Stewards of Children: A Qualitative Study of Organization and Community Impact.

Child sexual abuse is a persistent public health, human rights, and social justice issue that continues at unacceptable levels. This qualitative study investigated organizational and community impact of Stewards of Children (SOC) in the context of a statewide initiative to prevent child sexual abuse. Participants, representing 11 sites, were SOC trainers or in administrative and leadership roles with their organizations. The study focused on four research questions: 1) How has your organization been impacted (by SOC), if at all? 2) How have your relationships with other organizations and groups changed, if at all? 3) How has the perception of your organization changed in the community, if at all? and 4) Have you noticed changes in your community as a result of Stewards of Children trainings? The findings include three themes and seven subthemes. Participants uniformly agreed that SOC had an impact on their organization, their relationship with partner and new-partner organizations, and that it contributed to increased awareness about a) the problem of child sexual abuse overall, b) their organization among multiple groups and partners, and c) the full array of services and expertise provided by SOC organizations.

Pathways to Child Abuse Prevention: Seeking and Embedding Public Opinion.

Child abuse and neglect is a perplexing public health, human rights, and social justice issue that persists at unacceptable levels. This qualitative survey, involving brief oral conversations (n = 721) about perceptions of child abuse and neglect and its solutions, was drawn from a randomized telephone survey of residents in two U.S. communities. The study focused on two research questions: (a) individual and collective actions that would give child abuse and neglect prevention the best chance for success and (b) what participants would expect to see in a local child abuse prevention effort to have faith in its effectiveness. Participants were mostly female (61%), with the average age of 55.7 years, and had a median income of US$35,000 to US$49,000. Thirty-one percent identified as mandatory reporters and 76% were a primary caregiver for a child at some point in their lives. Thematic analysis identified six themes and one subtheme for the first research question and four themes for the second research question. Participants emphasized the importance of awareness raising, education, broad public support and the value of a locally developed plan, credible leadership, and reliable follow-through. Participants' beliefs and recommendations were mapped to existing and promising child abuse prevention frameworks and implications for prevention planning are outlined.

Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Practice: A Health Care Response to Interpersonal Violence.

Interpersonal violence has a profoundly negative impact on individuals and our society. Health care providers are in a unique position to identify interpersonal violence, support survivors, and to contribute to violence prevention. The purpose of this article is to describe the nature, scope, and impact of interpersonal violence, its subsequent trauma on individuals, families, and society, and to delineate how providers can apply trauma-sensitive practice. The authors provide definitions, examples and prevalence rates and review theories of violence and violence prevention. They describe how to create a trauma-sensitive practice by being aware of the trauma that accompanies violence, the barriers to violence prevention, and how to intervene with patients about violence. Providers are urged to adopt universal screening practices, educate themselves on the nature of interpersonal violence and engage in screening, education, collaboration, and social justice activities to reduce interpersonal violence. Resources are provided to assist health care organizations, providers, and patients in addressing interpersonal violence.

Client narratives about experiences with a multicouple treatment program for intimate partner violence.

A handful of clinical trials have concluded that conjoint couples treatment for intimate partner violence is safe and at least as effective as conventional batterer intervention programs, yet very few researchers have explored couples' perspectives on conjoint treatment. Using qualitative narrative analysis methodology, the researchers conducted 48 client participant interviews and five staff interviews to better understand couples' experiences of a conjoint treatment program for intimate partner violence. Themes that recurred throughout participants' narratives included (a) perceptions of safety, (b) benefits received, (c) attitudinal change, (d) behavioral change, and (e) important learning. Research directions and training implications are discussed.

Universal screening for intimate partner violence: a systematic review.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is known to be prevalent among therapy-seeking populations. Yet, despite a growing understanding of the dynamics of IPV and of the acceptability of screening, universal screening practices have not been systematically adopted in family therapy settings. A rapidly growing body of research data-almost entirely conducted in medical settings-has investigated attitudes and practices regarding universal screening for IPV. This article is a systematic review of the IPV universal screening research literature. The review summarizes literature related to IPV screening rates and practices, factors associated with provider screening practice, the role of training and institutional support on screening practice, impact of screening on disclosure rates, client beliefs and preferences for screening, and key safety considerations and screening competencies. Implications for family therapy and recommendations for further inquiry and screening model development are provided.

Survivor voices: co-learning, re-connection, and healing through community action research and engagement (CARE).

This article describes the Trauma Healing Project (THP: www.http//healingattention.org), the Survivor Voices study (n = 351), and the complementary nature of community- campus partnerships (CCP) and community-based participatory action research methodology (PAR). Survivor Voices-a random digit telephone survey developed by, conducted, analyzed, and disseminated by survivors of abuse and violence, university researchers, and students-was designed to learn from survivors about what hurt and about what helped with regard to how people responded to their trauma, and what they recommend for trauma healing. We feature our CCP, including challenges faced, how we have addressed those challenges, and profile our current findings. We describe how PAR and CCPs can be very useful tools toward the development of a community-wide effort to reduce violence and support trauma healing.

The core competency movement in marriage and family therapy: key considerations from other disciplines.

There is a growing movement to define competency within the field of marriage and family therapy (MFT), particularly with respect to the training of practitioners and the evaluation of clinical practice. Efforts to define competency, however, transcend the practice of MFT and much can be learned from the experiences of other disciplines. Professions such as education, law, and medicine have made strides toward addressing the complex issue of competency standards in their respective fields. This article describes some ways in which the issue of competency has been approached in other professions, as well as some common dilemmas posed by adopting a competency-based orientation, to shed light on the process of defining competency in MFT. Moreover, this article identifies some of the more useful conceptualizations, modes of pedagogy, and evaluative practices found in other professions.

A longitudinal analysis of parenting practices, couple satisfaction, and child behavior problems.

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between couple relationship satisfaction, parenting practices, parent depression, and child problem behaviors. The study participants (n = 148) were part of a larger experimental study that examined the effectiveness of a brief family-centered intervention, the Family Check-Up model. Regression analysis results indicated that our proposed model accounted for 38% of the variance in child problem behavior at Time 2, with child problem behavior and couple relationship satisfaction at child age 2 years each accounting for a significant portion of the variance in child problem behavior at age 3. Couple relationship satisfaction directly predicted child behavior problems over time. Clinical and research implications are discussed.

Internships for future faculty: meeting the career goals of the next generation of educators in marriage and family therapy.

A key component of a doctoral education in marriage and family therapy (MFT) is the completion of an internship. Virtually all MFT doctoral internships are focused on advanced clinical practice and often are located in agencies unconnected with an academic setting. This article describes an MFT doctoral internship specifically designed to foster the skills needed as a faculty member. The primary purpose of this "future faculty" internship is to expose doctoral interns to faculty life, including participation in graduate teaching, clinical supervision, research, and faculty service-while still meeting typical clinical requirements. Results of semistructured qualitative interviews with five doctoral interns associated with the site are reported. Guidelines for the development of other doctoral internships designed for future MFT faculty members are discussed.

Using mock trials to teach students forensic core competencies in marriage and family therapy.

This article provides a description of a university-based project that used mock trials to train both practicum-level marriage and family therapy and law students in forensic work, and a qualitative investigation of student experiences with the training. The content of the training focused on American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) core competencies that relate specifically to the legal aspects of therapy. This article describes the didactic training the students received to prepare for the mock trials, the structure and protocol of the mock trials themselves, and the specific AAMFT core competencies addressed in the project. The results of an analysis of focus group interviews with participating law school (n = 15) and marriage and family therapy (n = 19) students are presented as well as the results of a 36-item Knowledge, Skills, and Comfort Level Questionnaire completed by participating marriage and family therapy students. Participants discussed the value of the training with regard to preparation for mock trial procedures, preparation for testimony, importance of documentation, and cross-discipline collaboration issues. The article concludes with a discussion of how this type of training may be used in developing students' skills with regard to forensic and legal core competencies, and future research directions.