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Preventing Intimate Partner Violence While Enhancing Human Service Education:

A Student-Run Program

Charles Guigno, Ed.D.

Kingsborough Community College

Author Note:

Charles Guigno, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of The Mental Health and Human Services Program at Kingsborough Community College (City University of New York). In addition to his academic responsibilities, Prof. Guigno received his second Masters Degree and Doctorate in Family and Community Education from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. He has extensive experience working as a community advocate.

charles.guigno@kbcc.cuny.edu

Abstract 

Although human services professionals in recent years have become more aware of intimate partner violence (IPV), the frequency of occurrence of this problem remains at unacceptably high levels, suggesting that new approaches for reducing the frequency of this problem are needed. Research shows that IPV is a pattern that is often during adolescence, thus suggesting that a preventive approach targeting adolescents might be useful in reducing the occurrence of IPV. A significant obstacle to doing this is the fact that adolescents are notoriously resistant to discussing relationship issues with adult authority figures. In this article, I describe a peer education/peer theatre preventive approach, which utilizes human services students to do prevention, education, and outreach among high school and college students. This approach enhances the education of human service students in the area of IPV, and the teen/young adult audiences are more receptive to getting information about IPV from college-aged students.

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence While Enhancing Human Service Education: 

A Student-Run Program 

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a serious and costly public health problem affecting millions of Americans of all ages, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, and cultures (Montmimy, 2005; McClennen, 2011; Cutter-Wilson & Richmond, 2011). Although many people view IPV as simply physical abuse, it takes several other forms that include emotional/psychological, financial, and sexual abuse (McClennen). Recently, professionals have recognized an additional form of IPV: cyber stalking (Patchin and Hinduja, 2006). According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (2011), IPV may range from a single act or occasional acts of violence, to a pattern of frequent and intensive acts where one partner attempts to maintain control over the other. The serious and even lethal nature of IPV is illustrated by the fact that in 2005 more than 1,110 women and 330 men died as a result of IPV (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).

In addition to the physical and psychological impact it has on its victims, IPV also has tremendous social and economic costs. For example, in 2011, the New York City Police Department responded to 257,813 domestic violence incidents (NYC Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, 2011). In addition, aside from the legal costs incurred due to police calls, legal proceedings and imprisonment of offenders, IPV costs over 8.3 billion dollars every year in medical/mental health treatment costs and lost productivity in the workplace (McClennen, 2011). Furthermore, when the psychological and emotional suffering IPV causes for its victims, family members, and even perpetrators is considered, the costs of this public health problem are significant.

In recent years, some human services professionals have recognized the serious impact of IPV, and as a result, have initiated assessment and treatment programs. These assessment and treatment programs have had some success, and many of these do in fact help victims who are in abusive relationships (McClennen, 2011). As a result of this assessment/treatment focus, human services students have been exposed to some education and training in the area of IPV. For example, as part of their academic training, human service workers may learn that victims of IPV have low self-esteem, poor self-image, and poor self-worth (Berry, 2000). They may also learn that victims are often depressed (Jordan, Neitzel, Walker & Logan, 2004) and may have a history of family violence (Mrug, 2008).

Unfortunately, despite these efforts at assessment and treatment, the occurrence of IPV remains at unacceptably high levels. Currently, over 26 percent of women and approximately 16 percent of men experience IPV during their lifetime (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Clearly, more comprehensive information about IPV needs to be incorporated into the present human services curriculum, along with information on the risk factors and warning signs of IPV. In this article, I describe an innovative prevention program with a strategy focusing on teens and young adults, which may also be helpful in reducing the overall occurrence of IPV.

Empirical research clearly indicates the importance of focusing on teens and young adults. For example, according to Cutter-Wilson and Richmond (2011, p.379 ), For example, according to Cutter-Wilson and Richmond (2011 ), “ten percent of all high school students report some form of physical abuse in their dating relationships” (p.379) and the number increases to between 20 and 30 percent if psychological abuse is considered (Roberts & Klein, 2003 ).

In addition, females between the ages of 16-24 are more vulnerable to IPV than any other age group, and experience it at a rate almost triple that of the national average for all age groups (U.S. Department of Justice, 2011). Teen victims often exhibit signs of depression (Banyard & Cross, 2008), anxiety (Purdie & Downey, 2000) and show higher levels of suicidal behavior (Bossarte, Simon & Swahn, 2008). Specifically, 50% of youth reporting dating violence and rape also reported attempting suicide, compared to just 12.5% of non-abused girls and 5.4% of non-abused boys (Ackard, & Neumark-Sztainer, 2002). Teen victims also have higher rates of unintended pregnancies and are twice as likely to report a sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis (Decker, Silverman, & Raj, 2005). Furthermore, when the pattern of abuse is established in high school, these teens are more vulnerable to becoming victims in college and in adulthood (Smith, White, & Holland, 2003). Finally, the severity of violence among adult partners tends to increase if the pattern has been established in adolescence (Keenan-Miller, Hammen, & Brennan 2007).

These studies provide evidence that human services educators and professionals need to create additional programs that target adolescents and young adults. However, despite this evidence for a need for early intervention and prevention, Teen Dating Violence (TDV), receives relatively little attention within the human services field (Barnett, Miller-Perrin, & Perrin, 2011). For the purposes of this article, TDV is defined as a subtype of IPV which is limited to teens who are dating, rather than people who are at least twenty years of age and who consider themselves a couple. As was stated in a recent government report, “to stop intimate partner violence, we not only need to act responsibly and compassionately after violence has occurred, but work more diligently to prevent it from occurring in the first place” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011, p. 1)

The purpose of this article is to describe a preventive educational approach created to target teens and young adults who are at risk of becoming victims of TDV or who are already in TDV/IPV relationships. According to the Task Force of Community Prevention Services, physical abuse alone among high school students can be reduced by up to 29% when effective prevention programs are enacted (Hahn, et al., 2007). Similar studies have also shown that adolescents who participated in school-based prevention programs were less likely to become victims of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse in the future (McClennen, 2011). Overall, a majority of professionals who are part of school based TDV prevention programs believe that these programs decrease the rate of violence among school age children and youth, and are, for the most part, cost-effective (Pomeroy et al., 2011).

Perhaps one of the most important and powerful assets any victim, or at risk victim of TDV can have is a well informed, well-trained human services worker. Anecdotal experience in the field reveals that most beginning human services workers report a significant lack of education and training in the areas of TDV/IPV. As well, one recent study from Ball State University clearly indicated that human services workers, particularly those planning on working in schools or with teens in general, were not properly educated or trained to help young people who are experiencing physical, emotional, and sexual dating violence. Further, the same study reported that 81% of school counselors indicated that their school did not provide proper training and/or guidance for dealing with TDV/IPV (Jagdish, et al., 2012)

The Program: Project ACE 

In 2005, we decided to create a TDV/IPV prevention program that would address two specific objectives: (a) to help prevent TDV/IPV by raising awareness, empowering, and educating teens and young adults about this problem, and (b) to provide adequate, hands-on training in TDV/IPV for future human service professionals. We wanted to focus on educating teens and young adults about TDV/IPV because the research clearly showed that teens and young adults who experience TDV/IPV early are more vulnerable to severe and long lasting abuse later in adulthood. However, we posited that if our program were to be successful, it had to overcome the resistance many teens have to sharing feelings and experiences with adult authority figures such as: teachers, parents, and human services professionals (Barnett, 2011). Teens are much more likely to turn to their peers for guidance, especially when TDV/IPV is involved (Mulford & Giordano, 2008; Adelman & Kil, 2007; Steinberg. 1996). As a result, we decided to create a program where undergraduate human services students are educated and trained to design and implement prevention and education programs among high school and college students in their local community.

When we first implemented this program in our human service major at Kingsborough Community College in New York City, students decided to call the program “Project ACE,” for Awareness Courage and Empowerment. One of the things that make this program unique is that our human services students are given the power to create their own peer run TDV/IPV prevention/education program with faculty members acting solely as consultants.

Faculty recognized early on that Project ACE was an innovative educational opportunity for future human services professionals in the area of TDV/IPV, and later found that participation in Project ACE inspired students to play a proactive role in creating potential solutions to other problems affecting their community. As stated in a 2012 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, this type of approach helps develop leadership skills and a unique insight and appreciation for social issues.

Project ACE combines peer education with peer theatre. Project ACE students have performed over 150 presentations in elementary schools, high schools, colleges, health fairs, and at local human service agencies. Students have created informative and entertaining videos, as well as live presentations dramatizing the different types of abuse, the cycles of abuse, and warning signs of TDV/IPV. These students have also created a website and brochures about a variety of topics related to TDV/IPV. Project ACE students routinely engage in informational “tabling” in the hallways of our college and also have run major events on campus to raise student awareness of TDV/IPV. We selected peer education/peer theatre as our main format because of the research that supports these methods as effective prevention approaches (Pomeroy, et al., 2011; Bowers, & Buzzanell,, 2002). First, peer education/peer theatre is highly cost-effective since the services are provided by unpaid student interns (Pomeroy, et al., 2011). Second, peer education has already been used effectively in combating other teen/young adult issues such as, substance abuse (Klee & Reid, 1995) and HIV infection (Adamchak, 2006). Third, according to a 2012 UNICEF report, “peer educators can communicate and understand in a way that the best intentioned adults can’t and can serve as role models for change” (p. 1). Peer theatre utilizes storytelling and dialogue related to a specific social issue (Bowers & Buzzanell, 2002). 

Peer theatre has been shown to be a particularly successful intervention for lessening “a variety of mental/physical health issues and risky behaviors among college students” (Hunter, 2004, p. 42). As a recent study that focused on educating students about interpersonal violence clearly points out “peer theatre may be useful for educating social work students about interpersonal violence while also providing a college wide TDV prevention program” (Pomeroy, et al., 2011, p. 526).

Project ACE Training 

Before students are accepted as interns in Project ACE, a faculty member interviews them and conducts a brief assessment of the student’s abilities and level of motivation. Typically, we look for students who are open-minded, creative, and exhibit initiative and leadership qualities. Once a student is accepted into Project ACE, they, along with seven or eight of their peers, participate in a series of training sessions. The Project ACE curriculum is an 18-week, 4-phase program that first provides students with information about TDV/IPV, and later the opportunity to design and perform their own TDV/IPV outreach and prevention programs.

Phase 1: One Week (three sessions) 

Each session lasts for four hours. A faculty member facilitates a discussion of group members’ attitudes and ideas related to healthy dating practices and dating abuse. Phase 1 is designed to help students become more comfortable discussing their opinions and ideas with each other. During Phase 1, faculty often encourage role-playing and cultural sensitivity training exercises.

Peer theatre has been shown to be a particularly successful intervention for lessening “a variety of mental/physical health issues and risky behaviors among college students” (Hunter, 2004, p. 42). As a recent study that focused on educating students about interpersonal violence clearly points out “peer theatre may be useful for educating social work students about interpersonal violence while also providing a college wide TDV prevention program” (Pomeroy, et al., 2011, p. 526).

Project ACE Training 

Before students are accepted as interns in Project ACE, a faculty member interviews them and conducts a brief assessment of the student’s abilities and level of motivation. Typically, we look for students who are open-minded, creative, and exhibit initiative and leadership qualities. Once a student is accepted into Project ACE, they, along with seven or eight of their peers, participate in a series of training sessions. The Project ACE curriculum is an 18-week, 4-phase program that first provides students with information about TDV/IPV, and later the opportunity to design and perform their own TDV/IPV outreach and prevention programs.

Phase 1: One Week (three sessions) 

Each session lasts for four hours. A faculty member facilitates a discussion of group members’ attitudes and ideas related to healthy dating practices and dating abuse. Phase 1 is designed to help students become more comfortable discussing their opinions and ideas with each other. During Phase 1, faculty often encourage role-playing and cultural sensitivity training exercises.

Phase 2: Three Weeks (two sessions per week) 

Students attend lectures and workshops that address a wide variety of TDV/IPV topics. Either a faculty member or a guest speaker conducts each session. Typical topics include: the definition of dating abuse, warning signs of potential abuse, cycles of abuse, “shockers” statistics on the prevalence of various types of abuse, how to help a friend who is in an abusive relationship, creating a safety plan, and the legal rights of victims.

Phase 3: Three Weeks (two sessions per week) 

A faculty member introduces the group to the goals and objectives of Project ACE. Students learn that their primary objective is to find ways to help prevent TDV/IPV through the use of techniques such as peer education and peer theater, thereby empowering teens and young people in the community to make healthier relationship decisions. During this phase, with faculty acting as consultants, Project ACE students begin “brainstorming” to come up with ideas for peer theatre presentations and other forms of education and outreach. Students decide on the design and content for handouts/flyers, which will be distributed during presentations and special events, and the number of events they will perform.

Phase 4: Eleven Weeks (one day per week) 

Students begin performing dramatizations to audiences of their peers and also participate in other special events. Each group is encouraged to be creative and unique. The following is a description of a recent student presentation:

1) Introduction: definition of TDV/IPV, attention-getting “shockers” which are current research statistics on the prevalence of TDV/IPV and a description of the cycles of violence.

2) Dramatization of an abusive relationship: the early warning signs or red flags of an abusive relationship, and the cycles and varying types of abuse were depicted. Members of the audience had an opportunity to see how abusers begin to take control of their victims with such tactics as the exchange of inappropriate gifts early on in a relationship

(jewelry, cell phones), outbursts of jealousy, blaming others, and isolating the victim from family and friends.

3) Education: Members of the audience learned the five elements of a healthy relationship (mutual trust, respect, acceptance, communication, and the courage to grow and change) (Berry 2000), how to help a friend who is experiencing TDV/IPV, where to go for help, helping a victim create a safety plan, and the legal rights of victims.

4) Interactive Component: members of the audience had an opportunity to participate in the presentation by asking questions and sharing personal experiences. Members of the audience were also encouraged to give feedback and make suggestions for future presentations.

After each presentation, Project ACE students and faculty meet for approximately 30-45 minutes to discuss their reactions to the performance. For faculty and students both, this is often the most exciting part. Students have an opportunity to discuss their observations and to alter their presentation to make it even more powerful. Faculty also play an important role as they point out and reinforce student skills, perceptions, and creativity.

Outcomes 

As mentioned above, Project ACE was created to achieve two primary objectives: (a) to help prevent TDV/IPV by raising awareness, empowering, and educating teens and young adults about this problem, and (b) to provide adequate hands-on training in TDV/IPV for future human service professionals.

Objective 1: Preventing TDV/IPV 

Outcomes for our first objective were obtained using post-presentation surveys and audience feedback. At the end of each of the 150 presentations, audience members were asked to fill out a brief, written questionnaire which included questions such as: (a) did the presentation give you a better understanding of the different types of TDV/IPV? (b) Prior to this presentation, did you know that TDV/IPV follows a cycle? (c) Were you aware of the early warning signs of TDV/IPV? Finally, (d) Do you now feel better prepared to help a friend or family member?

An analysis of the written questionnaires (n = 3,102) showed that 61% of respondents felt better informed about the types of abuse and the cycles in abusive relationships, 84% stated that the presentation had increased their awareness of TDV/IPV. Perhaps more importantly, almost 90% stated that the presentation had changed their attitudes toward TDV/IPV, which confirms research findings that peer theatre is a particularly effective way of changing attitudes among teens and young adults (Postmus, et al., 2011). Just over 90% also stated that they were not aware of the warning signs of potential abuse, and believed that the presentation would make a significant impact on their own lives, and the lives of friends and family members that might be experiencing abuse.

Careful reviews of student reflection papers (n = 128) have yielded a number of suggestions that have helped improve Project ACE. First, early on, a number of students stated that faculty were too lenient, and that the students needed more structure and more concrete deadlines. Based on this feedback, a more structured approach to training and concrete deadlines were implemented. Second, working in Project ACE is an emotionally intense experience for students, and many students stressed the importance of choosing students who are friendly, able to compromise, and who work well with others. These comments resulted in a more careful screening process for volunteers. Third, we originally had fifteen students in each 18-week Project ACE cohort. A number of students stated in their reflection papers that they found it frustrating and hard get things accomplished in such a large group. Based on this feedback, we reduced the size of our Project ACE cohorts to between seven and ten students. Finally, students mentioned the need for a gender, age, and culture balance within the group and this has been incorporated into the recruitment and screening process as well.

Student reflection papers also have clearly revealed the professional and personal benefits that participating in Project ACE provided for human services students. An analysis of student reflection papers showed that students overwhelmingly agree that the ACE experience helped them develop a unique understanding and insight into the life of a victim. In their papers, students focused on a variety of issues that had special meaning to them as individuals. For some, it was the sense of satisfaction and pride they felt for having such a positive impact on another person’s life. Others expressed that having the opportunity to actually design and implement a program based on their own ideas was exciting, personally rewarding, and gave them a great feeling of accomplishment.

Many students reported that one of their favorite experiences occurred when faculty from other disciplines and members of the community asked them for advice and information. Students reported being initially surprised that professionals and others were turning to them for insight. However, as time went on, most reported feeling confident that they had the necessary training, skill, and experience to answer most questions. A typical student comment was: “being able to make a difference and being taken seriously as a professional has increased my self-esteem and has given me the confidence I need to begin my career.” One issue that over 95% of students have consistently agreed upon over the years is that the qualities and skills they were able to attain as members of Project ACE inspired them to pursue a career in human services. Many of these students also stated that their experience working in Project ACE gave them confidence and reassurance that they could and would help others. One student wrote, “I feel that every time we leave a presentation, we could have saved a life, gave someone the information on how to get help, or stopped a person from entering a dangerous relationship.”

The students’ human services skill assessments (n = 115) also indicated that participating in Project ACE brought with it many opportunities for professional growth. As mentioned above, these skill assessments were completed by students at the beginning of their participation in Project ACE and also at the end of the 18-week program. The assessments were anonymous.

Students were assigned numbers to allow comparison of individual pre- and post-tests. The greatest positive change between the pre- and post-tests was student rating of their ability to give professional presentations, with 86.5% of students rating themselves higher in this area after participation in Project ACE. This was expected given the fact that a substantial portion of their participation involved giving presentations.

Over 70% of students rated themselves more highly on the post-test in the areas of communication, listening, acceptance of others, and empathy; all extremely important qualities for human services professionals to have. Finally, over 50% of these students rated themselves substantially higher in the area of basic helping skills, with only 2% rating themselves substantially lower in these skills in the post-test compared with their pre-test scores.

Some Unanticipated Benefits of Project ACE 

Our findings indicate that Project ACE has met both of our originally intended objectives: (a) prevention of TDV/IPV and (b) enhancing the education and training of future human services professionals. However, we also found that there are several benefits to Project ACE that we did not originally anticipate. First, Project ACE has offered us opportunities to network with organizations in the local community, which deal with several forms of violence and abuse, such as battered women’s shelters, high schools, and substance abuse treatment facilities. This networking has provided students with a significant number of career opportunities. Several Project ACE students have completed internships and 17 (12.5%) students out of 135 students who completed Project ACE have gained employment with these agencies.

A second unanticipated benefit of Project ACE has been that several former Project ACE student volunteers that have entered into bachelor and master degree programs, returned to Kingsborough to mentor current Project ACE students. Several of these students stated that they returned because they believed that participating in Project ACE is the best way to gain training in TDV/IPV and that they are not getting this kind of training in their bachelor or master degree programs. A few of these former students have attempted to set up Project ACE programs at their current college campuses.

Third, Project ACE has evolved in terms of the material covered in Project ACE presentations. As stated previously, the initial focus of Project ACE was on psychoeducation and prevention with regard to TDV/IPV. Currently, based on student input, Project ACE presentations now deal with related areas such as: cyber bullying, self-mutilation, elder abuse, and the abuse of people with disabilities (Guigno, 2009). Project ACE students have also reached out to perpetrators and people at risk of becoming perpetrators as another avenue for prevention. Finally, a college scholarship award has enabled us to provide additional opportunities for professional growth among Project ACE students. Due to this award, 38 students (28%) have had the opportunity to present information on Project ACE at regional and national professional conferences throughout the United States.

Summary 

Preventive approaches, particularly those which target young people, are essential for reducing the overall occurrences of TDV/IPV and domestic violence in our society (Guigno, 2009). Our student-run TDV/IPV prevention program has now been operational for eight years; Project ACE. Based on post-presentation surveys of audience members at our presentations, Project ACE student reflection papers, student self-assessment tools, reactions of former Project ACE students, and feedback from local domestic violence agencies, our program has succeeded in meeting our two objectives: (a) to provide hands on training for human services students in the area of TDV/IPV, and (b) to help reduce the overall occurrences of TDV/IPV by educating teens and young adults at risk or who are already experiencing TDV/IPV. In addition, there were several unanticipated benefits such as enhanced career and professional opportunities for students.

While we have not yet done so, one potential area for further study is to apply the Project ACE model to finding solutions to other significant problems in the community, such as substance abuse and teen pregnancy prevention in addition to helping students define healthy relationship skills.

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