Type:	Journal Article
Title:	TANF worker's responses to battered women and the impact of brief worker training: what survivors report
Other Titles:	Women against violence : an Australian feminist journal
Authors:	Pahl, Lisa C Kenna, Colleen E Tolman, Richard M Saunders, Daniel G Holter, Mark C
Keywords:	Screening;Psychological abuse;Risk assessment;Training;Mental health;Cross-cultural;Drug and alcohol misuse
Year:	2005
Publisher:	CASA House (Centre Against Sexual Assault)
Citation:	11 (2), February 2005
Notes:	This article reports on the experiences of 159 battered women with their Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) caseworkers in the United States. It finds that the workers least often develop a safety plan, give information about work exemptions and ask whether the partner had a gun. Women’s main reasons for not talking about abuse are that the worker did not ask and also a fear of negative outcomes. Workers that attended a one-day training course are more likely than untrained workers to discuss the women’s fear and physical harm, to help make a safety plan, and to be viewed as helpful. More than two thirds of the women said they had discussed their abuse with their worker but of these, more than 80% said they had initiated the topic, not the worker. Results suggest: the need for training to improve detection rates, lethality assessment, assessment of dangers to children and information provision about policy exemptions. It argues for: direct questioning for screening rather than indirect methods; intensive case management; and provision of a domestic violence specialist. The findings also call for work supports such as child care and transportation, and help with intertwined issues of mental health, substance abuse and emotional trauma of domestic violence. The appendix provides a list of workers’ helpful and unhelpful responses, which can be used as a training tool, including perceptions of racism that indicate the need for cultural sensitivity training.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12675
ISSN:	1327-5550
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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