Interpersonal Violence

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Interpersonal Violence, Co‑Occurrences, and Intersections
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Chapter 1: An Antioppressive Framework of Interpersonal Violence
Shanti Kulkarni

Chapter 2: The Campus Response to Interpersonal Violence
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley and Akosoa McFadgion

Chapter 3: Housing and Intimate Partner Violence: Etiology and Identification of Housing Insecurity among Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
Leila Wood

Chapter 4: Mental Health and Intimate Partner Violence
Jill Messing, Tina Jiwatram-Negrón, and Hsiu-Fen Lin

Chapter 5: Social Isolation and Intimate Partner Violence
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Chapter 6: Understanding and Responding to the Service Needs of Human Trafficking Victims
Sarah Ascienzo, Maura Nsonwu, and Noël Busch-Armendariz

Chapter 7: Sexual Harassment: What Social Workers Need to Know in the Time of #MeToo
Aaliah Zonicle

Chapter 8: Sexual Assault: Cultural Context and the Social Work Response
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley and Jennifer M. Gómez

Chapter 9: Black Gay Men’s Experiences with Intimate Partner Violence
Damien Frierson

Chapter 10: Black Women’s Intimate Partner Violence Help Seeking
Bernadine Waller

Chapter 11: Leading a Sexual Assault Agency
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley and Indira Henard

Chapter 12: Sex Trafficking and Community Engagement: Implications for Social Workers
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Chapter 13: Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention: A Community Engagement Approach
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley, Sakima Romero-Chandler, and Aaliah Zonicle

Chapter 14: Engaging Abusive Persons Involved in Intimate Partner Violence
Lisa Nitsch and Johnny Rice III

Chapter 15: Conducting Intimate Partner Violence Research: What Social Workers Need to Know
Noelle St. Vil

Conclusion: Interpersonal Violence and the Call for Social Workers – Next Steps for Change
Tricia B. Bent-Goodley

Index
About the Editor
About the Contributors

Tricia B. Bent-Goodley, PhD, received her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania and her PhD from Columbia University. As a professional social worker, she has practiced as a clinical and community practitioner, a social work administrator, and a social policy advocate. Through sustained federal and foundation funding, she has developed and designed culturally specific interventions rooted in social value creation and entrepreneurial thinking in areas such as intimate partner and sexual violence prevention, healthy relationship education, HIV prevention, community- and faith-based interventions, and engaging men and boys. Serving at the local to the international levels, she has received extensive awards for her commitment to addressing issues of inequity and social justice. Bent-Goodley is professor emeritus, Howard University School of Social Work, and graduate professor in the Howard University Public Health Program. As the immediate past editor-in-chief of Social Work, the flagship journal of the National Association of Social Workers, she is one of two African American women to serve in this role in the journal’s 65-year-plus history. She served as the creator and founding director of the Howard University Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program—the office dedicated to providing advocacy, education, policy development, coordination, and training in the areas of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking for the campus community. She also serves as a founding member and immediate past chair of the Prince George’s County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team and is a former national elected board member of the Council on Social Work Education. Bent-Goodley recently served as the project director for community engagement and culturally responsiveness for the Black community as part of the National Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Demonstration Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. Bent-Goodley is the author, editor, or coeditor of many publications, including The Ultimate Betrayal: A Renewed Look at Intimate Partner Violence and By Grace: Challenges, Strengths, and Promise of African American Marriage.

Sarah Ascienzo, PhD, LCSW, has more than 15 years of experience as a mental health clinician working with youth and families adversely affected by trauma and interpersonal violence. Dr. Ascienzo is currently an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at North Carolina State University, where she teaches and engages in research and service in the areas of trauma, resilience, and well-being.

Noël Busch-Armendariz, PhD, MSW, MPA, is a restorative listener, community builder, advocate, and licensed social worker. She is the University Presidential Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, director of the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, and professor of Health Social Work at the Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin.

Damien Frierson, PhD, MSW, is a public health analyst in the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Division of Metropolitan HIV/AIDS Programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration. Dr. Frierson also served as a senior program specialist in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’s) Administration for Children and Families, where he oversaw the development of the inaugural National LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence funded under the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act. Before coming to HHS, Dr. Frierson served as the assistant director for domestic violence services at Lutheran Settlement House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jennifer M. Gómez, PhD, board member and chair of the Research Advisory Committee at the Center for Institutional Courage, is an assistant professor at Boston University School of Social Work and the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health, and she was a 2021–2022 Fellow at the Stanford University Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Her primary research focus is cultural betrayal trauma theory, which she created as a framework for understanding the mental, behavioral, cultural, and physical health impact of within-group violence on Black and other marginalized youth, young adults, and elders in the context of inequality.

Indira Henard, DSW, MSW, has been with the DC Rape Crisis Center for the past 14 years, serving in different capacities and lending invaluable experience, including leadership roles in fundraising, operations, cultivating relationships and strategic partnerships, and coalition building. Under Dr. Henard’s executive leadership, she has not only repositioned the oldest rape crisis center in the country, she has also laid a strong foundation as the agency celebrates 50 years of survivor-centered and community-led services.

Tina Jiwatram-Negrón, PhD, MSW, is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and faculty of the Office of Gender-Based Violence. Her research focuses on gender-based violence (GBV) among socially and economically marginalized women globally and addressing health and mental health disparities associated with GBV through intervention development in partnership with community-based organizations.

Shanti Kulkarni, PhD, MSW, currently serves as the associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her scholarship focuses on the impact of trauma, violence, and abuse on marginalized populations and seeks to positively influence practitioner behavior, service delivery systems, and policy in ways that best promote survivor, family, and community health and well-being.

Hsiu-Fen Lin, PhD, MSW, is currently a postdoctoral research scholar at the Office of Gender-Based Violence at Arizona State University. Her research interest includes risk factors for intimate partner violence and intimate partner homicide, intervention with and prevention of gender-based violence, measurement of immigrant survivors’ experiences of violence, economic empowerment, and cultural responsiveness in social work practice.

Akosoa McFadgion, PhD, MSW, is a research psychologist, licensed social worker, and professor. Her areas of expertise and research focus include intimate partner violence and healthy relationships among couples and communities.

Jill Messing, MSW, PhD, is a professor in the School of Social Work and the director of the Office of Gender-Based Violence at Arizona State University. Dr. Messing specializes in the development and testing of intimate partner violence risk assessments. As a social worker, she is particularly interested in the use of risk assessment in collaborative, innovative interventions, and as a strategy for reducing intimate partner homicide.

Lisa Nitsch, MSW, is responsible for House of Ruth Maryland’s intervention services for abusive partners and the Training Institute, which coordinates professional development for staff, external community education, and professional technical assistance. She has been with House of Ruth Maryland since 1998 and has advanced through a variety of positions. Nitsch is vice-chair of Baltimore City’s Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, a member of the City’s Domestic Violence High Risk Task Force, and an appointed member of the Maryland Governor’s Family Violence Council, and she sits on the Board of Directors for the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence.

Maura Nsonwu, PhD, MSW, LCSW, is a professor in the School of Social Work at North Carolina State University. She has taught at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels and has been a practitioner, clinician, educator, and researcher in refugee resettlement, human trafficking, health care, child welfare, and social work education for more than 30 years.

Johnny Rice II, DrPh, is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at Coppin State University’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. His research interests are epidemiological criminology, public health, race and culture, media, youth delinquency, victimology, family studies (fatherhood and child welfare), urban sociology, and qualitative social research. He formerly served as senior program associate at the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Victimization and Safety.

Sakima Romero-Chandler, EdD, is a subject matter expert on domestic violence and sexual violence, addressing culturally related challenges of African, Black, and Caribbean women and children. She has extensive experience working with grassroots communities and local organizations. She is a National Training and Technical Assistance provider and an independent consultant.

Noelle St. Vil, PhD, MSW, is an assistant professor at the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work. Dr. St. Vil’s research focuses on supporting positive Black intimate relationships, with the aim of strengthening Black families and communities. Dr. St. Vil’s scholarship concentrates on two dimensions of Black intimate relationships: violence against women and sexual behavior, health, and well-being.

Bernadine Waller, PhD, is an award-winning National Institute of Mental Health T32 Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Translational Epidemiology and Mental Health Equity, with a dual appointment at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric Institute. She is an implementation scientist whose research examines the intersections of intimate partner violence (IPV), help seeking, and mental health, with a specific focus on Black women. Dr. Waller developed the first theories in the United States to explicate African American women IPV survivors’ help-seeking process.

Leila Wood, PhD, MSSW, is a social worker and professor and the director of evaluation at the Center for Violence Prevention School of Nursing at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Wood’s program of research focuses on community-based intimate partner violence and sexual assault intervention and prevention efforts, including housing programs.

Aaliah Zonicle, PhD, MSW, is a scholar and social change agent focused on the disenfranchisement of Black women. Her dissertation research examined the sexual harassment of Black women in the workplace, which solidified the opportunity to advocate for advancements in safer working environments and culturally appropriate policies. She is an independent consultant.

This book should be required reading in schools of social work and beyond, for everyone who works or aspires to work with survivors of gender-based violence. Bent-Goodley gives activists, clinicians, and students a road map to intersectional, survivor-centered care. The chapter on Black women’s help seeking is essential reading for all social workers. Bent-Goodley also shows us the perspectives of immigrants and Black gay men as they struggle with IPV. I have not seen a better description of the connection between macro and individual practice as the one Bent-Goodley gives us here. This is the book I needed years ago, and the book every social worker needs today.

Lynn Rosenthal, BSW
Former White House advisor on violence against women
Washington, DC

Introduction: Interpersonal Violence, Co‑Occurrences, and Intersections

Interpersonal violence is penetrating and widespread. It has been defined as “the intentional use of physical force or power against other persons by an individual or small group of individuals. Interpersonal violence may be physical, sexual, or psychological (also called emotional violence), and it may involve deprivation and neglect” (Mercy et al., 2017, p. 71). Because of its pervasiveness and impact, social workers often encounter survivors or those vulnerable to experiencing some form of interpersonal violence. Some clients come to services aware that they have experienced interpersonal violence; others do not. Regardless, social workers must be prepared to respond. Unfortunately, social work education and licensure do not require training or education on different forms of, and appropriate responses to, interpersonal violence. Services are often provided separately or piecemeal without structure or integration, yet people do not live fragmented lives. Each area of interpersonal violence is unique, and the dynamics of each area need to be understood and addressed on their own. At the same time, there are ways in which the areas converge and require an intersectional response. The overall purpose of this book is to provide social workers with knowledge and understanding of how best to recognize, engage, and holistically intervene when responding to interpersonal violence.

Definition of Terms

This book primarily focuses on intimate partner violence (IPV; sometimes referred to as domestic and dating violence), different forms of sexual violence, and human trafficking. The book does not focus on all areas of interpersonal violence (e.g., childhood sexual abuse); however, it is acknowledged that these types of abuse are important to understand and are identified in some chapters because they co-occur and intersect with other forms of interpersonal violence.

IPV can be defined as “a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks, as well as economic coercion that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partners” (Schechter & Ganley, 1995, p. 10). Stalking is often acknowledged as part of IPV, but it is also its own form of violence and occurs within and outside of intimate relationships. Stalking victimization is defined as “a pattern of harassing or threatening tactics used by a perpetrator that is both unwanted and causes fear or safety concern for the victim” (Smith et al., 2018, p. 9). Sexual violence can also occur as part of IPV, but it too has a more expansive definition, including “rape, being made to penetrate someone, sexual coercion and unwanted sexual contact” (Smith et al., 2018, p. 1). Sexual harassment is viewed as a form of sexual violence; however, it has a specific legal definition. Sexual harassment is defined as

unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature . . . [that] explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2022, para. 1)

This definition is not necessarily inclusive of other forms of sexual harassment, such as street harassment, but it is acknowledged that sexual harassment is not limited to the workplace and can occur in schools, places of worship, and other locations. Human trafficking is defined, under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106–386), as “sex trafficking . . . in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age” or “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2022, “Human Trafficking Defined” section, para. 1).

Prevalence of Interpersonal Violence

Interpersonal violence is pervasive and persistent, and no population escapes it. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (Smith et al., 2018), one in six women (19.1 million) and one in 17 men (6.4 million) have experienced stalking over their lifetime; in one study, 12 percent of participants identified having been stalked. In reality, 43 percent of women and 36 percent of men in that study reported at least one behavioral indicator of stalking victimization (McNamara & Marsil, 2012). This suggests that survivors may not identify what they have experienced as interpersonal violence, and social workers must be aware of that possibility.

More than 52 million women (43.6 percent) and 27.6 million men (24.8 percent) experience some form of contact sexual violence over their lifetime, with more than 43 percent of those women and nearly 26 percent of those men experiencing this violence for the first time when younger than age 17 (Smith et al., 2018). These statistics are a stark reminder of the reality that girls and boys are being sexually victimized during childhood and that it warrants serious attention.

More than 40 million people globally have experienced coerced or forced labor and/or sexual exploitation (International Labour Organization, n.d.). In 2019, 10,583 incidents were reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, with 7,648 identified as sex trafficking (Polaris Project, 2022). These numbers do not nearly reflect the true prevalence of this issue in the United States; it is difficult to measure because of its pervasiveness and the lack of reporting.

Sexual harassment is also highly prevalent. One study found that 83 percent of women and 43 percent of men reported experiencing sexual harassment (U.S. San Diego Center, 2019), with 60 percent of women experiencing some form of sexual harassment in the workplace (Feldblum & Lipnic, 2016) and 80 percent of middle and high school students reporting sexual harassment in school (Nielsen, 2021). This type of harassment is not, however, limited to a specific location, as 65 percent of women report experiencing street sexual harassment (U.S. San Diego Center, 2019).

One in four women and one in 10 men report experiencing some form of IPV, with 21 percent of women and 15 percent of men reporting the physical violence as severe (Smith et al., 2018). To put this into perspective, “an average of 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States” (National Domestic Violence Hotline [NDVH], 2022). Children are often exposed to this violence, with 90 percent of those exposed witnessing the violence directly (NDVH, 2022). IPV can result in death (NDVH, 2022). Nearly three women are killed each day by a current or former intimate partner. Access to a firearm substantially increases that risk (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2019; Violence Policy Center, 2021).

Interpersonal violence issues were magnified during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Reports of domestic and sexual violence and the number of domestic violence fatalities increased (New York City Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, 2021; UN Women, 2022). Human trafficking increased as landlords forced tenants to pay rent with sex; forced marriages increased to pay for families’ expenses; traffickers and other criminals took advantage of reduced security to force commercial sexual acts; and trafficking by family and intimate partners increased (Polaris Project, 2022; U.S. Department of State, 2021).

Interpersonal Violence and Vulnerable Populations

Interpersonal violence impacts all communities regardless of race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, class, or national origin (Bent-Goodley, 2012; Chen et al., 2020). Yet, some communities are disproportionately impacted, in part because of structural barriers, immigration status, stigma, lack of or limited access to services, language access issues, lack of cultural competence in services, and vulnerabilities associated with adapted help seeking due to historical and contemporary forms of discrimination (Bent-Goodley, 2013; Messing, AbiNader, et al., 2022; Semenza et al., 2022; St. Vil et al., 2017; Waller et al., 2021). For example, survivors with disabilities experience higher rates of IPV (Ballan et al., 2021). Bisexual women report higher rates of contact sexual violence than lesbian and heterosexual women and higher rates of IPV than heterosexual women (Chen et al., 2020). Similarly, bisexual men and gay men report higher rates of contact sexual violence than heterosexual men, and gay men report higher rates of IPV than heterosexual men (Chen et al., 2020).

Persons in the transgender community report IPV two times higher and sexual violence 2.5 times higher than those in heterosexual communities (Peitzmeier et al., 2020). Race and ethnicity are also represented in these disproportionate experiences (Semenza et al., 2022). More than half of Black women (53.7 percent) report experiencing rape, and 44.8 percent report experiencing sexual coercion (Basile et al., 2016). Nearly one-third (31 percent) of Hispanic women report experiencing rape, and 23 percent report experiencing sexual coercion (Basile et al., 2015). Four out of five American Indian and Alaska Native persons report experiencing some form of interpersonal violence, and American Indian and Alaska Native women report experiencing victimization at a rate 1.2 times higher than White women (Rosay, 2016). This disproportionality is also reflected in intimate partner homicides (Bent-Goodley, 2013; Petrosky et al., 2017). Black women are 2.3 times more likely to be killed and American Indian and Alaska Native women are 1.7 times more likely to be killed by a male current or former partner than White women (Violence Policy Center, 2021).

Constantly Evolving and Persistent Landscape of Interpersonal Violence

Much more still remains to be learned about the different types of interpersonal violence. Each issue shifts, changes, and remains the same, all at once. For example, technology-facilitated sexual violence, online sexual harassment, cyberstalking, and proxy stalking have emerged (Henry & Powell, 2018). A better understanding of the spacelessness of abuse through digital coercive control is of paramount importance (Harris & Woodlock, 2019). Conversely, some issues are persistently problematic and have changed little, such as how to define stalking, victim blaming, how to file charges against perpetrators, the burden placed on victims of interpersonal violence, and safety efficacy (i.e., how victims perceive their risk and the ability to manage these situations; Backes et al., 2020; Boehnlein et al., 2020).

In recent developments, the neurobiology of trauma has opened new ways for service systems to better support survivors using a trauma-informed approach (Campbell et al., 2019). However, more needs to be learned about the neurobiological impact of multiple, overlapping forms of trauma that persist over time. This is particularly true in cases in which people have experienced multiple head injuries and nonfatal strangulation (Bichard et al., 2020; Messing, Campbell, et al., 2022; Monahan et al., 2019; Monahan et al., 2022). More also need to be learned about the different types of dating and domestic violence, including bidirectional and situational violence, the dynamics and vulnerabilities of each, and best practices to respond (Holmes et al., 2016). In addition, identifying community-driven definitions of high-risk domestic violence and how communities and providers can work together to prevent domestic violence homicides is critical to reducing domestic violence fatalities (Bent-Goodley, 2013; Bent-Goodley et al., 2022; Messing, AbiNader, et al., 2022). These are only a few examples of how much more needs to be learned about the different types of interpersonal violence; it is also critical to understand how they converge.

Co-Occurring Forms of Interpersonal Violence

A focus on concurrent victimization, multiple overlapping patterns (Hacıaliefendioğlu et al., 2021), and intersections (Tsantefski et al., 2021) of interpersonal violence is also important. Among women who experience IPV, 24–62 percent report experiencing intimate partner sexual violence (Bagwell-Gray, 2021). Yet, domestic violence and sexual assault agencies are often bifurcated, and, consequently, providers are not necessarily trained in and knowledgeable of how to work in each other’s area (Bagwell-Gray, 2021; Cox, 2015). Similarly, IPV is often both an entry to and an exit from human trafficking. Some victims turn to domestic violence shelters for help and can experience multiple stigmas, as evidenced in bias in care, shaming and othering, misidentification of abuse, and labeling (Fukushima et al., 2020). Survivors at this intersection face additional layers of structural and functional isolation (Hagan et al., 2019) and abuse that is possibly more compounded and severe (Leidholdt, 2013). In addition to this intersection, homicide precipitated by intimate partner stalking (Rai et al., 2020) is another intersection that needs to be better addressed. Perpetrators of IPV have been found to engage in more threatening and assaultive behaviors than those who are strangers (Logan, 2020). Consequently, knowing how stalking intersects with domestic violence homicides is critical.

These examples point to the need to shift how providers think about and provide services to survivors at intersections of interpersonal violence. The ability to address these intersections becomes vital because the trauma that victims have experienced is not specific to only one form of interpersonal violence but to multiple, overlapping, and compounded traumas. Being able to address these intersections is vital in developing more effective and impactful approaches.

Trauma-Informed Practice and Cultural Competence

Despite a growing understanding of intersectionality, there continue to be challenges in providing care that is culturally competent and trauma informed (Bent-Goodley et al., 2022; Menon et al., 2018). There are providers who continue to be unfamiliar with trauma-informed practice (Bent-Goodley, 2019) and who do not embrace or actualize cultural competence (Bent-Goodley et al., 2022; St. Vil et al., 2017). Some believe that a practitioner does not need to be culturally competent to use a trauma-informed approach. Yet, the lack of cultural competence and trauma-informed practice creates a mistrust of systems and a perception that providers are ill equipped to be responsive to these complex issues (Bent-Goodley et al., 2022). An unintentional result is that some communities use adapted help-seeking strategies that can prove to be lethal (Bent-Goodley, 2013; Waller & Bent-Goodley, 2022; Waller et al., 2021).

Organization of This Book

The first part of the book provides background information and addresses the co- occurring forms of interpersonal violence. The second part provides specific perspectives on each form of interpersonal violence. All the chapters focus on the role social workers can play across levels of practice and how they can apply trauma-informed approaches and cultural competence. This book takes the perspective that being culturally responsive and trauma informed are not add-on skills but ethical mandates for social work practice and critical elements of sound, ethical, and best practices. It is important to recognize that social work practice is not limited to any one approach, and this book promotes the idea that social work practice is unique and more powerful when all forms of social work approach are acknowledged.

In chapter 1, Kulkarni, using an antioppressive framework, provides readers with an understanding of how to apply an antioppressive framework and how social workers can utilize that framework to support survivors by power sharing, authenticity, individualized and tailored services, and systems advocacy.

In chapter 2, Bent-Goodley and McFadgion focus on the unique dynamics of interpersonal violence advocacy on a college campus and how social workers can develop coordinated campus responses through a set of values and five essential pillars.

Chapter 3 focuses on housing and IPV. Wood highlights how housing and economic security are critical to understand in relation to the realities of survivors of IPV. She discusses these vulnerabilities and provides key considerations for social workers.

Chapter 4 examines the ways in which mental health intersects with IPV. In this chapter, Messing, Jiwatram-Negrón, and Lin discuss the mental health effects of interpersonal violence and the impactful ways in which social workers can respond.

Chapter 5 explores how social isolation impacts survivors of IPV. In this chapter, Bent-Goodley examines social isolation as a tactic of psychological abuse and how it connects to vulnerable populations and across the life span. Implications for social work practice are provided.

Chapter 6 discusses how to identify, prevent, and respond to victims of human trafficking. Ascienzo, Nsonwu, and Busch-Armendariz explore service needs of human trafficking victims and how social workers can respond.

In chapter 7, Zonicle defines and discusses the dynamics and impact of sexual harassment on survivors. The chapter emphasizes important ways in which social workers can respond.

Chapter 8 provides information on a cultural context of sexual assault, and Bent-Goodley and Gómez discuss how social workers can implement trauma-informed and culturally competent practice approaches in addressing sexual violence.

Chapter 9 explores the lived experiences of Black gay men with IPV. Frierson explores how sexual orientation and race converge to impact this group of survivors, the unique challenges they experience, and how social workers can better support and assist them.

In chapter 10, Waller explores the nuances of help seeking for Black female survivors of IPV. She examines forms of adapted help seeking and offers a model of constructed agency for social workers to use in response.

Chapter 11 explores the challenges of leading a sexual assault agency and how social work executives can lead and respond. Bent-Goodley and Henard share the unique lens that social workers bring to organizational leadership with implications for how social workers can be impactful at this meso level of practice.

Chapter 12 focuses on sex trafficking and the role that communities can play in addressing this issue. Bent-Goodley provides a trauma-informed community engagement approach that social workers can use to be responsive.

In chapter 13, Bent-Goodley, Romero-Chandler, and Zonicle discuss dynamics of domestic violence homicide and the importance of the role of the community in responding to domestic violence homicide prevention. They discuss the need for more community-driven definitions of high-risk domestic violence and the role social workers can play.

Nitsch and Rice explore, in chapter 14, the history and contemporary realities of engaging abusive persons of IPV. They examine the state of intervention programs and the role social workers can play with this population.

In chapter 15, St. Vil discusses how to conduct IPV research and how the research process should be shaped to be trauma informed and culturally responsive. The chapter is written for social work practitioners and researchers to understand how to conduct research that is accessible and usable in its approach to engage survivors.

The book concludes with a summary of the important overall concepts discussed with next steps for social workers to consider at each level of practice.

Summary and Conclusion

More is needed to address the unique dynamics of each form of interpersonal violence, how they co-occur, and how they intersect. Social workers must better understand the complexity of patterns, the overlap in patterns, and the intensity and interplay of interpersonal violence. More needs to be learned about multiple overlapping trauma as practitioners move from co-occurrence to the intersection of these forms of violence.

It is imperative to enhance system responses. Ensuring that services are holistic and comprehensive as opposed to fragmented and bifurcated is a vital evolution of system-level care. As part of this, social workers must enhance screening for these issues across systems and improve the response once they are uncovered. Highlighting and confronting the misidentification and misclassification of the different forms of interpersonal violence in social service and legal systems is critical to dismantling structural barriers posed by systems fragmentation, racism, and discrimination. Targeting these systemic issues is a vital next step.

Social workers must be committed to providing trauma-informed care and cultural competence at each level of practice. Interpersonal violence issues demand such an approach, and individuals and communities are done a disservice when void of this care. Establishing integration of trauma-informed and culturally competent systems and practices with accountability measures to monitor their infusion can be enormously impactful and honors the best of social work practice.

Finally, leading the way through informed, entrepreneurial, and innovative practice is necessary. By working in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams, social work can further its reach and relevance. Also, actively addressing the multiple gateways to obtain support for these issues, such as mental health and child welfare systems, presents an opportunity to be even more impactful and lead the way to change.

This book is not an end; it is another beginning. Although much has been learned about interpersonal violence, more remains to be learned and fully embraced in practice. Social workers are uniquely positioned to be difference makers. The profession offers the possibility to provide life-changing care to individuals, communities, and the broader society. There are new trails to blaze, and every social worker is called to act, to lead, and to make a difference for those impacted by interpersonal violence.

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