*Note* This scheduling program was not designed by folks who do a lot with APA Style and unfortunately it defaults to listing authors in alphabetical order. We cannot fix this for this online schedule, but the author orders are posted in the order submitted in the printed program available via pdf here.
Interpersonal violence, which includes child abuse, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence, is major problem in U.S. society and leads to deleterious consequences for both victims and society. Recently, research has begun to examine among women the intersection of lifespan victimization, substance abuse, and criminal offending and incarceration. Little research, however, has examined these intersections within the context of a residential recovery community using a mixed methodological perspective. The purpose of the current study was to examine this gap in the literature, and the papers presented as part will report on the various findings from this multi-method study. Participants were 28 women affiliated with a transitional housing program, Support, Education, Empowerment & Directions (SEEDs), in Phoenix, Arizona. Women completed a survey, a detailed life history calendar, and interview grounded in Hermeneutic phenomenological practices. Participants ranged in age from 27 to 58 with a mean age of 43.5 and were predominately white (58%), heterosexual (58%) and divorced (58%) or never married (31%). All of the women in the sample were low income and the majority reported some education beyond high school (65%) and previous incarceration (73%). The papers presented in this symposium focus on the results from this study. The author of the first paper will discuss findings regarding the onset and maintenance of victimized female substance users. Another paper to be presented examined breaking free from victimization and the role of self-efficacy in promoting quality of life. A third paper examines how abused women’s perspectives of their relationships change over time. Implications of findings for practice and policy will be discussed. Professor Katie Edwards will be the discussant for the symposium, who has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers on topics related to intimate partner and sexual violence. The symposium will end with a discussion among presenters and audience members.
