Introduction
In the United States, the issue of domestic violence is closely related to other misfortunate circumstances in people’s lives. Violence at home is often accompanied by substance abuse, child neglect, and economic instability in the family. Due to the willingness to escape from an attacker, a victim is subjected either to homelessness or constant revictimization if the escape is impossible. The victims of domestic traumatization seek for safety for themselves and their children.
These people are often both physically and mentally injured and need qualified help. However, it is essential to address the issue from the non-therapeutic perspective to provide support, protection, and life-skills education for the individuals subjected to violence and related outcomes. Transitional housing as one of the possible non-therapeutic interventions might be a useful tool applicable to the problem of violence victimization, abuse, and homelessness among adults and children.
The Effectiveness with Children and Adolescents
Domestic abuse is one of the main concerns that lead to health issues, both mental and physical, homelessness, and child neglect. According to the US statistics, “1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men have been victims of severe physical violence by an intimate partner” (Clark, Wood, & Sullivan, 2018, p.1). Women, being the majority of victims, tend to protect their children and escape becoming exposed to homelessness and suffering. Such people are in need of shelter before any therapeutic interventions. Moreover, the majority of violence victims come from low-income environments and cannot afford therapy on a regular basis (Meyer, 2016).
Therefore, a system of non-therapeutic interventions aimed at providing transitional housing with “programs that economically empower victims” would be sufficient for both, children and adults (Renzetti, Follingstad, & Fleet, 2017, p. 229). Children would benefit from such procedures because they would be protected and provided with support and care. Also, they would improve their state due to the programs for victimized parents who would have shelter and access to encouraging training.
Implications for Practice
Transitional housing with economically empowering programs provides a system of opportunities for specialists to implement in practice. Due to unemployment and lack of finances, the introduction of shelter for the victims might address their primary needs for the home-like environment, food, accommodation and, most importantly, support and protection (Clark et al., 2018). The priority of such interventions is to guarantee that a person will not be exposed to revictimization and will have opportunities to survive in unfavorable circumstances.
Transitional housing might provide a long-term living for victims in a rental facility for a period until they resolve all the issues related to employment, permanent place of residence, as well as mental and physical health problems (Clark et al., 2018). Such interventions are applied to adults and their children.
Conclusion
To conclude, the problem of domestic violence and its outcomes, which result in homelessness, child abuse, and neglect, mental and physical issues, has social and economic roots. Low-income environments produce violence by financial and substance abuse problems. People subjected to violence have to seek for shelter and economic stability in their attempts to escape revictimization. Therefore, it is vital to provide them with essential needs, such as transitional housing that sufficiently meets the primary requirements of the survivors on the stage when they try to find a place of residence and employment. Such non-therapeutic interventions might be effective for adults and their children before actual therapeutic procedures aimed at the elimination of trauma.
References
Clark, D., Wood, L., & Sullivan, C. (2018) Exploring domestic violence survivors’ need for transitional housing. Technical Report. Web.
Meyer, S. (2016) Examining women’s agency in managing intimate partner violence and the related risk of homelessness: The role of harm minimization. Global Public Health, 11(1-2), 198-210. Web.
Renzetti, C. M., Follingstad, D. R., & Fleet, D. (2017). Innovative programs to economically empower women and prevent intimate partner violence revictimization. In C. Renzetti, D. Follingstad, & A. L. Coker (Eds.), Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 229-261). Chicago, IL: Policy Press.