Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Theodore P. Remley Jr.

Abstract

Domestic violence has been a major concern in the United States. To effectively work with domestic violence offenders, counselors must have the skills and knowledge needed. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand lived experiences of counselors who provide in-home counseling services to African American men who are repeat domestic violence offenders and received a subsequent abuse report within 6 months after in-home services were discontinued. The goal was to try to develop an understanding of experiences of counselors who provide services to these men. Interviews were used to collect data. I used Otter to transcribe all the interviews. I analyzed the data utilizing note taking and reviewing of the interviews. Seven themes emerged from interviews with the eight participants: victims are reluctant to leave their perpetrators, counselors do not have adequate in-services training to work with this population, there are not enough alternatives for victims so victims are afraid of the unknown and of starting over, counselors believe that perpetrators are not being held accountable for their actions and that the victims are the ones being punished, there are not enough resources available to better serve this population, counselors are not prepared in their master’s degree programs to work with this population, and counselors feel that victims sometimes are also responsible for domestic violence. The results of this study could be used to help counselor educators to have a better understanding of the use of intensive in-home services in order to be able to provide services that are individualized to meet the needs of clients.

Download

Share

 
COinS