An Analysis of Comparative Perspectives on Economic Empowerment among Employment-Seeking Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Service Providers

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare perspectives on economic empowerment in the context of employment seeking among intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors and service providers specializing in IPV-related trauma. This study addressed the following question is: How do employment-seeking IPV survivors and service providers conceptualize and understand empowerment? Insights into how each group conceives of economic empowerment and its attainment following IPV experiences can help to inform an effective service curriculum that can be used to facilitate optimal employment outcomes among survivors. Methods: A constructivist grounded theory method was used to develop a theoretical framework for conceptualizing how economic empowerment is understood by employment-seeking survivors of IPV, and IPV service providers. Twenty-six participants were recruited (survivors, n = 16; service providers, n = 10) in a large northeastern U.S. city. Interview questions focused on how IPV survivors and service providers identify and conceptualize economic empowerment, and how support services respond to survivors’ needs around empowerment, particularly through help with employment seeking. Results: Data were coded and analyzed following data analysis stages: (a) initial coding; (b) constant comparison; and, (c) focused coding. Three main themes emerged from the narrative data: (1) structural characteristics shape individual experiences and perspectives of empowerment; (2) peer support as an integral component to empowerment; and (3) employment attainment as economic empowerment. Though perspectives on economic empowerment were often aligned, some key differences emerged. Whereas providers tended toward a more restricted, micro-level view of empowerment as primarily an attribute of the individual, survivors were inclined toward a structuralist perspective that considers how individuals’ experiences of empowerment are shaped by broader, institutional-level factors. Conclusions: Findings from this study build on prior research on the experiences of IPV survivors. The focus on experiences of empowerment in the context of employment-seeking can inform work on building more effective support services for survivors that avoid reductionist approaches that could be perceived by survivors as “victim-blaming” by incorporating a sensitivity to empowerment as derived from structural factors that shape individual experience.

Evaluating the Nature and Prevalence of Economic Empowerment Services Provided to Intimate Partner Abuse Survivors

“…EE initiatives in the United States include community-based housing programs (e.g., Sullivan, Bomsta, et al, 2019), financial literacy programs (e.g., Postmus et al, 2013; Silva-Martínez et al, 2016), work placement programs, and vocational/career development programs (e.g., Chronister & McWhirter, 2006; Chronister et al, 2018). These initiatives, when offered together and in collaboration with communities, promote survivors’ economic stability, rehabilitation, well-being, safety and connection, and community participation and contributions (Chronister & McWhirter, 2006; Eggers del Campo & Steinert, 2022; Klein et al, 2021; Sullivan, Bomsta, et al, 2019; Sullivan, López-Zerón, et al, 2019; Tarshis et al, 2022).…”

“…IPA survivors’ EE is bolstered with empirically supported services that are integrated into social service agencies and other community support structures. To offer improved EE services for IPA survivors, community service providers must receive sufficient training and the agencies in which they work must receive sufficient resources to support EE initiatives (Tarshis et al, 2022). Doyle et al (2021) conducted extensive interviews with nearly 40 community agency staff (including direct service staff, managers, supervisors, associate directors, and directors) who worked in agencies serving IPA survivors.…”