Welcome to CVR Library!
How can CVR Library help me with victim services work?
The Office for Victims of Crime Vision 21 initiative identified the need for an evidence base to support victim services practices. However, linking research to practice presents many challenges. Research is often written for an academic audience and service providers are rarely trained to decode research concepts. Also, buying peer-reviewed articles adds up, and free research reports are scattered across many websites. To address these challenges, Center for Victim Research (CVR) Library offers tools to make research more accessible!
Searchable Collection
CVR Library collection is an easy-to-use search tool for finding research about all types of victimization and victim services. The collection contains both free research-based materials and subscription peer-reviewed articles. CVR Library is regularly updated with materials from CVR Research2Practice network and other authoritative online sources.
Download the Searching CVR Library Collection Features flyer for an overview.
Browse our annotated bibliographies for a selection of articles and reports that include research about human trafficking survivors or culturally relevant programs.
Have a report you’d like to share? Send it to us!
Search Tips
CVR Library blog, Learn with the Library, includes tip sheets with recommended search terms on specific topics, steps to build your online search skills, and questions to ask about a source’s bias and credibility. When you search CVR Library collection, apply these strategies to find more relevant results.
Want tips delivered to your inbox? Sign up for CVR monthly newsletter.
Library Tour Video
Personalized Assistance
In addition to locating research on your own, CVR Library staff can help you craft searches, locate relevant resources, and grow your online search skills. Whether you need statistics to bolster your grant proposal or studies that identify effective practices in your service area, CVR Research Librarian can help you locate existing research.
Have questions about locating research for your program? Ask us!
We look forward to working with you!
What specific aspects of the criminal justice system have been shown to have an impact on survivors?
Research, though limited, highlights that specific aspects of the criminal justice system, such as the initial reporting of incidents and interactions with legal personnel during the investigative process and court proceedings, significantly affect survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and co-victims of homicide (Bradshaw et al., 2024; Calton & Cattaneo, 2014; Englebrecht et al., 2014; Gutowski & Goodman, 2019; Iwasaki et al., 2023; Lorenz et al., 2019; Lorenz & Jacobsen, 2024; Reed et al., 2022; Reed et al., 2020).
Domestic Violence Victims
Research on the impact of criminal justice processes shows that the initial reporting of incidents and interactions with legal personnel during court proceedings significantly affect the lives of domestic violence victims (Bradshaw et al., 2024; Calton & Cattaneo, 2014; Gutowski & Goodman, 2019; Lysova et al., 2020; Nnawulezi et al., 2022; Osborn & Rajah, 2022).
- When victims of domestic violence report to law enforcement, they often encounter inadequate responses, lack of support, or a failure to be taken seriously; this can leave them feeling disempowered and distrustful of the justice system (Calton & Cattaneo, 2014; Nnawulezi et al.,2022). A scoping review of domestic violence survivors’ experiences with the criminal legal system revealed that reporting to the police was challenging and ineffective. Victims often felt that the process did not enhance their safety, and some experienced victim-blaming or accusations from law enforcement (Osborn & Rajah, 2022).
- Interactions with legal personnel during court hearings can also be harmful to domestic violence survivors. In a study involving 214 mothers exposed to intimate partner violence, about 30 described the court process as adversarial and retraumatizing, especially during cross-examination (Bradshaw et al., 2024). Another study focusing on 19 IPV-exposed mothers found that court personnel often lacked awareness of abusive tactics, such as coercive control, and some mothers felt their experiences of violence were trivialized, leaving them feeling powerless in the courtroom (Gutowski & Goodman, 2019). In addition to female victims, male victims of domestic violence also encounter negative experiences in court proceedings. A study by Lysova and colleagues (2020) revealed that men seeking protective orders or child custody faced poor treatment from legal personnel, gender discrimination, and were often perceived as the perpetrator; this contributed to feelings of hopelessness regarding their chances of receiving support and securing custody of their children.
Sexual Assault Victims
Research indicates that the criminal legal processes significantly impact victims of sexual assault, particularly during the initial reporting of incidents and interactions with legal personnel during court proceedings (Calton & Cattaneo, 2014; Iwasaki et al., 2023; Lorenz et al., 2019; Lorenz & Jacobsen, 2024; McQueen et al, 2021; Murphy-Oikonen et al., 2022).
- For example, a study by Lorenz and Jacobsen (2024) found that negative responses from law enforcement during the initial report and throughout the investigation deterred sexual assault survivors from reporting future crimes. Similarly, another study revealed that sexual assault survivors that were not believed by the police when they initially reported their victimization resulted in distrust towards the justice system as well as negative impacts to their wellbeing and inability to find closure (McQueen et al., 2022).
- Interactions with legal personnel during court hearings can also be harmful to sexual assault survivors. In a study by Lorenz and colleagues (2019), three survivors reported feeling unsafe, disrespected, and disempowered due to interactions with judges on their cases. A more recent study on secondary victimization in the legal system involved 41 advocates who worked closely with survivors. Seventeen advocates noted that repeated questioning by prosecutors and defense attorneys, insufficient information about the legal process, and a lack of input in case decisions can be emotionally challenging, disempowering, and revictimizing for survivors (Maier, 2024).
Homicide Co-Victims
Recent studies have found that for homicide co-victims, initial interactions with law enforcement, court proceedings, and follow-up investigations can have a particularly negative impact (Englebrecht et al., 2014; Reed et al., 2022; Reed et al., 2020).
- Regarding initial interactions with law enforcement—specifically during a report of a missing person, crime scene investigations, and death notifications—studies indicate that co-victims may experience inadequate or insensitive communication, contributing to emotional distress and hampers their ability to grieve properly (Englebrecht et al., 2014; Reed et al., 2020). For example, a study involving 13 families of homicide victims found that the dismissive attitudes and victim-blaming from law enforcement contributed to significant emotional distress (Englebrecht et al., 2014).
- Homicide co-victims have reported negative experiences with the ongoing investigation process. Poor communication and perceived inaction from law enforcement, characterized by lengthy wait times and delays, can hinder their grieving process and lead to feelings of revictimization (Reed et al., 2020; Reed et al., 2022). In a study of 27 co-victims, participants expressed feelings of disrespect and revictimization due to inconsistent communication and a lack of empathy and concern from legal personnel (Reed et al., 2022).
- Court proceedings are another point in the process where co-victims can experience secondary victimization by legal personnel (Reed et al., 2022; Reed et al., 2020). In a study involving 27 co-victims from 24 murder cases, many reported issues such as inadequate notifications about case updates, delays in the legal process, poor communication, and disrespectful treatment from attorneys and judges. Participants noted that the emotional restrictions of the court exacerbated their trauma, and many felt excluded from meaningful decision-making, particularly regarding sentencing, which they viewed as trivializing their loved ones’ lives (Englebrecht et al., 2014).
References
- Bradshaw, J., Gutowski, E. R., & Nyamwezi, K. (2024). Intimate partner violence survivors’ perspectives on coping with family court processes. Violence Against Women, 30(1), 101-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801223120558
- Calton, J., & Cattaneo, L. B. (2014). The effects of procedural and distributive justice on intimate partner violence victims’ mental health and likelihood of future help-seeking. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 84(4), 329. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0099841
- Englebrecht, C., Mason, D. T., & Adams, M. J. (2014). The experiences of homicide victims’ families with the Criminal Justice System: An exploratory study. Violence and Victims, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-12-00151
- Gutowski, E., & Goodman, L. A. (2020). “Like I’m invisible”: IPV survivor-mothers’ perceptions of seeking child custody through the family court system. Journal Of Family Violence, 35(5), 441-457. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801223120558
- Iwasaki, M., Picchiello, M. C., Morgan, C. H., & Henninger, A. L. (2023). Voices of female sexual assault survivors: striving for survivor-centered reporting processes in the US criminal justice system. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 47(1), 65-79. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221136869
- Lorenz, K., & Jacobsen, C. (2024). Sexual violence survivors’ experiences with the police and willingness to report future victimization. Women & Criminal Justice, 34(2), 107-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2021.1985045
- Lorenz, K., Kirkner, A., & Ullman, S. E. (2019). A qualitative study of sexual assault survivors’ post-assault legal system experiences. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 20(3), 263– 287. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2019.1592643
- Lysova, A., Hanson, K., Hines, D. A., Dixon, L., Douglas, E. M., & Celi, E. M. (2020). A qualitative study of the male victims’ experiences with the criminal justice response to intimate partner abuse in four English-speaking countries. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 47(10), 1264-1281. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854820927442
- Maier, S. L. (2024). Advocates’ perception of the secondary victimization of rape survivors by law enforcement, the legal system, and hospital professionals. Violence Against Women, 0(0), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801224129226
- Murphy-Oikonen, J., Chambers, L., Miller, A., & McQueen, K. (2022). Sexual assault case attrition: The voices of survivors. SAGE Open, 12(4), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221144612
- Nnawulezi, N., Engleton, J., Jumarali, S., Royson, S., & Murphy, C. (2022). “Isn’t there any other way than calling the cops?”: How differences in initiation of police intervention influence survivor safety. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 37(23-24), NP21953-NP21974. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211064287
- Osborn, M., & Rajah, V. (2022). Understanding formal responses to intimate partner violence and women’s resistance processes: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(5), 1405-1419. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020967348
- Reed, M. D., & Caraballo, K. (2022). Voice of the victims: Accounts of secondary victimization with the court system among homicide co-victims. Journal Of Interpersonal Violence, 37(13-14), 10832-10861. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260521989732
- Reed, M. D., Dabney, D. A., Tapp, S. N., & Ishoy, G. A. (2020). Tense relationships between homicide co-victims and detectives in the wake of murder. Deviant Behavior, 41(5), 543-561. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2019.1574256
Have you checked out the Center for Victim Research YouTube Channel yet? You will find a video archive of all of CVR’s webinars, including Evidence Hours and Ask-a-Researcher, as well as videos on our resources. Be sure to check it out!
Visit our Collections
The Justice Information Center houses the Center for Victim Research Community, which contains three collections of resources for victim service providers and researchers.
The Open Access Instruments Collection includes tools developed by researchers and practitioners to collect data and conduct research with crime victims and victim services. The collection consists of focus group protocols, survey instruments, interview protocols, and logic models.
The Open Access Research Collection includes scholarly journal articles, book chapters, government publications, statistical reports, evaluation studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, audio and video expert syntheses, and other authoritative, evidence-based resources about all aspects of crimes against individuals and support for victims.
The third collection consists of screening and assessment tools.
Please contact our librarian if you need assistance obtaining or accessing additional information.
In a 2020 survey of Texas victim service providers, respondents said that hearing from others who have partnered with researchers would help with their own efforts to work with a researcher.1 How can you learn about other researcher-practitioner partnerships and their studies? The Center for Victim Research (CVR) Library has some ideas!
Previously, the CVR Library shared search tips for finding reports from researcher-practitioner partnerships by using terms related to Research-to-Practice. In this post, we will cover search tips for finding research approaches that may be used by such partnerships.
Search Terms
The examples below come from the Justice Research & Statistics Association’s mini-grants, supported by IACP’s Law Enforcement-based Victim Services and Technical Services Program. All definitions come from CVR’s glossary.
Search the CVR Library for:
- gap analysis– “The process of identifying gaps between the services and programs currently provided by an organization and the ideal level of service provision.” The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and the University of North Carolina used mapping to identify underserved populations in the Cleveland County jurisdiction covered by victim services.
- Related terms: barriers to service, underserved, reaching victims
- needs assessment– “A systematic process to determine a specific population’s needs, with the goal of developing or improving services to effectively meet those needs.” The Chicago Police Department and Sancent Consulting, Inc. analyzed case record assessments and interviewed advocates to understand the needs of nonfatal gun violence victims. Brockton Police Department and Curry College compiled data from multiple sources and reviewed other advocacy programs’ language access plans to reveal victims’ language needs and police resources to meet those needs.
- Related terms: community-engaged, effectiveness
- process evaluation: “measures the progress or implementation of a program or service to determine how closely activities are implemented as intended, and to identify barriers and opportunities for correction.” The Saginaw Police Department and Saginaw Valley State University conducted surveys of police officers, community partners, and victims to increase their understanding of repeat victimization. This partnership also conducted a process evaluation, analyzing victim service staff members’ journals about serving victims.
- Related terms: implementation, progress, workflow, inputs
- outcome evaluation: “measures a program’s results and determines whether or not it achieved its intended goals. It answers the question: Did this program change anything?” The Auburn Police Department, Cayuga Counseling Services, Inc., and Dr. Alison Marganski analyzed pre- and post-implementation crime report data and victim services data to capture the impact of the victim specialist on victims’ engagement with services and justice processes.
- Related terms: impact, effectiveness, goals
How do I use these search tips?
Visit the CVR Library and copy and paste any of the search terms suggested above.
Add in any other topics related to the type of service or victimization you want to learn more about. Boolean operators can help focus the search results.
- Here’s an example search: (“gap analysis” OR “barriers to service”) AND (researcher-practitioner partnership)
Additional Resources
After seeing examples of practitioners partnering with researcher, you may want to get started on your own study! Here are some suggested tools to simplify the process:
- CVR Researcher Directory: Find a local partner with expertise in your topic.
- Working Together tools: these guides walk through how to agree on the shape of the collaboration, expectations, and responsibilities. This page also includes ready-to-fill-in templates for a memorandum of understanding and a data-sharing agreement.
Citation
- In July and August of 2020, CVR and the Texas Victim Services Association (TVSA) conducted a survey of TVSA network members regarding their interest in and use of research, data, and empirical evidence . A total of 130 persons responded, mostly practitioners from community-based and criminal justice-based victim service providers. Here is an excerpt from the report on Survey of Victim Service Providers in Texas, August 2020 (internal, unpublished report):
We asked respondents, “In addition to funding, what would help facilitate your efforts in partnering with a researcher? (check all that apply)”
The Center for Victim Research’s webinar series, The Evidence Hour, showcases a recent systematic review* or meta-analysis about victimization, trauma, or victim services. Each webinar features an author of the research and a practitioner discussant who will review the findings and reflect on what they mean for victim service providers and researchers.
Dr. Sarah Ullman reviewed research on correlates and impacts of social reactions made to victims disclosing sexual assault and partner violence. Kris Bein shares recommendations from survivors and informal supports about what survivors need. Dr. Ullman also shared findings from an evaluation of recent intervention to improve social reactions to survivor disclosures. The presenters also discussed how victim advocacy organizations can help friends and family members of survivors and some practical dos and don’ts for demonstrating support through body language and words.
This webinar is based on findings from the article:”Correlates of Social Reactions to Victims’ Disclosures of Sexual Assault and Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review” by S. E. Ullman, (2021). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380211016013. (Contact the Research Librarian for access.)
Related Research:
- “‘We need more resources’: Stories of QTPOC survival in the South” by B.M. Coston. (2018). Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 31(1): 35-52. This study involved focus groups where queer and trans people of color discussed their experiences of intimate partner violence and reactions from service providers and their networks. Most participants discussed the importance of friends and family for getting help and modeling healthy relationships, but also how many people are not prepared in the moment to offer support and resources. The author summarized: “it is critically important that service providers and community organizations also provide services to survivor support networks.”
- “Supporting sexual assault survivors with disabilities: Tracing disclosure and referral pathways to postassault health care services” by R. Campbell et al. (2021). American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(6), 751–762. (Abstract only; contact Librarian for full-text.) This study used notes from 75 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners to understand how survivors with disabilities sought help. Data analysis showed that survivors with disabilities were much less likely than survivors without disabilities to tell their family and friends about experiencing sexual violence. Also, when survivors with disabilities disclosed to informal supports, informal supports were less likely to recommend victim services. The authors discuss how to raise awareness of services in the community so more survivors have access to resources.
- “The association between social support and posttraumatic stress symptoms among survivors of betrayal trauma: a meta-analysis” by V. Tirone e tal. (2021). European journal of psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1883925. One goal of this study was to expand on findings of Dworkin et al.’s 2019 systematic review on social reactions to disclosure and of
- “A mixed-method process evaluation of an intervention to improve social reactions to disclosures of sexual assault and partner abuse” by E.A. Waterman et al. (2020). Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Process evaluations measure “progress or implementation of a program or service to determine how closely the activities are implemented as intended, and to identify process barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for correction.” (CVR Glossary). This article discusses a process evaluation of Survivors and Self: An Intervention for Social Supports of Survivors of Partner Abuse and Sexual Aggression (SSS; Edwards et al., 2020). SSS allows participants to practice positive reactions to disclosure and to consider how to care for themselves while caring for victims. Three hundred and three students completed the program. Many survey and exit interview respondents found helpful interactive activities like role play and small group discussions and that they increased their skills in body language, resource referral, empathetic listening, and following up later. Some participants notes that sessions could be repetitive and rely too much on lecture and forced discussion groups with strangers.
Related Resources from our Reserch2Practice Network:
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center: Healing from sexual violence – How friends and family can help
- NW Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse: It Takes a Village, People! Advocacy, Friends and Family & LGBT Survivors of Abuse
- Resource Sharing Project: Partners in Healing: Supporting Friends & Family
*What are Systematic Reviews?
- A systematic review is the process of bringing together all available studies about a well-defined question, analyzing the quality of their study methods, and summarizing their findings.
- Systematic reviews often use a statistical practice called meta-analysis. This means combining data from multiple studies, to find patterns and calculate the average effect of the intervention.
- Because systematic reviews pool results from many experiments and rate the methods of each study, these reviews increase our confidence in the quality and consistency of the evidence and what it means for the field.
Basically, systematic reviews take a large amount of information about a complex issue from multiple sources and make that information more manageable and usable. These reviews can also help make sense of conflicting findings from different studies.
Learn more from:
- Quick Reference: Systematic Reviews
- Quick Reference: Tips on Reading Research Articles
The Center for Victim Research’s webinar series, The Evidence Hour, showcases a recent systematic review* or meta-analysis about victimization, trauma, or victim services. Each webinar features an author of the research and a practitioner discussant who will review the findings and reflect on what they mean for victim service providers and researchers.
Todd I. Herrenkohl, Ph.D. discussed findings from the literature review about the developmental associations between child maltreatment, violence in adolescence, and intimate partner violence (IPV) and elder mistreatment. Karen A. Roberto, Ph.D. reviewed the existing, though limited, evidence on the close association between adult IPV and elder mistreatment. They noted what is known about the persistence of violence in and across family and other interpersonal relationships, noting where gaps in knowledge remain and where research is particularly strong. Sandy Bromley, JD, discussed applying this research, such as providing survivors’ time and space to talk about previous experiences of violence to preventing further violence in communities by deploying psychoeducational resources after a violent event. All presenters talked about risk and protective factors and emphasized that “violence is not inevitable.”
This webinar is based on findings from the article: “Child Maltreatment, Youth Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Elder Mistreatment: A Review and Theoretical Analysis of Research on Violence Across the Life Course” by T. I. Herrenkohl et al. (2022). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(1), 314–328. (Email the Research Librarian for full-text.)
Related Research:
- “Addressing the victim–offender overlap: Advancing evidence-based research to better service criminally involved people with victimization histories” by S.M. Bucerius et al. (2020): Victims & offenders, 16(4):1-16. This study involved interviews and surveys with 266 people incarcerated in Canada and included a focus on their victimization histories. Nearly all participants (men: 96%; women: 97%) reported experiencing frequent victimization, a much higher percentage than that of the general population in Canada. Most participants had experienced repeated violence from a young age and before their first arrest. The researchers also noted that most victims had not disclosed their victimization to anyone before; when asked why, participants said things like: “never really thinking about reporting,” to “not wanting to be a snitch,” “not knowing how to,” to “no one would have believed me,” to “feeling ashamed about being victimized,” to “not growing up in an environment where you would report to police because you take matters in your own hands/low trust in police.” (p. 8) during interviews, women “often normalized physical and sexual violence against them to a greater degree than men.” (p. 9). Using these findings, a Victim Services worker outlined resources for prisoners and met with people one-on-one to navigate access to services. The worker also trained correctional officers on referring individuals for help and went into the community to meet with people released from prison about their needs.
- “Recognizing the cumulative burden of childhood adversities transforms science and practice for trauma and resilience“ by S. Hamby et al. (2021). American psychologist, 76(2), 230. This paper summarizes the evolution of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) research, including increased knowledge about cumulative disadvantage, polyvictimization, and trauma beyond the families. The researchers also discuss how trauma interacts with risk factors, from psychological and physical health to social connections to structural inequities and how these mechanisms can contribute to adversity later in life. The researchers share the need to tap into “wisdom about resilience and pathways to thriving despite adversity” (p. 238), like developing people’s sense of purpose, prosocial acts, and mindfulness to reduce symptoms and increase meaning-making. The paper emphasize the need for future research and practice to pay more attention to racial trauma and ongoing oppressions to address the full scope of trauma and resilience. (See also other papers from this special issue of the American Psychologist)
- “Shifting the lens: An implementation study of a community-based and social network intervention to gender-based violence.” by M.E. Kim. (2021). Violence against women, 27(2), 222-254. This paper summarizes research about the shift from providing individual victim services to engaging the community in healing from and preventing gender-based violence. The researcher also describes a pilot intervention model in California, Creative Intervention, where change agents (those most affected by violence) lead the intervention and lean on each other for support and ideas and prioritizes responding to marginalized communities’ needs. Table 1 includes a chart comparing conventional approaches, innovative approaches and similar innovative models. The article outlines a survey conducted with multiple organizations about their knowledge, importance placed, commitment, and organizational readiness to implement the Creative Intervention, challenges to adopting the model, and the steps they took to implement parts of the model post-test.
Related Resources from our Research2Practice Network:
- Esperanza United: Te invito/Engaging Men and Boys Toolkit and Organizational Capacity Building Toolkit for involving more community members in preventing violence and strengthening service providers’ workforce and connections to their communities.
- National Adult Protective Services Association and National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse Research Committee: Child Adversities, Midlife Health, and Elder Abuse: Application of Cumulative Disadvantage Theory to Understand Late Life Victimization for additional research on the connections between ACEs and abuse in later life and what can be done to intervene and prevent further trauma.
- National Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Building Comprehensive Solutions to Domestic Violence for training in victim-defined advocacy and considering survivors’ and children’s safety and working with partners who batter.
- National Resource Center for Reaching Victims: Reaching Victims Who Have an Incarceration History (webinar) and Returning and Healing Toolkit for working with survivors returning to their communities after incarceration.
*What are Systematic Reviews?
- A systematic review is the process of bringing together all available studies about a well-defined question, analyzing the quality of their study methods, and summarizing their findings.
- Systematic reviews often use a statistical practice called meta-analysis. This means combining data from multiple studies, to find patterns and calculate the average effect of the intervention.
- Because systematic reviews pool results from many experiments and rate the methods of each study, these reviews increase our confidence in the quality and consistency of the evidence and what it means for the field.
Basically, systematic reviews take a large amount of information about a complex issue from multiple sources and make that information more manageable and usable. These reviews can also help make sense of conflicting findings from different studies.
Learn more from:
- Quick Reference: Systematic Reviews
- Quick Reference: Tips on Reading Research Articles
The Center for Victim Research’s webinar series, The Evidence Hour, showcases a recent systematic review* or meta-analysis about victimization, trauma, or victim services. Each webinar features an author of the research and a practitioner discussant who will review the findings and reflect on what they mean for victim service providers and researchers.
On January 5, Rebecca Pfeffer, Ph.D., and Kelle Barrick, Ph.D., shared findings from their scoping review of research methods used to measure the prevalence of human trafficking. Terri Galvan, MPP, shared her experiences as the Executive Director of Community Against Sexual Harm (CASH) assisting sex trafficking survivors through harm reduction and trauma-informed practices and training local law enforcement and other groups on person-centered strategies for helping survivors. The recording is available on the CVR YouTube channel:
This webinar is based on findings from the article: “Advances in measurement: A scoping review of prior human trafficking prevalence studies and recommendations for future research” by R. Pfeffer & K. Barrick. (2021), Journal of Human Trafficking.
Related Research:
- “The Prevalence of Sex Trafficking of Children and Adolescents in the United States: A Scoping Review“ by. H. Franchino-Olsen, H. et al. (2022). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(1), 182–195. This article clarifies what prevalence can mean, using K. J. Rothman (2012)’s definition [emphasis added]: “the proportion of cases in a population either at a specific point in time (point prevalence), during a given time period (period prevalence) or at some point in one’s lifetime (lifetime prevalence).” The review covers six articles published between 1999 and 2017 about commercial sexual exploitation of children/domestic minor sex trafficking (CSEC/DMST) and found that three of the studies methods focused “on the number of youth at-risk of DMST/CSEC” and the other three focused on “prevalence of previous or ongoing DMST/CSEC victimization.” The researchers noted a need for more studies with nationally representative samples that focus on actual victims, rather than populations “at risk.” They also suggested using a combination of documented case data and self-report data.
- “A Scoping Review of Human Trafficking Screening and Response” by R.J. Macy et al. (2021). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. This article compiles 22 screening tools identifying potential trafficking victims and describes the number of questions, setting for use (healthcare, social services, etc.), and the type of trafficking. The authors also noted that 4 of the tools were evaluated for validity/sensitivity. Tables 5 & 6 may be of particular interest, as they provide recommendations for using the tools and steps for following up if someone seems likely to be in a trafficking situation. See also CVR’s Screening & Assessment collection for access to some human trafficking screening tools.
- “Assets and Logic: Proposing an Evidenced-based Strategic Partnership Model for Anti-trafficking Response” by K.M. Preble et al.(2021),Journal of Human Trafficking, Abstract; (Contact the Librarian for full-text). This article can help communities identify their resources that could address survivors’ needs and make a plan for using those resources. The authors also walks readers through creating a logic model to visualize this process and outcomes.
Related Resources from our Research2Practice Network:
- Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault: Post-Disaster Worker Empowerment Journal Assessment (CVR Research-to-Practice Fellowship) – researcher-practitioner partnership to study program that brings together post-disaster response workers “to assess for risks of violence in the form of labor abuse, exploitation, and trafficking through journaling.”
- Urban Institute: Justice in Their Own Words – Perceptions and Experiences of (In)Justice among Human Trafficking Survivors (2018) – in-depth interviews with 80 human trafficking survivors about their experiences in the criminal justice system and their ideas for what justice would truly mean to them.
- CALiO: Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors (updated December 2021) – bibliography of studies related to victims of child trafficking.
*What are Systematic Reviews?
- A systematic review is the process of bringing together all available studies about a well-defined question, analyzing the quality of their study methods, and summarizing their findings.
- Systematic reviews often use a statistical practice called meta-analysis. This means combining data from multiple studies, to find patterns and calculate the average effect of the intervention.
- Because systematic reviews pool results from many experiments and rate the methods of each study, these reviews increase our confidence in the quality and consistency of the evidence and what it means for the field.
Basically, systematic reviews take a large amount of information about a complex issue from multiple sources and make that information more manageable and usable. These reviews can also help make sense of conflicting findings from different studies.
Learn more from:
- Quick Reference: Systematic Reviews
- Quick Reference: Tips on Reading Research Articles
The Center for Victim Research’s webinar series, The Evidence Hour, showcases a recent systematic review* or meta-analysis about victimization, trauma, or victim services. Each webinar features an author of the research and a practitioner discussant who will review the findings and reflect on what they mean for victim service providers and researchers.
On November 17, Dorothy Espelage Ph.D. shared findings from a literature review of ten years of research about the connections between bullying and teen dating violence and potential school-based interventions. Barri Rosenbluth, MSSW shared experience from the field on reducing violence among adolescents. The recording is available on the CVR YouTube channel:
This webinar is based on findings from the article: “Bullying as a Developmental Precursor to Sexual and Dating Violence Across Adolescence: Decade in Review” by Dorothy L. Espelage et al. (2021), Trauma, Violence & Abuse. (Read the full text of the open access article.)
Related Research:
- “Bullying Trends in the United States: A Meta-Regression” by R.S. Kennedy. (2021). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 22(4), 914–927. (Link goes to dissertation, the first part of which is the meta-regression. Abstract of the published version.) A meta-regression aims to make sense of conflicting outcomes from multiple studies; for example, Kennedy discusses how some studies find that bullying is decreasing, while others find bullying happening more frequently. This meta-regression reviewed 91 relevant articles to establish a more consistent rate of bullying, including face-to-face physical, verbal, and relational bullying perpetration and victimization and cyberbullying. Kennedy finds that cyberbullying has increased, and other subtypes have all decreased, though they are still more common than cyberbullying. Eighth graders and students in younger grades are more likely to experience cyberbullying than older students. The author also noted methodological differences, such as how using the word “bully” in surveys may affect reporting rates.
- “What Works in Violence Prevention Among Young People?: A Systematic Review of Reviews” by A.G. Kovalenko et al. (2020). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. This article includes 40 systematic reviews and meta-analyses from mostly North America. Interventions targeted sexual assault, dating violence, bullying, and anti-social behavior. Suggestions for improving programs included: longer duration, tailoring to specific ages and using a variety of media and interactive activities, using clearly defined terms about dating violence, involving students as peer mediators, and starting sexual violence prevention programs early. Includes a chart with specific curriculum and program takeaways.
- Bullying Victimization and Trauma by T. Idsoe et al. (2021). Frontiers in Psychiatry. This article is part of a series about bullying by peers and family and discusses bullying-specific trauma symptoms and their relationship to PTSD. The authors also review research about changes to childrens’ neurobiology following child abuse, bullying, and social exclusion and potential impacts on children’s behaviors, such as difficulty regulating emotions and an “exaggerated need to defend oneself.” The authors conclude that PTSD symptoms are not sufficient to account for consequences of bullying and emphasize the importance of making children feel safe and supported.
Related Resources from our Research2Practice Network:
- CALiO: Poly-victimization resources – collection of research, podcasts, white papers, and more related to children and teens experiencing multiple forms of abuse, including bullying and peer victimization
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center: NSVRC has several publications from around 2012 about the connections between sexual violence and bullying, including Sexual harassment & bullying of youth: Sexual violence & individuals who identify as LGBTQ and The Bully-Sexual Violence Pathway in Early Adolescence.
*What are Systematic Reviews?
- A systematic review is the process of bringing together all available studies about a well-defined question, analyzing the quality of their study methods, and summarizing their findings.
- Systematic reviews often use a statistical practice called meta-analysis. This means combining data from multiple studies, to find patterns and calculate the average effect of the intervention.
- Because systematic reviews pool results from many experiments and rate the methods of each study, these reviews increase our confidence in the quality and consistency of the evidence and what it means for the field.
Basically, systematic reviews take a large amount of information about a complex issue from multiple sources and make that information more manageable and usable. These reviews can also help make sense of conflicting findings from different studies.
Learn more from:
- Quick Reference: Systematic Reviews
- Quick Reference: Tips on Reading Research Articles
Center for Victim Research’s webinar series, The Evidence Hour, showcases a recent systematic review* or meta-analysis about victimization, trauma, or victim services. Each webinar features an author of the research and a practitioner discussant who will review the findings and reflect on what they mean for victim service providers and researchers.
On October 27, Abha Rai, Ph.D., MSW and Kristen Ravi Ph.D shared findings from a forthcoming scoping review collected articles about domestic violence services designed or adapted for South Asians, East Asians, and Latinx individuals and “immigrant groups who were not disaggregated to depict specific communities.” Their review covers fifteen studies. Radhika Sharma, MPH, discussed her work with Apna Ghar, Inc. (Our Home) and implications of the scoping review for adapting services. The recording is available on the CVR YouTube channel:
This webinar is based on findings from this forthcoming article: “Culturally Responsive Domestic Violence Interventions for Immigrant Communities in the United States: A Scoping Study” in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. (Contact the CVR library for full-text).
Resources from Apha Ghar:
- Apna Ghar (Our Home) One Pager
- Preparing Bilingual Advocates so that Immigrant and Refugee Survivors Receive Equal Services – Poster at Children and Family Services, African American Advisory Council Institute
- Directory of Programs Serving API Survivors, as of January 2020
- Domestic Violence Agency Referral List with Language Identifier Chart, as of 2020
- Resources for Afghans – RefugeeOne Fall 2021
Related Research:
- Center for Victim Research: Research Snapshot & Annotated Bibliography on the Impact of Culturally Relevant Programs
- “‘We Weren’t Ready’: Provider Perspectives on Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Among Refugees and Immigrants in The United States” by K. Wachter et al. (2021). Journal of Family Violence. This study reports on interviews with 57 social services providers about what influences their ability to serve immigrant and refugee women. The major themes included lack of organizational capacity to serve all survivors seeking help and “the rigidity of service timelines.”
- See also Watcher et al.’s related articles about how immigrant women navigate help-seeking in the United States: ‘Where Is the Women’s Center Here?’: The Role of Information in Refugee Women’s Help Seeking for Intimate Partner Violence in a Resettlement Context” and “‘Back Home You Just Go Talk to the Family’: The Role of Family Among Women Who Seek Help for Intimate Partner Violence Pre- and Postresettlement to the United States.” (Links to abstracts only; contact CVR Library for full-text.)
- “Assessing Organizational Cultural Responsiveness among Refugee-Servicing Domestic Violence Agencies” by J.L. Lucero et al. (2020). Social Sciences. Executive directors from U.S. domestic violence agencies discussed how their agencies integrate culture responsiveness into services. The researchers organized what they found into various “levels” of responsiveness. Organizations may have a culturally competent organizational climate, which relates to mission statements and action plans for implementing multicultural practice and holding themselves accountable for working toward these visions. Organizations may have culturally competent staff and service providers who reflect on their beliefs and connections to the organization’s mission and take the time to be “immersed in the cultural norms, communication practices, and celebrations of the people for whom they serve.” Organizations may have culturally adapted programs, especially language services, and evaluations to understand how well the adaptation is working.
- “Exploring the Needs and Lived Experiences of Racial and Ethnic Minority Domestic Violence Survivors through Community-based Participatory Research: A Systematic Review” by M.I. Ragavan et al. (2020). Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(5), 946-963. This collection of studies that used community-based participatory research (CBPR) a research approach that emphasizes collaboration, shared decision-making, and power-sharing between researchers and community partners during every stage of the research process.” The authors discussed how studies reflected CBPR values, like “creating relationships of transparency and trust” or “building on every person’s strengths, interests, and resources.” Also, the authors note the importance of capturing survivors’ lived experiences, including how the immigrant experience informs domestic violence.
- More research related to this Evidence Hour:
- El-Moslemany, R., Mellon, L., Tully, L., & McConkey, S. J. (2020). Factors Associated With Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization in Asylum Seeking and Refugee Populations: A Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020977147
- Tripathi, S., & Azhar, S. (2020). A Systematic Review of Intimate Partner Violence Interventions Impacting South Asian Women in the United States. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020957987
Related Resources from our Research2Practice Network:
- Esperanza United: Using Technology for Culturally Responsive Interventions ; see also their participation in the Alliance for Immigrant Survivors.
- National Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Responding to the Needs of Immigrant Survivors of Domestic Violence
- National Resource Center for Reaching Victims: COVID-19 Survivor Impact Brief: Immigrant and Limited English Proficient Survivors
*What are Systematic Reviews?
- A systematic review is the process of bringing together all available studies about a well-defined question, analyzing the quality of their study methods, and summarizing their findings.
- Systematic reviews often use a statistical practice called meta-analysis. This means combining data from multiple studies, to find patterns and calculate the average effect of the intervention.
- Because systematic reviews pool results from many experiments and rate the methods of each study, these reviews increase our confidence in the quality and consistency of the evidence and what it means for the field.
Basically, systematic reviews take a large amount of information about a complex issue from multiple sources and make that information more manageable and usable. These reviews can also help make sense of conflicting findings from different studies.
Learn more from:
- Quick Reference: Systematic Reviews
- Quick Reference: Tips on Reading Research Articles
Center for Victim Research’s webinar series, The Evidence Hour, showcases a recent systematic review* or meta-analysis about victimization, trauma, or victim services. Each webinar features an author of the research and a practitioner discussant who will review the findings and reflect on what they mean for victim service providers and researchers.
On September 9, Kristen Ravi, Ph.D. and Sarah Leat, Ph.D. share findings from their systematic review about what influences a survivor’s decision to engage with formal services for experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV). Their review identified seven key factors that facilitate survivors’ formal help-seeking. Christina Cicconi, M.A., MSW discusses what these factors mean for practitioners in community agencies, health professionals, and the criminal justice system, as they develop and implement accessible services.
Related Research:
- “Intersectional trauma-informed intimate partner violence (IPV) services: Narrowing the gap between IPV service delivery and survivor needs“ by S. Kulkarni. (2019). Journal of Family Violence, 34(1), 55-64. This article provides a background on the evolution of victim services in the United States, from grassroots advocacy to professionalized services to survivor-centered advocacy. The current state of victim services emphasizes the full-frame model (considering multiple challenges that survivors may be facing in their lives, like homelessness), culturally specific programs, and trauma-informed care. The author includes a graphic representing four common elements across these lenses—”power sharing, authenticity, individualized services, and systems advocacy“—which can inform goals for program design, implementation, and evaluation.
- “Help-Seeking by Male Victims of Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA): A Systematic Review and Qualitative Evidence Synthesis” by A.L. Huntley et al. (2019). BMJ Open 9:e021960. This systematic review analyzes twelve studies from 2006-2017 about men who experienced domestic violence. Most of the participants in qualitative studies were White men between 40-60 years old; three of the studies recruited men who have sex with men, five of the studies recruited straight men, and four studies recruited participants with diverse sexualities. The authors of this article note that few of the studies included discussed their ethical approaches in research, such as how safety and confidentiality were considered. Themes related to barriers to help-seeking included fear of disclosure, challenge to masculinity, commitment to relationship, diminished confidence, and the invisibility of services. Themes related to experiences of help-seeking included initial contact (where a crisis typically occurs that prompts men to seek help), confidentiality, appropriate professional approaches (with most participants expressing a preference for female service providers), and inappropriate professional approaches.
- “Survivors’ Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Shelter Utilization During COVID-19“ by K. Ravi et al., (2021). Journal of Family Violence. This study shares what survivors found to be helpful and what was still needed to stay safe from abuse during the pandemic. Many participants felt isolated during lockdown, experienced escalated abuse, and had a mix of positive and negative experiences accessing help. Survivors often wanted more information and options for connecting with others, especially access to virtual platforms to receive services and stay in communication with family, friends, and service providers.
Related Resources from our Research2Practice Network:
- National LGBTQ Institute on IPV & National Resource Center on Domestic Violence: “I didn’t think people would take me seriously”: The Help-Seeking Strategies, Experiences, and Preferences of LGTBQ Survivors of Domestic Violence
- National Resource Center for Reaching Victims: Language Access – Keeping Systems Accountable During Emergencies
- National Sexual Violence Resource Center: Working with Male Survivors of Sexual Violence
What are Systematic Reviews?
- A systematic review is the process of bringing together all available studies about a well-defined question, analyzing the quality of their study methods, and summarizing their findings.
- Systematic reviews often use a statistical practice called meta-analysis. This means combining data from multiple studies, to find patterns and calculate the average effect of the intervention.
- Because systematic reviews pool results from many experiments and rate the methods of each study, these reviews increase our confidence in the quality and consistency of the evidence and what it means for the field.
Basically, systematic reviews take a large amount of information about a complex issue from multiple sources and make that information more manageable and usable. These reviews can also help make sense of conflicting findings from different studies.
Learn more from:
- Quick Reference: Systematic Reviews
- Quick Reference: Tips on Reading Research Articles
