A Systematic Review of Career Counseling Interventions for Survivors of IPV

Background & Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has a long lasting, debilitating impact on well-being contributing to multiple negative outcomes such as physical trauma and injuries, reproductive and sexual health issues, psychological trauma and stress, and economic insecurity (e.g., poverty, lack of finances, fewer educational and employment opportunities). IPV poses significant challenges and barriers to employment. Often women are forced out of work by their abusive partner, as a form of control and economic abuse and rely heavily on their partner for financial support, making it difficult to leave. Research has shown that efforts helping survivors secure employment promote economic security, empowerment, and safety in the aftermath of violence. However, the literature on career counseling interventions for employment-seeking survivors of IPV is scant. Thus, we conducted a systematic review to explore career counseling practices among survivors of IPV and to identify implications for social work research and practice.

Methods: This systematic literature review was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). A search of multiple electronic databases was conducted (e.g., PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, ERIC, EBSCO, PubMed) and manual searches of journals (e.g., Journal of Career Assessment and Violence Against Women) were used to locate articles written in English and published in peer-reviewed journals from 1980 to present. The search strategy included terms for IPV, economic abuse, career counseling, and employment interventions. Articles included met the following criteria: 1) described a career and/or employment intervention; and 2) focused exclusively on survivors of IPV. Two coders independently extracted data from all studies and both sought consultation services from a university librarian and an academic writing coach with expertise in the field of social work. The reviewers examined methodological quality of each article reviewing key study characteristics (e.g., study objectives, research designs, key findings).

Results: The search yielded 1,421 record hits and the full text of 39 studies were screened. After full text screening, nine studies met all criteria. Five studies were quasi-experimental quantitative and four qualitative research designs. Sample sizes ranged from 6 to 122 participants and all studies were based in the United States. Studies used manualized interventions and all took place in a group counseling setting. Quantitative studies reported significant improvements (e.g., mental health, self-efficacy, critical consciousness) among survivors of IPV who participated in a career counseling intervention. Qualitative studies explored themes such as contextual barriers and contextual supports, and career development. No study reported on long-term job retention or changes in career. Sociodemographics such as citizenship, sexual identity, and other minority status were either underrepresented or excluded.

Conclusions and Implications: The findings from this systematic literature review indicate that career counseling interventions show promise in improving mental health, self-efficacy, and critical consciousness of women who have experienced IPV and are seeking employment.  However, it is not clear whether these effects are sustained over time nor if these effects translate into key outcomes of job retention or changes in career. More studies that include the experiences of diverse survivors are needed to advance this emerging literature.