This audio and its transcript cover two researchers' answers to questions regarding their multi-State study of non-residential services and support for victims of domestic violence.
The two researchers are Anne Menard, director of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, and Eleanor Lyon, the principal investigator on the research project. The purpose of the research was to determine the types of services and assistance that survivors of domestic violence are seeking, as well as whether these needs are currently being met by non-residential services in the States studied. The study yielded three significant findings. First, the survivors overwhelmingly found the services and support they received from domestic-violence programs to be very helpful. Second, the study documented the complexity and range of needs that survivors have when they come to domestic-violence programs. Third, survivors reported positive outcomes from the services they received, including increased hope, safety, and confidence. In other studies, these short-term outcomes have been linked to longer term well-being. One of the implications of the study is that the many and varied needs of domestic-assault survivors require comprehensive responses that include collaboration among multiple community organizations that can provide a broad range of services to survivors. Also, survivors' diverse backgrounds require that the staff of domestic-violence programs be trained to relate to and assist persons of varied cultural backgrounds.