Abstract

This thesis examines services provided to women with physical disabilities who are survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Women with disabilities experience IPV at alarming rates and examining resources they may turn to when leaving abusive relationships is crucial to improving such services. In order to analyze services provided to this population, I surveyed staff at both domestic violence shelters and group homes. Two separate surveys were constructed, one for domestic violence shelter staff and one for group home staff. Surveys were administered to facilities throughout Minnesota in the spring of 2012. To ascertain these professionals' capacity to help this group of women, I asked questions about their training, the facilities accessibility, referral processes, and staffs' personal experiences. Six participants responded to the survey constructed for domestic violence shelter staff and eight participants responded to the survey constructed for group home staff. Findings suggest that each type of facility has considerable limitations in providing services to women with physical disabilities who are survivors of IPV. This study found that these institutions can each assist this population, but changes are needed to more effectively help these clients.

Advisor

Maria Bevacqua

Committee Member

Helen Crump

Committee Member

Barbara Carson

Date of Degree

2012

Language

english

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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