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Psychology Colloquia

13 March 2007

Title

"What we know about rural battered women: Findings from Western Montana domestic violence research."
 

Speaker

Joanna Legerski is a 3rd year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology Program at The University of Montana.  Her research interests include: rural mental health service delivery, child ptsd, intimate partner violence, and complex ptsd in adult women.  Her advisor and mentor is Dr. Christine Fiore.
 

Time & Venue

4:10pm, SS 356
 

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the impact of culture and physical isolation in rural battered women.  Archival data containing a cross-sectional sample of 394 battered women from the Western Montana region will be discussed. The factors of geographic location, level of trauma symptoms, social support, severity and frequency of violence are explored.  Overall, quantitative findings from this sample suggest that for rural women higher trauma symptoms are associated with greater physical isolation. However, help-seeking experiences for rural women are complex and may represent different challenges and barriers than reported in other studies of interpersonal violence.  Qualitative analysis of findings obtained from this study may provide guidance for resource providers who attend to the needs of battered women, especially resources that exist in rural and isolated areas.  Findings may help supportive networks become more aware of cultural influences for those living in rural areas and provide a deeper understanding of why help-seeking may be especially challenging.

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last revised 07 March 2007

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