Category: Spring 2018

Women, Religiosity, and Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence has long been a pervasive issue for women, occurring across all ethnicities, socioeconomic status, religions, and races. A wide variety of survival skills are employed by these women to help cope with the abuse they are experiencing. Despite the breadth of personal differences, these victims commonly utilize religion. Personal religious devotion may strengthen their capacity to survive intimate partner violence and post relationship trauma. This presentation reviews four research trends in personal religious beliefs as a coping strategy. First, women may reach out to clergy members or religious leaders for support and counseling. Moreover, prayer may be a particularly common coping mechanism. In addition, religious coping may be particularly prevalent among African-American and other Black women. In contrast, some researchers argue that personal religious devotion may be an ineffective coping technique, causing barriers to healing. Researchers have found women who rely on their religious beliefs to survive the violence credit a myriad of ways religion helped them. The violence perpetrated by intimate partners leaves lasting psychological trauma for victims. Researchers report that the coping strategies used may help strengthen women’s resilience in these relationships, and help provide additional support in post-traumatic healing. Future directions for research will also be discussed in this presentation, including resources for these victims at religious communities.

PSY 499, Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

SPS 100

1:30 – 2 PM

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Adverse Effects of Child Abuse in Adult Females

Childhood abuse creates a substantial and long-lasting impact that may follow women into adulthood. Abusive events of girlhood may traumatize young girls, leaving them vulnerable to myriad post-traumatic outcomes mentally, physically, and emotionally. Women abused prior to the age of 11 may be at greater risk for mental illness and substance abuse through self-medication in adulthood. This presentation will review four areas which researchers have identified as possible adverse effects of girlhood abuse. First, women use substances to self-medicate to avoid the negative affect associated with girlhood abuse and learned negative reinforcement. Second, substance abuse may intensify girlhood maltreatment-induced mental illness. Third, women who have been exposed to adverse girlhood experiences may be at greater risk for diverse negative outcomes in adulthood. Finally, exposure to multiple adverse experiences in girlhood may lead to comorbid disorders in adulthood, further exacerbating other negative symptoms. Researchers have found that the effects of abuse in girlhood may be clinically significant. Moreover, researchers found that women experienced outcomes including substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration. Researchers have reported a potential link between girlhood maltreatment and the traumatic events that may follow girls into adulthood. Future directions will also be discussed in this presentation, including the need for a longitudinal study that explores the impact of each type of adverse event in mental illness and substance abuse. Furthermore, researchers should also study why some women demonstrate resilience to girlhood abuse while others remain deeply impacted over their lifetimes.

PSY 499, Capstone

Mary Ann Winter-Messiers

SPS 100

2 – 2:30 PM

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