My ARIA research project was part of a larger evaluation of a complex trauma-informed intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrator intervention for men seeking services at a community clinic in Montreal. IPV is a multifaceted problem that negatively affects individuals, families, and our society. In Canada, it is estimated that one-third of women will experience male-perpetrated IPV in their lifetime (Statistics Canada, 2018). Some studies have shown that the prevalence of IPV has significantly increased with the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic (Allen & Jaffray, 2020). Therefore, it is important for researchers to examine effective ways of preventing IPV alongside addressing the negative enduring impacts on those affected. One of the most common IPV prevention strategies includes intervention programs for the perpetrators (Eckhardt et al., 2013). The community clinic that we obtained the data from for this analysis is the biggest provider of English perpetrator services in Montreal. In the first part of our analysis, we described the characteristics of service users at this clinic by examining 70 clinical intake assessments obtained within the past 2 years.
Complex-trauma approach to understanding and addressing IPV perpetration is informed by evidence that shows individuals who perpetrate IPV were often victims of childhood violence (Berthelot et al., 2014; Godbout et al., 2019; Taft et al., 2016). Complex-trauma informed approaches have the goal of causing behavioral change by focusing interventions on the individual’s stress responses - affect regulation, emotion, and cognition – that have been altered due to childhood experiences with violence (Taft et al., 2016). Social support has been shown to have a buffering effect on trauma symptoms in adults related to their exposure to childhood maltreatment (Evans et al. 2013). There are some studies examining the effects of social support on IPV survivors’ trauma symptoms (Babcock et al., 2008). However, there is a lack of research on the effects of social support on IPV perpetrators (Hoskins & Kunkel, 2022). Therefore, in the second part of our analysis, we explored: 1) Is there an association between childhood exposure to family violence and perceived change in social support after the IPV incident? 2) Is there an association between the severity of the incident and perceived change in social support after the IPV incident? We hope that the findings from this study will contribute to the body of knowledge moving towards a better understanding of how to end the cycle of intergenerational transmission of family violence.
I had the privilege of working as a research assistant on different projects during my time as an undergraduate student. This allowed me to part take in and learn about many different stages of the scientific research process. However, at times I felt confined within the research questions of my supervisors. I was interested in the ARIA project because I knew that it would provide me with an opportunity to determine my research questions and study design. It was an empowering opportunity for me to demonstrate to myself and my supervisor that I understand every step of conducting social research.
My key learning objectives going into the ARIA project were: 1) To apply research principles and social work theory that I have learned in my classes to this project. 2) Fill in any gaps in my theoretical knowledge on intimate partner violence and complex trauma framework. 3) Develop an understanding of how my research project fits within the larger objectives and the ethical values of the social work field. 4) Understand the ethical considerations of working with data obtained from court-mandated service seekers. 5) Further my understanding of the strengths and limitations of qualitative and quantitative research methods as applied to the available dataset. I believe I was able to reach all of my learning objectives.
Through in-depth analysis of the clinical intake assessments, I was granted insights on how some of the items can be further improved to accommodate ease of understanding for service users. This is especially important because the majority of their service users’ maternal language is other than English. I plan on preparing a brief report with my suggested revisions for the clinic in the coming months. The biggest challenge for me was working with data obtained from an instrument that was not designed for research purposes. As a result, decisions regarding how to quantitively transform responses were the most time-consuming and intricate part of this project. We overcame this challenge by journaling all my coding decisions in a structured table that my supervisor could oversee and provide me feedback on. This challenge also gave rise to our main limitation for the analysis, which is that we are reporting on the presence of phenomena (IPV incidence features) rather than their absence.
Having better understood the experiences of service users in IPV perpetration services through my ARIA research project, I am now interested in doing clinical work with this population either as a part of my mandatory social work field education or after completing my studies. Also, this project has shaped my future research interests, which are to explore marginalizing experiences of this population in the criminal justice system and their access to community support.
