Domestic Violence Homeless Victims

The research question, what is the effect of self-concealment on domestic violence homeless victims, is worthy of investigation, because the prevalence of homeless remains, with a large percentage being female domestic violence victims. Since previous research has failed to discover and eliminate reasons for this situation, and research also indicates that self-concealment results in a reduction in help-seeking activities which may lead to homelessness, it is reasonable to investigate this variable with this population. Previous studies have tended to focus on the homeless population, failing to compare data to a non-homeless population; this study will use samples from both groups. Therefore findings will provide information unique to this group that will advance the mental health field and assist with treatment and outreach programs designed to eliminate the problem.

The methods used for the review of the literature included a computer search on psychlit/psychinfo, an online data base accessed through the American Psychological Association, available at university libraries. Descriptors used included homelessness, domestic violence, self-concealment, and self-help avoidance. Articles chosen pertained to the research question and study variables. Sources used for the search included peer-review journals.

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studied the homeless, to determine diagnostic comparisons. For their study, 76 homeless adults were interviewed over one year. The authors found that substance abuse is prominent in the homeless population and that mental illness is also a problem. Surprising results also demonstrated that this group tended to have regular contact with their family members. For this study, different assessment techniques were used and each yielded different results, which was a problem and limitation of the study. For example, lowest estimates of mental illness were obtained from psychiatric hospitalization in the past 6 months or from DSM-III diagnosis. Additionally it has been determined that rates based on diagnostic interviews with a single encounter tend to underestimate mental illness for this group. Another study limitation was the small sample size (Toro & Wall). Domestic Violence Walker (1999) report on domestic violence around the world, stating that issues confronting psychologists tend to be similar for each country. Regarding incidence and prevalence, reliable statistics are lacking, yet no country has reported an absence of this abuse. It is also stated that the biggest risk factor for becoming a victim of violence is tha
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Knickman Weitzman, Passero Thomas, VICTIMS Introduction, Toro Wall, Wolkenstein Sterman, Base Limitations, Cepeda-Benito Short, Violence Walker, Brown Simpson, Kelly Archter, domestic violence, self-concealment help-seeking, homeless victims, studies regarding, mental illness, self-concealment help-seeking behaviors, help-seeking behaviors, domestic violence victims, social relationships, shinn knickman, knickman weitzman, homeless population, domestic violence homeless, violence homeless victims, shinn knickman weitzman,
Approximate Word count = 1711
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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