“I Am the One That Needs Help”: The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior for Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

African American women survivors of intimate partner violence disproportionately experience homicide due, in part, to the racism and racial discrimination they experience during their help-seeking process. Yet, existing scholarship neglects to examine how this multiply-marginalized population of women navigate sociocultural barriers to obtain crisis services and supports from the domestic violence service provision system. Fundamental to developing culturally-salient interventions is more fully understanding their help-seeking behavior. We conducted 30 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with women who self-identified as African American. Constructivist grounded theory methodology was employed. Sensitizing concepts from the Transtheoretical Model of Change and Intersectionality theories, along with Agency framework were conceptually bound. The Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior emerged from the data. This nascent theory provides practitioners and researchers with a theoretical model to examine African American women’s nuanced help-seeking efforts.

“I Have to Fight to Get Out”: African American Women Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Construction of Agency

“…Recognizing the use of faith and spirituality as its own form of intervention is important. In the meantime, women delay their need for formal services, interventions, and supports until they believe their victimization is at peak lethality (Waller et al 2022). This has resulted in overwhelmingly high rates of IPV-related homicide evidenced among this population (Petrosky et al, 2017).…”

“…In these situations, it appears that officers may shift how they provide support and that can create further challenges with seeking help. In addition to long wait times and inconsistent responses, the systems are often demoralizing (Waller et al, 2022). This sense of rejection and resignation makes it less likely that the survivor will choose to access formal provider systems despite the need or safety risk.…”

“…Yet, there is an immediate need to develop culturally appropriate interventions and the initial step is to develop a theory that explains their help-seeking. Second, the field currently lacks a theoretical framework that explains this population’s help-seeking (Waller et al, in press). Moreover, grounded theory requires tabula rasa or “blank slate” whereas CGT allows us to incorporate clinical and scholarly knowledge into analysis (Charmaz, 2014).…”

Sarah Waller’s Help-Seeking Model: Understanding African American Women Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Help-seeking Process

“…This context is critical to understanding African American women’s help-seeking, particularly since they are overrepresented in low-wage jobs that were significantly impacted by COVID-19-related business disruptions (Holder et al, 2021). Despite the complexities that underpin their IPV help-seeking, there remain a dearth of theories that adequately explicate African American women’s specific strategies (Waller et al, 2023). Current theories explaining IPV help-seeking identify Asian American and Latina women’s help-seeking (Liang et al, 2005; Raj & Silverman, 2007; Randell et al, 2012).…”

Evidence of Help-Seeking Behaviors Among Black Women Under Community Supervision in New York City: A Plea for Culturally Tailored Intimate Partner Violence Interventions

“…While Black women face disproportionate IPV prevalence, severity, and frequency, they also have robust adaptive coping strategies, including some forms of social support, 18 , 19 which may positively affect their well-being, enable them to protect themselves from IPV, and reduce substance use. 20 , 21 Specifically, social networking and support from others compose the social support construct 22 , 23 and are prime examples of an adaptive coping strategy in response to stressors associated with IPV. 24 Furthermore, those with more social support have reported higher self-esteem and deploy more positive coping skills.…”