Mandatory Training of Clergy in Crisis Intervention of Domestic Violence

Download or read book Mandatory Training of Clergy in Crisis Intervention of Domestic Violence written by Marion Winifred Duncan and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This qualitative study from a feminist perspective, examined clergy preparedness to crisis intervene in situations of domestic violence where women of faith were abused by their male partners. Clergy have often been found to be the first professional helpers to be approached by abused women of Biblically based faith communities, but have also been found to be the least effective. This study set out to examine current clergy preparedness to deal with crisis situations of domestic violence by the detailed examination of examples of clergy interventions through the analysis of interviews with clergy and with abused women survivors who had applied to clergy for help. The analysis identified numerous enhancing and inhibiting factors that affected clergy preparedness to crisis intervene for abused women. These interventions were deemed successful where the safety of the abused woman and the accountability of the abusive male was the primary concern of the intervening clergyperson. Three overriding factors of clergy recognition of being perceived as a representative of God, recognition of the detrimental nature of patriarchal interpretation of Scripture and education in abuse issues were found to also relate to clergy preparedness. Only those clergy who had acquired additional education on top of their basic ministerial training, were found to be adequately prepared. The findings of this research identified that abused women who applied for help to clergy who were uneducated in issues of abuse, found themselves far worse off in their abusive situations than they were before.