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Interpersonal Violence & Victim Response: Barriers, Bias, and Breakthroughs
March 10 @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
CE credits provided by Dr. Valliere — PA CLE Provider #6018 | NBCC ACEP #6294 | CLEE Approved
Victims face tremendous hurdles in managing their experience of interpersonal violence – from the time of the attack or assault to the final stages of law enforcement involvement. Dr. Valliere will focus this 6-hour training on victims of interpersonal violence, the misinformation and misunderstanding they face, the barriers to help-seeking they face, and the systems they have to navigate. The first 3 hours will explore the systemic issues that victims face in help-seeking, credibility, and overcoming the offender’s influence on and grooming of the community. The second 3 hours will explain and illustrate victims’ response to violence and assist the audience in being able to understand and use this understanding of victims in their work – whether it be therapy, advocacy, investigation, or prosecution.
Designed to provide a more in-depth education about what facilitates sexual assault in our society, how offenders exploit these issues, and what victims face and consider, this training will provide some invaluable insights for those who work with victims, as well as those who work with offenders. The training will offer concrete and practical information for advocates, clinicians, law enforcement, prosecutors, social workers, investigators, and supervising agents to supplement their work with victims, and cases of interpersonal violence.
Failure and Success: How the Community Fails Victims and Helps Offenders Succeed
(9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.)
This 3-hour training will address the societal factors that facilitate or minimize violence against women and how offenders exploit and utilize these issues. Using concrete examples of offender behavior and community response, this training will focus on exploring the effective techniques of offenders and the subsequent barriers these create for victims to get help and justice. From the failure of our system to hold offenders accountable, to untested rape kits, to the use of power and status by offenders, we will address the social issues involved, the insidious biases and misinformation that affect our assistance to victims, and the fears and experiences victims have with help-seeking.
The objectives include:
- Describe at least 3 issues socially that facilitate or minimize sexual assault
- Identify and analyze the biases, myths, and misinformation that impact victims
- Explain how the creation and maintenance of a public persona helps offenders go undetected
- Illustrate how offenders groom the community to maintain control over the victim and society
- Analyze the techniques offenders use to camouflage offending and confuse those investigating and prosecuting violence
“Counterintuitive Behavior?” Understanding Victim Response to Interpersonal Violence
(1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.)
Myths about how a “real” victim acts if that victim was “really” assaulted persist and impact treatment, social response to victims, juries, investigators, and prosecution of interpersonal crimes. Victims react to assault and abuse in ways that don’t seem to make sense to observers who project expectations onto victim’s response. The victim’s response can be inappropriately evaluated to determine credibility, especially in the criminal justice system. This training will help explain and illuminate victim decisions and the offender’s influence over the victim behavior. Internal, external, and offender factors will be explored to help the audience understand the complex and completely rational way that victims respond. Case examples and practical information will be offered. Additionally, strategies for interviewing, understanding, and supporting the victim will be offered. Case studies, concrete examples, didactic interaction, lecture, and offender videos will all be used during this training. Objectives include:
- Explore the concept of “counterintuitive” victim behavior;
- Identify the internal and external factors that impact victim response;
- Define and explain victim strategies for coping with assault and abuse;
- Describe the victim’s behaviors in the context of the offender and the abuse; and,
- Identify about the impact of trauma on victim behavior, memory, and decision-making.