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Intimate Partner Violence Survivors' Perspectives on Coping With Family Court Processes
Julia Bradshaw1, Ellen R Gutowski1, Kashoro Nyenyezi1
1Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Abstract:
Although intimate partner violence (IPV)-exposed mothers report distress during family court proceedings, no known research examines what helps them cope. We analyzed qualitative responses from 214 IPV-exposed mothers to the question of who/what helped during family court. Participants described (a) receiving social support, (b) accessing tools and resources, (c) modifying actions, thoughts, and emotions to adapt to a system that is not trauma-informed, (d) being believed/validated, and (e) managing post-separation family life as helpful. Participants also reported (f) barriers to navigating family law proceedings; a few expressed nothing helped. Findings support a trauma-informed, network-oriented approach to supporting family court-involved survivor mothers.
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