seeking Process

African American women overwhelmingly experience the poorest outcomes resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Despite theoretical advancements, there remain a paucity of theories that explicate this marginalized population’s comprehensive help-seeking process that includes the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Waller, Bernadine (Author)
Contributors: Goddard-Eckrich, Dawn ; Kagotho, Njeri ; Hankerson, Sidney H. ; Hawks, Alice ; Wainberg, Milton L.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: Journal of interpersonal violence
Year: 2023, Volume: 38, Issue: 11/12, Pages: 7170-7192
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Keywords:
African American
Help-seeking
Homicide
Domestic Violence
Intimate Partner Violence
Description
Summary:African American women overwhelmingly experience the poorest outcomes resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. Despite theoretical advancements, there remain a paucity of theories that explicate this marginalized population’s comprehensive help-seeking process that includes the domestic violence service provision system and the Black church. We conducted 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who self-identified as African American. We utilized sensitizing concepts from the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Intersectionality theories, along with Agency framework and employed constructivist grounded theory methodology. Sarah’s Help-Seeking Model emerged from the data and includes nine phases: (1) Awareness, (2) Acknowledgment, (3) Assessment, (4) Enough, (5) Enlist, (6) Escalate, (7) Reject, (8) Resolve, and (9) Restoration. This is the first theory that identifies how this vulnerable and underserved population’s mental health and social support-seeking process is partially mediated by mistrust of law enforcement, disappointment in linkage to care and services, fear of death, and willingness to survive.
ISSN:1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/08862605221141869