RT Article
T1 Sarah Waller’s Help-Seeking Model: Understanding African American Women Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Help-seeking Process
JF Journal of interpersonal violence
VO 38
IS 11/12
SP 7170
OP 7192
A1 Waller, Bernadine
A2 Goddard-Eckrich, Dawn
A2 Kagotho, Njeri
A2 Hankerson, Sidney H.
A2 Hawks, Alice
A2 Wainberg, Milton L.
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1845803566
AB 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.
K1 African American
K1 Help-seeking
K1 Homicide
K1 Domestic Violence
K1 Intimate Partner Violence
DO 10.1177/08862605221141869