If Something Happened, I Will Leave It, Let It Go and Move On: Resiliency and Victimized Homeless Women's Attitudes Toward Mental Health Counseling

• NCJ Number: 245555
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Dated: January 2013 Pages: 295-319
• Author(s): Laura Huey; Georgios Fthenos; Danielle Hryniewicz
• Date Published: January 2013
• Length: 25 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study discusses homeless women and their experiences of violent criminal victimization and their attitudes toward accessing various post-victimization assistancein particular, mental health counseling.

Abstract

In the present study, the authors draw on interviews conducted with 60 homeless women (N = 60) in Detroit and Chicago about their experiences of violent criminal victimization and their attitudes toward accessing various post-victimization assistancein particular, mental health counseling. Contrary to the research literature, which tends to overemphasize pathological responses to victimization within this population, what the author's data reveals is the extent to which victimized homeless women exhibit signs of resiliency through both attitudes and coping behaviors. Further, their expressed attitudes demonstrate the existence of a complex set of relationships between trauma, resiliency, and the desire to access mental health services. These findings the authors suggest have implications for the delivery of mental health services to this group. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.