Listening to Battered Women: A Survivor-Centered Approach to Advocacy, Mental Health, and Justice

Listening to Battered Women: A Survivor-Centered Approach to Advocacy, Mental Health, and Justice presents an in-depth, multidisciplinary look at society’s responses to domestic violence. Though substantial reforms have been made in the services available to battered women since the 1970s, the book shows how the public and private systems available to victims of domestic violence are still failing to meet the needs of the women who seek help.

Using a feminist perspective, authors Lisa Goodman and Deborah Epstein explore and critique the current available services in three different arenas: the domestic violence advocacy community, the mental health profession, and the justice system. In recent years, the options available to battered women have expanded dramatically. However, these reforms have been made at the expense of the contextualized, women-centered focus that was once at the heart of the anti-domestic violence movement.

The authors argue that a renewed focus on the principles of the early feminist movement -- for example, listening to individual women’s voices, promoting supportive communities, and facilitating economic empowerment, could result in substantial progress in efforts to protect and counsel battered women. A series of concrete recommendations for improvements in the advocacy, mental health, and justice systems are also discussed.

Researchers interested in the field of violence, gender studies, psychology of women, mental health trauma, or family law, as well as practitioners working with the victims of intimate partner violence, will find this book to be a valuable resource in their efforts.

Lisa Goodman, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology at Boston College, and Coordinator of the Mental Health Counseling MA Program. She is the author of over 65 articles and book chapters on institutional and community responses to intimate partner violence; the effects of partner violence on marginalized women, including homeless, low-income, and severely mentally ill populations; and innovative community-based mental health practices for vulnerable populations. She has received grants from the National Institute of Justice and the National Institute of Mental Health to pursue research in these areas. Lisa is co-chair of the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Male Violence Against Women, and co-founder of the ROAD (Reach Out About Depression) Resource Team, an advocacy project for low-income women struggling with depression in Cambridge, MA.

Deborah Epstein, JD, is a Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, Director of the Domestic Violence Clinic, and Associate Dean for Clinical Education and Public Interest & Community Service Programs. She helped lead an effort to design and implement one of the nation’s first specialized domestic violence courts in Washington, D.C., and served as Co-Director of the court’s Domestic Violence Intake Center. Her scholarship analyzes contemporary efforts to reform systemic responses to those in abusive relationships, and suggests new ways to improve the legal system. She is Chair of the DC Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, and has served on the DC Mayor’s Commission on Violence Against Women, the DC Superior Court Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, and the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence Board of Directors.