Efficacy of Interventions with Victims
Published by: Paula McWhirter, PhD and Lauren B. Cattaneo, PhD
Studies that explore child and adult development link a wide range of interpersonal, social and physical health difficulties to cumulative and unaddressed trauma associated with domestic violence. In spite of these potentially broad and far-reaching consequences to victims, research addressing the effectiveness of victim interventions is limited. In this webinar, Dr. McWhirter will explore the characteristics of effective interventions for adult and child victims of domestic violence, highlighting challenges and solutions in the selection, delivery, and evaluation of evidence based interventions. Dr. Cattaneo will describe a model of empowerment that might frame such work, an evaluation tool (Measure of Victim Empowerment Related to Safety; MOVERS) informed by the model, and the results of a pilot project with Safe Horizon in New York City using that evaluation tool. Results of that project provide evidence for the effectiveness of survivor-centered interactions in increasing victim empowerment, and highlight the challenge of helping survivors to address the trade-offs many face in taking steps toward safety.