Training to be a volunteer Rape Crisis counsellor: a qualitative study of women's experiences

Abstract

This is an account of a qualitative study designed to elicit and analyse the narratives of women who had trained to be volunteer counsellors at a Rape Crisis centre. Little prior research has focused on the experiences of workers in Rape Crisis centres and this project was designed to explore women's experiences in ways that were meaningful to them. The research methods used were face-to-face, unstructured, in-depth individual interviews and group sessions. Participants in the individual interviews had all undertaken Rape Crisis training within the preceding two years. The group sessions involved all workers who were actively involved with the Rape Crisis centre at the time of the research. Five themes emerged from an inductive analysis of the data: motivation to train, complexity and change, changes in personal relationships, personal change and feminism. Overall the study highlights the complex, transformative processes that volunteer Rape Crisis counsellors may experience. The article concludes by identifying implications for practice that may serve to enhance training for volunteer counsellors in the future.

Paradoxical and powerful: Volunteers’ experiences of befriending people with dementia

“…Finally, befrienders’ experiences of emotional challenges are related to some experiences of other volunteers who expressed feeling demotivated and discouraged, particularly when they felt ineffective (e.g. King, Lloyd, Clune, & Allan, 2009; Rath, 2008).…”

Learning as a process of personal-social transformation: volunteering activity in health and social care charities

“…Charities and other voluntary groups working in the area of health and social care have a long history and tradition of dealing with complex societal challenges and working to create transformative change. For example, the role of volunteers in voluntary and community groups was instrumental in addressing the first cases of HIV and AIDS in the United States (Chambré, 1991), and women volunteers in UK Rape Crisis centers have come together to support survivors of sexual violence since the 1970s (Rath, 2008). Such societal challenges, which involve learning about "emotionally laden topics" (Hutchinson & Quartaro, 1993, p. 93), are described in CHAT as runaway objects that are difficult to control and predict:…”

Qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis in social work research: Uncharted territory

“…Description of the Self-concept (Steffen & Fothergill, 2009) Motivation to train -experience with sexual violence (Rath, 2008) Changed personal experiences (Rath, 2008) Personal change (e.g. self-awareness) (Rath, 2008) Internal/Personal fulfillment Motivation to train (Rath, 2008) Desire to volunteer Career exploration Major life changes (Rath, 2008) Changed personal experiences (Rath, 2008) Motivational saturation (Yanay & Yanay, 2008) Negative cases Lack of support (Yanay & Yanay, 2008) Lack of direction (Yanay & Yanay, 2008) phenomena is when the researchers begin to develop their written report. In some cases, the researchers may realize their findings are inadequate and further research is required in order to strengthen the breadth of the study.…”