Domestic Violence and Immigrant Women: Improving the Accessibility of Services
This research examined the accessibility of domestic violence services for immigrant women. Domestic violence is a prevalent issue in American society and current research has often concentrated on the English-speaking, white survivors. Immigrant survivors however, have issues and needs different from white survivors due to both marginalization of speaking a foreign language and pressures to acculturate. The present research is based on Sullivan and Bybee's (1999) study on the positive affects of Community Advocacy on survivors of domestic violence, where community advocates are students and faculty members of the Michigan State University. In this descriptive study, I was interested in the service provision to immigrant survivors of domestic violence in terms of what is available and what can be changed to improve accessibility of these services for immigrant survivors. Qualitative data was collected by participatory observation and the writing of ethnographic field notes at the administrative office of a local women's shelter. The results from the field notes indicate specific themes of (a) the effects of inadequate funding and (b) the collaborative nature of community resources, which have overall effects on service provision for immigrant survivors. I also present action research as a possible future direction for the findings of this study. Failure to recognize the shortcomings of services provided to immigrant women reinforces marginalization of an already vulnerable population of women.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Psychology
Research Advisor:
Anna-Maria Marshall
Department of Research Advisor:
Sociology
Year of Publication:
2007