Vicky's 'Walking In The Abused Shoes'

Laura Jackson spoke as a guest speaker at Texas A&M University-Commerce (where I am proud to be a student) on September 22nd to discuss the importance of healing from sexual, physical, mental, and psychological abuse. Her life story was horrific, but somehow she survived to tell about it. She addressed different topics such as raising awareness about domestic violence and the importance of a personal relationship with God. I was honored to hear her speak and acquired knowledge from her that I can apply to my life and my surroundings.

Tonier Cain, a nationally- known public speaker and traumatic event educator has inspired many women across the nation, she tells her story to audiences filled with men and women who specialize in substance abuse programs, mental health agencies, corrections facilities as well as trauma survivors and many more. Tonier, also known as Neen was introduced to the jail system at an early age and has a criminal record of 83 arrest followed by 66 convictions. Cain’s story is empowering, inspirational and unforgettable. As of today, her efforts to uplift women who have experienced trauma has given her a position as the team leader for the newly funded National Center for Trauma.

The first guest speaker to present was Doreen Lesane, an Advocate against Domestic Violence. She gave a general power point presentation on what domestic violence is and how to properly assist a client in that predicament. She goes on to explain that domestic abuse and domestic violence are consider two different forms under the law. The law does not recognize domestic abuse as a criminal act and is categorize as nonphysical form of abuse. As a social worker our goals is not to get the client to flea an abuse relationship but to provided serveries to better Accommodate client by helping them create safety nets. Prof. Elaine Reid makes a startling claim, woman are more likely to be murder when they are trying to leave an abuse spouse, and this is also refer as separation violence. Nevertheless it is important not to judge these individual and to handle the case in a professional matter. As social workers it is essential that we safety guide our client with their approval, out of domestic situation by providing resource, support, understanding and professional services.

In the article, Abuser & Victim…Alike, the author argues that both the abuser and the victim share responsibility for their situations. This is only true if we choose to believe that such people voluntarily stay and allow the abuse to continue. In this sense, some truth might exist, however, we must remember the lack of control felt by each victim, as well as the emotional torment they experience that serves to trap them in their current situations. Alternatively, it would be difficult for the author to validate such a claim of shared responsibility if the abused were a child, disabled or mentally handicapped person. To a certain degree, the author himself contradicts his previous statement when he comments that “abusers have all the power”.

Susannah Grant’s (In Her Shoes, The 5th Wave) screenplay for this film was done successfully. It presented many powerful dialogue points for a lot of the characters, Erin especially. Erins character is presented positively as well as negatively through the dialogue in the film. In doing this Grant shows that Erin has a somewhat explosive personality. Some positive things about Erins personality explored through the dialogue in the film is that she quite often expresses herself very clearly, not only this but she stands up for herself and what’s right, she’s not afraid to get her point across, and she is not afraid to ask for help or what she deserves.

This paper will go in detail about a conducted in-person interview on a victim advocate named Christine Heer. Christine has a Master’s degree in Social work (MSW), including a Juris Doctor degree (JD). In addition, she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Domestic Violence Specialist (DVS). Christine earned her education at Rutgers University and has been practicing social work for as long as 27 years and is still going strong. She is also part of the NASW Ethics committee. Christine’s work mainly involves with victim assistance services that specializes in family law, collaborative law, mediation, mental health, education and therapy. As of now, she is teaching at Rutgers Continuing Education and the Victim Assistance Academy.

For many victims, who were abused as a child find it nearly impossible to tell their parents due to fear of not being believed. No one should allow their child or siblings or cousin to go through that pain alone and to be at a point where they feel like they can’t speak up or that they just have to live through that alone. Yet some people do and children all over the world are suffering alone. On the rare occasions that these children do speak up, the adults are usually too caught up in the effect speaking up will have on their families. For many adults there is this fear of what it would cost them to speak up especially in the cases where the assaulter, the victim and the person- who knows about the assault- are related. Why do as people value financial or emotional security over a child’s safety? It is a moral duty to put the lives and safety of these helpless children over both emotional and financial security. These adults also fail to act in a way to protect the child being abuse due to fear of the effect that speaking would have on the family especially in the third world countries that prioritize men over women. Still today, there are countries where women are crimilized and judges for being sexualy assaulted and that brings shame to the family which is why rape still goes wildly unreported and

‘XXXX is very much in the affiliative style of leadership. Sometimes she will put peoples’ feelings first, putting their feelings ahead of the task in hand for fear of causing conflict. I feel that sometimes XXXX needs to move away from that style of leadership and progress more into a democratic and authoritative style. XXXX will know what needs to be done or changed but will refrain from putting the idea or solution forward in fear of upsetting her colleagues. Although when XXXX does move into the democratic space she can be very persuasive at getting team buy in and can be open to other team member ideas and suggested solutions.’

Many people come to social workers with a victim mentality, feeling helpless and without a future based on their past. They have been discouraged, beat down and made to feel broken. Being a victim of abuse, trauma, toxic relationships or a victim of assault are all unfortunate circumstances, but they can be overcome. It may seem like a challenge, but it is possible with assistance and God. As social workers we are to provide client’s who have experienced repeated trauma with support and resources to assist them in their journey to a hopeful life. Painful experiences seem to get the best of us at times, but focusing on the client’s ability to survive these horrific events can give the client just the push they need to see that they are a survivor. Helping the client to realize their own strengths and skills used to overcome their trauma, instead of focusing on the trauma itself, is a powerful way to help clients achieve a positive outcome. Kisthardt (1992) states “intervention will work best when there is “an orientation to, and appreciation of, the uniqueness, skills, interests, hopes, and desires of each consumer, rather than a categorical litany of deficits” (p. 60-61). Kaplan and Girard (1994) state “people will be motivated to change and grow when their strengths are

Every choice that an abused woman considers to do with regards in seeking help or ending the relationship involves a variety of risks. Time and time again, the common question arises, “why doesn’t she just leave?” Most often abused women, at great and potentially fatal risk, do leave their abusive relationships. However, there is a multitude of barriers, including increasing abuse and the potential for re-victimization by the system that does not respond accordingly, and most often force many women to return to their abusers. A woman may become vulnerable as she goes through the stages of leaving her abuser. There are many reasons why a woman becomes vulnerable; guilt, denial, and fear may be among a few reasons, though no matter what the

My program, "The Wounds of Words," was held on the campus of area high schools. Three women spoke; one was a specialist on dating and domestic violence, and the other two were survivors of emotionally and physically abusive relationships. Approximately two hundred people attended the program; some came out of concern for loved ones, others came out of concern for themselves. Regardless of their reasons for coming, I knew as I listened to the speakers and their courageous stories that if one girl could be saved from the emotional abuse that may await her in the future because of my program, the program was a success.

were affected by abuse, I decided to change my paper’s focus on the role of women in

Abuse is a serious issue in people’s lives. We should be more aware of it. We should see the Signs. People don’t take abuse serious enough because people don’t like to talk about it. The people that go through it feel ashamed, and they think that it’s not a problem. People think they should suck it up and take it. They think it’s there is something wrong with them. There isn’t anything wrong with them; they should be able to tell their story. Doesn’t matter what type of abuse you go through, sexual, physical, or mental. It’s real and it’s not your fault. People who are abused are more likely to engage is serious crime than anyone else. So if we don’t pay attention it can get worse then what it already is. Abuse no matter the type

The abuse is usually frequent enough that the victim internalizes it. This leaves the victim feeling fearful, insignificant, untrusting, emotionally needy, and unlovable. Survivors of this form of abuse have a hard time understanding why they feel so bad (Munro, K. 2001.).

Domestic violence is a very important social problem that we must educate ourselves on because it has such a profound and negative effect on the individual(s) being abused. They are affected mentally, emotionally, physically, and I know from experience that the scars can run very deep. Being in an abusive relationship for three years was devastating to my self-image as a teenager, and because of these feelings of inadequacy, my decreasing esteem allowed me to stay in such a dangerous scenario. Healing from the negative effects of that relationship has been a difficult journey for me, and I can only imagine how much more difficult it must be for women abused for years on end. To this day, I struggle greatly with the ability to let go of my own "control"