Victim Researcher Profile

BIO

Bethany L. Backes, PhD, MSW, MPH is a research associate at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and the director of research and evaluation at the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA). Her areas of scholarship broadly encompass research and evaluation on violence against women including formal and informal help-seeking trajectories, secondary and tertiary violence prevention strategies, and criminal justice and community-based interventions related to intimate partner, sexual, and stalking victimization. Her overarching goal is to develop, adapt, and evaluate measures, methods, and interventions to enhance victim engagement and autonomy at the systems level (health, community-based, and criminal justice). She provides broad support for IDVSA's research and evaluation projects and is the lead investigator on several ongoing projects related to intimate partner violence and sexual violence. At the core of her research values is the integration of practitioner partners in all phases of research including design, implementation, and dissemination. Backes formerly worked at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ)/U.S. Department of Justice, where she spent a decade directing research and evaluation on intimate partner violence, sexual violence, stalking, violent victimization, researcher-practitioner partnerships, and wrongful conviction. Her oversight of NIJ’s Violence Against Women Program of Research led to the development of major initiatives and rigorous study on sexual assault forensics and case attrition, domestic violence homicide, and criminal justice and community-based responses to violence against women. She developed and instituted NIJ's seminal researcher-practitioner program to support junior and senior researchers in establishing on-the-ground collaborations to tackle prominent criminal justice issues at the local level. She also led the research program on violent victimization and served as a liaison to several Federal practitioner agencies including the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office on Violence Against Women. Prior to NIJ, Backes spent several years in the direct services, research, and health education fields primarily focused on victimization and injury.

VICTIMIZATION FOCUS

Campus Sexual Assault, Other Campus Crime, Domestic and Family Violence, Drug-Related Victimization, Gun Violence, Hate and Bias Crimes, Homicide Survivors/Co-victims, Physical Assault (other than domestic violence or elder abuse), Robbery, Sexual Abuse or Violence (other than campus sexual assault), Stalking, Terrorism and Mass Violence, Vicarious Trauma, Workplace Violence, Polyvictimization

SPECIAL POPULATIONS

American Indian and Alaska Native (tribal) victims, Deaf and hard-of-hearing victims, Victims with disabilities, Formerly incarcerated victims, LGBTQ victims, Limited English proficiency victims, Immigrants and refugees, Rural victims, Urban high crime neighborhood victims

RESEARCH EXPERTISE

Action research, Community-based participatory research, Data collection, Descriptive studies, Needs assessment, Program evaluation, Qualitative studies, Quantitative studies, Quasi-experimental studies, Randomized controlled trial, Training and/or technical assistance

VICTIM RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Action research, Community-based participatory research, Data collection, Descriptive studies, Needs assessment, Program evaluation, Qualitative studies, Quantitative studies, Quasi-experimental studies, Randomized controlled trial, Training and/or technical assistance