promise of the positive uclan 2013
TRANSCRIPT
The Promise of the Positive in the Study of Resilience
Sherry HambyUniversity of the South
Collaborators: Victoria Banyard & John Grych
Presented August 2, 2013 at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Honolulu, HI.
Research supported by The John Templeton Foundation.
The Way Things Were…and were and were and were
2
Rape of the Sabine Women, event 750BC depicted by Nicolas Poussin about 1635
Cain & Abel in Titian’s rendition
Vincent Van Gogh—
No relief for mental illness
Henry VIII, problematic partner
Centuries Go By…
• …and slowly many mental health problems and many adversities are seen less as an inherent part of existence, and more as health and social problem that can be addressed. In 1824, the first modern humane organization is founded….
3
• …to protect cats, dogs, and other animals!
• It is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, founded 1824 (www.rspca.org.uk)
• Followed in 1866 by U.S. version (www.aspca.org).
4
The Beginnings of a Social Movement
• Shortly afterwards, it occurred to some to organize the first Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children too.
• “It is not alone the lower animals that are subject to ill-treatment and cruelty.” (The Northern Budget, Troy, N.Y., 1867, cited by NYSPCC, 2000)
• 1st society est. in New York, 1875
5
Mary Ellen, who, in 1873, became the first child to receive a child protection intervention.
The Modern Discovery of Psychology• Late 1800s, early 1900s: The invention of
the “talking cure” & the discipline of psychology
• 1800s, early 1900s: 1st laws limiting or abolishing right to beat one’s wife passed in England, France, some U.S. states.
• Post WWII—Psychotherapy goes mainstream.
• 1962—The medical establishment “discovers” child abuse as a cause of traumatic injury (Kempe, 1962).
• Early 1970s—1st refuges/shelters• Late 20th century: Huge social movements
emerged to address all kinds of psychological issues.
• Healthcare, schools, criminal justice, social services, policymakers—all major social institutions become involved.
6
A Surprising Amount of Disclosure
• Important innovations in social science research, such as the U.S. National Crime Survey and Kinsey’s surveys on sexual behavior.
• Research established that people would disclose – Violent behavior– Intimate behavior
• Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz established that people would also disclose violence by intimates to researchers.
• Mary Koss first presented on Hidden Rape in 1980.
1948: An early scientific bestseller
The 1975 National Family Violence Survey
Despite Strides, Limitations
8
9
The Field of Violence
Child abuse
Sexual assault
Family violence
Dating violence
IPV
Community
Violence
Bullying
10
More Silos of Psychology
Coping
Resilience
Positive psychology
Adversity
IPV
Psychology of Religion
& Spirituality
Community psychology
11
Drags on Science
Tenure based on # more than
quality
Grant reviewers like familiar
questionnaires
Grant reviewers like low-risk (=repetitive)
methods
Journal reviewers like
familiar methods too
Journal reviewers often seem to
prefer results that confirm their
preconceptionsAuthors do lit reviews when they write their papers,
not when they plan their studies
From The Web of Violence, Hamby & Grych, 2013
12
13
Too Much Focus on Problems, Not Strengths
Much of Violence Research Technology is Stalled in
the 1970s
14
15
Looking For Communication Across Silos & Further Progress Promoting
Well-Being
16
TWO NEW STRENGTHS-BASED PROJECTS ON COPING AND RESILIENCE:1) BATTERED WOMEN’S PROTECTIVE STRATEGIES2) LIFE PATHS RESEARCH PROJECT
17
BATTERED WOMEN’S PROTECTIVE STRATEGIES: STRONGER THAN YOU KNOW
18
A Deficit-Focused Paradigm & A Limited Research Base
• We ask women over and over about trauma symptoms, substance use, and their own perpetration, but almost never ask about resources & strengths.
• We teach the cycle of violence even though it is based on a single qualitative study more than 30 years old.
• Safety planning is an almost universal service, but almost no safety planning-based research exists, either to map typical safety planning steps or the effectiveness of formal safety plans.
The photo accompanying my blog on “The Many Strengths of Battered Women” at OUP
19
Recognizing Strengths Requires Recognizing All the Risks
• Danger to self, yes, but also:• Danger to others• Other risks created by batterer (custody battles,
threats to ruin credit, kidnapping children, etc)• Financial risks and obstacles• Institutional risks and obstacles• Social risks (family rejection, stigma, etc)• Personal values that influence coping
20
Battered Women’s Protective Strategies
Protective Strategies
Immediate situational strategies
Protecting children, family,
and pets
Invisible strategies (under-recognized
actions women take)
Reaching out for social support
Turning to religious and
spiritual resources
Formal helpseeking to police, shelters, and other services
21
Immediate Situational Strategies• Escaping the scene: Leave the house, Run to another room, Lock
oneself in a room, Get into (or out of) a car, Walk away calmly• Luring away from dangerous parts of the house: Keep
perpetrator away from gun cabinets, kitchens, etc.• Calling for help: Signal a neighbor or child, Teach children who
to get help, Get a pay-as-you-go phone, Keep a landline telephone, Scream, Pass a note or leave a message in a public place
• Defusing strategies: Distract with other activities such as making tea, Hold hand/cuddle with perpetrator, even if do not feel affectionate, Keep things quiet, Talk batterer out of abuse
• Protecting children or others from the attacker• Self-defensive actions: Use force to stop perpetrator’s assault,
Protect one’s body, Stop perpetrator from destroying objects around house
22
Protecting Children, Family & Pets
• Immediate protective strategies focused on children and loved ones: Physically insert themselves between batterer and others, Try to get batterer to focus on them, Create code words and safety plans with children or others, Send children to their rooms or other safer location, Turn up stereo so children cannot hear violence
• Longer term strategies for protecting children: Send children to stay with relatives, Seek full legal custody, Help children process experience, Volunteer at school, Delay leaving to protect children
• Protecting pets: Delay leaving to protect pets from batterer’s threats, Enroll pets in “doggy day care” or place in kennel
• Protecting other family members, friends, and co-workers: Quit job, Stay away from family and friends, Create separate email account that batterer does not know
23
Reaching Out for Social Support
• Obtain emotional support• Stay with family or friends• Get financial or practical help with moving• Ask family or friend to accompany women to court or agencies• Ask for help filling out legal forms and other paperwork• Get help with child care• Get help with transportation• Ask family or friends to store belongings or extra keys• Ask family or friends to hold bank accounts or other assets in their
name• Ask family to help negotiate a plan for reconciliation• Ask boss or co-workers to re-arrange schedules• Ask for security plan at the workplace
24
Turning to Religious & Spiritual Resources
• Strength and perseverance from prayer & faith in God/higher power• Comfort from inspirational stories in religious texts• Hope for the future • Social support from clergy, other members of the congregation• Pastoral counseling from clergy• Free social activities• Help paying utility bills, home repair, transportation• Support during illness or following birth of child• Donations of food, clothing, furniture, and other necessities• Help with immigration status• Literacy and English as a second language classes• School supplies, winter coats, and free activities for children
25
Formal Helpseeking• Contrary to stereotypes of passivity:• Helpseeking for DV is similar to helpseeking for
psychological problems:– 28% in Canadian survey (Bland et al, 1997)– 26% in Europe (ESEMeD MHEDEA, 2004)– 41% in U.S. (Wang et al, 2005), but most of this not
specialized help• Psychiatrists 12%• Other mental health providers 16%
• 66% of DV victims had sought formal services in one Canadian survey (Barrett & Lapierre, 2010)
26
Types of Formal Helpseeking• Going to a Domestic Violence Shelter • Other Domestic Violence Program Services• Info, referral, transportation, court accompaniment, etc• Calling the Police• Seeking Help from Victim Assistance Programs• Obtaining a Restraining Order/Order of Protection • Mental Health Services• Health Care• 12-step programs such as Al-Anon• Other Social Services• Support groups
27
Invisible Strategies• Money, money, money• Arranging affairs• Wellness• Returning to batterer-yes, sometimes this is safest,
best option from a range of really rotten choices• Activism
28
LIFE PATHS RESEARCH PROJECT
The Web of Violence
Intimate Partner
Violence
Child Physical Abuse
Child Neglect
Child Sexual Abuse
Dating Violence
Bullying
Sexual Assault &
Rape
Community physical assault
Exposure to community
violence
Robbery
Elder Abuse
Gang violence
Interconnections in Representative Community SamplesInterconnection Strength of association (OR)
Well-known, well-established connections
Exposure to IPV & child physical abuse 5.0 (NatSCEV; Hamby et al 2010)
Exposure to IPV & teen dating victimization 3.8 (NatSCEV; Hamby et al 2010)
Physical IPV & Stalking by intimate partner 7.0 (CDC, Krebs et al, 2011)
Physical IPV & sexual violence by intimate partner 2.4 (CDC, Krebs et al, 2011)
Strong but under-recognized connections
Exposure to IPV & neglect 6.2 (NatSCEV; Hamby et al 2010)
Exposure to IPV and sexual abuse by known adult 5.2 (NatSCEV; Hamby et al 2010)
Any physical assault & any sexual victimization 6.2 (NatSCEV, Finkelhor et al, 2009)
Any witnessed violence and any sexual victimization 4.5 (NatSCEV, Finkelhor et al, 2009)
Teen dating victimization and peer sexual harassment 5.3 (NatSCEV; Hamby et al 2012)
Weaker but still positive connections
Exposure to IPV and peer relational aggression 1.7 (NatSCEV; Hamby et al 2010)
Any property crime and any sexual victimization 3.2 (NatSCEV, Finkelhor et al, 2009)
What We Act Like We are Comparing
IPV victims
Non-victim
What We are Comparing
IPV victimBullying victim
Maltreatment victimSexual assault victim
Bullying victimMaltreatment victimSexual assault victim
Etiological Process Relevant to Most Forms of Violence
Person
• Cognitive Processes– Beliefs about aggression– Schemas– Automatic cognitions
• Affective Processes• Self-Regulation• Personality
– Impulsivity– Narcissism
Situation• Environmental
Conditions– Heat– Overcrowding
• Use of drugs/alcohol• Social Integration• Behavior of Others
– Hostility – Rejection
• Relationship Context
VIOLENCE
34
• Considering multiple forms of violence offers a more comprehensive and integrated approach to understanding how these experiences can lead to maladaptive outcomes (including more violence).
• See Hamby & Grych (2013)
35
Towards even greater integration…
• The Web of Violence framework does not account for adaptive outcomes seen in some children and adults exposed to violence.
36
Towards even greater integration…
• The Web of Violence framework does not account for adaptive outcomes seen in some children and adults exposed to violence.
• Work on resilience shows that many individuals maintain or regain healthy functioning following stressful and traumatic events.
37
Towards even greater integration…
• The Web of Violence framework does not account for adaptive outcomes seen in some children and adults exposed to violence.
• Work on resilience shows that many individuals maintain or regain healthy functioning following stressful and traumatic events.
• A truly comprehensive model of the effects of violence needs to account for adaptive and maladaptive outcomes
38
Examples of risk factors
• Individual:– Poor self-regulation– Low intellectual functioning
• Relational:– Insecure attachment– Inconsistent parenting
• Environmental– Lower SES– Unsafe neighborhood
39
Examples of protective factors• Individual:– Good self-regulation– High intellectual functioning
• Relational:– Secure attachment– Consistent parenting
• Environmental– Higher SES– Safe neighborhood
• Identifying “protective” factors that simply represent the flip side of “risk” factors does not advance understanding of the processes leading to adaptive outcomes
40
New Approaches to Resilience• A new conceptual model for
resilience that focuses on 3 core sets of individual strengths: – interpersonal, – regulatory, and – spiritual
• We believe these fit into a broader system of personal, family, and community resources to improve well-being (not just lack of symptoms).
41
Towards a comprehensive model of the impact of violence on health
Adapted from Sandler (2001)
AdversityViolence
Other trauma
ResourcesIndividualRelational
Environmental
Mediating Processes-Secure relationships -Coping Apps & Behs
-Sense of meaning
Adaptive Outcomes
Maladaptive Outcomes
42
Tools & Ideas For Moving Forward
• Questionnaires still emphasize negative risk factors too.
• Technology is a key step to changing research practices
• Good to assess the density and diversity of strengths & adversities
• We have developed numerous brief measures that are suitable for community samples, including adolescents. We are freely providing these for research & clinical use.
The Broader Conceptual FrameworkROLE: Involvement in Violence
Victim Perpetrator Both
Mono-victim Acute, Isolated, Single form exposed
Mono-perpetrator Criminal Specialists
Mono perpetrator-victim Bully-victim Mutual IPV
Poly-victim Complex trauma High ACES scoreAlso: Multiple type victim, Multiple victim, Multiple crime-type victim, Multiple form exposed,
Poly-perpetrator Criminal Generalists Violent polymorphism
Poly perpetrator-victim Delinquent-victim Trauma-informed care model
Repeat victim Re-victimized, Chronic victim, Complex trauma
Repeat perpetrator Recidivist, Habitual offender, Reconviction, Revolving doors
Repeat perpetrator-victim Cycle of violence, Intergenerational transmission
Adapted from Hamby & Grych, 2013
Coordinated Violence Prevention Model: Hypothetical Common and Specific
Elements
45
Where We Can Go• This point in the story is both sad &
happy.• Sad: Unlike virtually every other
form of science, our technology is mired in the 1970s. Our frameworks focus too much on “half empty”
• Happy: There is information to guide us and advances are attainable.
• Science is novelty, not convention. • We need to push back on the
institutional forces that inhibit the best scientific & clinical practices.
A technician preparing penicillin in 1943
WE CAN HONOR THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAST WITHOUT GETTING STUCK IN THE PAST.