Project Summary

Heightened attention to police brutality has created momentum for alternative, community-based responses to violence of all kinds, including intimate partner violence (IPV). To build such alternatives, the research team sought to explore what survivors do in moments of acute danger when they do not call the police, how and to whom they reach out in such moments, and ecological influences on the process.

Approach

Goodman’s team used a qualitative descriptive methodology to conduct 25 interviews with IPV survivors who were predominantly Black, straight, and female. They asked each to describe the first, the worst, and the most recent incident of IPV; who they reached out to and why; outcomes; and interpersonal and psychosocial influences on the process.

Key Findings

• Even in the face of severe violence, what participants wanted most was for someone to listen without judgment. Although many reached out to family or friends, about half rarely did so.

• Direct interpersonal factors influencing the process included the harming partner’s control, network member’s capacities, their perspectives on IPV, and their feelings about the survivor.

• Broader influences included the radiating impacts of trauma and oppression in their networks.

• Participants offered recommendations for domestic violence programs that would both strengthen their networks and provide targeted community support in moments of grave danger.