Understanding Human Behavior Through Crisis: A Field Experience in a Domestic Violence Shelter
By Sara L. Gustafson
Introduction
My field experience took place at CADA, Inc., which stands for Committee Against Domestic Violence. Previously, CADA went by “CADA House” as it started in a physical home but now operates in a shelter facility. CADA is in Blue Earth County and also serves the nine surrounding counties. CADA’s mission is to provide safety and support to victims of domestic violence. They specialize in intimate partner violence, which is classified as violence from a former or current partner. The five key principles CADA services are structured around include anti-oppression, community, survivor-centered, stewardship, and dignity. Although CADA provides services such as supervised visitation, community advocacy, and support groups, I focused my time on the emergency shelter. My experience working in the shelter has helped me better understand the psychological concepts of trauma and how people cope, while also helping me decide where I want to be in the future.
Role and Responsibilities at the shelter
Working with survivors of domestic violence is not to be taken lightly. My title was a shelter advocate intern. Before being able to do most of my daily tasks, I had to complete a 40-hour state-mandated sexual assault training. This outlined how to provide trauma-informed care by teaching language usage, domestic violence myths, victimization, and more. One key takeaway from this training is that trauma-informed care goes beyond how you treat people; it also includes keeping the shelter clean and accessible to reduce excess stress and provide a sense of safety. The shelter has a lot of storage rooms for hygiene, bedding, clothing, and miscellaneous. I focused my time on finding best practices of organization to make it quick and easy for advocates to switch over rooms and for residents to have what they need. My supervisor allowed shadowing during my first month to learn other aspects of the role, including needs assessments, intake forms, and what to do when answering crisis lines. The needs assessment is vital once a survivor is screened into shelter so we know what they need and how we can best support them. Some residents would request assistance getting their children enrolled in school, support with getting a job, help applying for housing, and others were just looking for a place to find themselves, and everyone is treated with the same respect and patience. Most days I spent monitoring the crisis line, which means taking phone calls and providing resources. Some calls simply needed to be redirected to another person, but others were hard, and individuals who may not speak English were seeking resources, and I had to connect them to a translator to communicate and provide them with care. During my time as a shelter advocate everyday was different and going into the work wanting to make a difference was important.
Bringing Psychological Concepts to CADA
Being a victim of domestic violence takes a toll on the mind and body. I observed a lot of different behaviors at the shelter. Every survivor navigates trauma and how abuse affects their mental health in a different way. In addition, how individuals responded to stress was shown in both positive and negative coping strategies. The most amazing thing was seeing individuals be resilient. According to a study on PTSD among victims of domestic violence 45% of victims experienced moderate to severe PTSD and 31% experienced severe PTSD (Mechanic et al., 2008). This means 76% of participants experienced PTSD. Many of the residents at CADA, often symptoms I observed were avoidance, negative changes in mood, and hyperarousal. I will admit at first, I thought that the survivors were mad at me or did not want help, but they were simply coping. The importance of patience was stressed many times by my supervisor. Some days survivors at shelter wanted help and other days they may not leave their room. In some cases, individuals would raise their voices and yell at other residents which I learned is because they are still experiencing heightened fight or flight. Seeing how psychological concepts can impact a person's life and healing journey was eye-opening.
My experience shaped my career goals
Being a shelter advocate intern has shaped me as a person and adjusted my career goals. I want to continue to support women’s shelters by volunteering, advocating for change, and donating, but I do not want to pursue a career at a shelter. While the work was impactful and taught me empathy, the position long term would not be a good fit for my mental health. The work I did confirmed my interest and desire to work with people and be a support system. So, I have adjusted my future to take my interest in psychology to the corporate world. Studying psychology has allowed me to better understand humans and I want to continue understanding humans through human resource management. One of the biggest skills I learned was setting professional boundaries, such as letting residents know I will assist them when I am available and understanding I do not need to drop everything if the need is not urgent. I am taking time to pursue my event planning interest in parks and recreation while I attend graduate school for human resource management. My time at CADA has made a difference in my understanding of trauma and helped me shape my future.
References
Mechanic, M. B., Weaver, T. L., & Resick, P. A. (2008). Mental health consequences of intimate partner abuse: a multidimensional assessment of four different forms of abuse. Violence against women, 14(6), 634–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801208319283
Thirdman. (n.d.). Women holding a megaphone and placards [Photograph]. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/women-holding-a-megaphone-and-placards-8923854/