"I Thought I Was Going to Die": Identifying Gaps in the Intimate Partner Violence Service Provision System for Black Women.
Bernadine Y Waller, Karen A Johnson, Dawn Goddard-Eckrich, Whittni L Holland, Michelle Richardson-Ridley, Alicia M Wilson, Chiamaka Chide, Amanda Taffy, Temiloluwa Adeyemo, Tricia B Bent-Goodley
Author Information
Bernadine Y Waller: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA. ORCID
Karen A Johnson: School of Social Work, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA.
Dawn Goddard-Eckrich: School of Social Work, Social Intervention Group, Columbia University, New York, USA. ORCID
Whittni L Holland: School of Social Work, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA.
Michelle Richardson-Ridley: Kansas University School of Social Welfare, Lawrence, KS, USA.
Alicia M Wilson: Adelphi University School of Social Work, Garden City, NY, USA.
Chiamaka Chide: Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Amanda Taffy: School of Social Work, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA.
Temiloluwa Adeyemo: Department of Human Biology, Stanford University, CA, USA.
Tricia B Bent-Goodley: Howard University Graduate School, Washington, DC, USA. ORCID
Black women experience the highest mortality and morbidity resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, yet there remains a dearth of culturally responsive interventions designed to meet their needs within the coordinated community response system. We employed the Theory of Help-Seeking Behavior to explicate the barriers that Black women experience when securing assistance from providers within the IPV service provision system, inclusive of the criminal legal, child protective service, shelter, healthcare, and mental healthcare systems. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 30 people who self-identified as Black women who were help-seeking within the IPV service provision system at the time of data collection. Data was analyzed via the matrix system and organized based on pathway-specific domains. Findings explicate substantive gaps within the existing system of care. Fundamental to improving Black women's IPV-related outcomes is improving the system to ensure it is designed to fully support them. Importantly, this is the first study to examine Black survivors' experiences throughout the continuum of the IPV service provision system.
