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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Contributors: | ; ; ; ; |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2023
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In: |
Journal of interpersonal violence
Year: 2023, Volume: 38, Issue: 11/12, Pages: 7170-7192 |
Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Keywords: |
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. |
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ISSN: | 1552-6518 |
DOI: | 10.1177/08862605221141869 |