How Do Culturally Specific Services Reduce Help-Seeking Barriers for Latina Survivors of Interpersonal Violence?

Background and Purpose: Few Latina survivors of interpersonal violence seek help from professionals. Though limited, research has identified several factors that may discourage Latina women from seeking help, including fear of negative implications for their family, immigration status, lack of bilingual staff, and lower rates of acculturation. Some victim service organizations have developed culturally specific services for survivors, but there is a dearth of research on their approach to mitigating help-seeking barriers. This project utilized a community-based participatory research partnership between a Latina victim service agency and university. Drawing upon an ecological validity framework, this study examined how culturally specific mechanisms (approaches and service activities/processes) reduce Latina survivors’ barriers to seeking help.

Methods: Using a qualitative case study framework, four focus groups were conducted with victim service staff and other local social service agency representatives who provide services to Latinas (N=17). Utilizing Creswell’s (2017) method of case analysis, four analysts developed initial codes and identified patterns and relationships among the codes, which led to thematic formation. The analysts compared and discussed the meaning of the thematic codes, and revised the coding framework until consensus was reached. The analysts utilized analytic induction to finalize the results by reviewing the data a second time and assembling confirming evidence of the themes (Patton, 2015).

Results: The participants identified multiple mechanisms that may mitigate barriers to help-seeking including earning the trust of the Latino community, having a presence at community events and schools, communicating how the agency mission aligns with Latino values, and ongoing interagency trust and collaboration. The agency employs bilingual and bicultural staff who have experience communicating with people with different dialects and literacy levels. The agency also offers services for non-offending family members including children, which is essential because Latina survivors may be discouraged from seeking help for themselves if services are not offered to their children. The agency facilitates women-centered support groups open to all women, which allows survivors to attend groups without identifying as survivors until they feel ready to disclose. Additionally, friends and family can attend with or without survivors to learn about IPV and ways to support survivors. Once survivors seek help, they may remain engaged in services and refer other survivors to their program because the staff place emphasis on warm interactions and genuine expression of care (personalismo), demonstrate understanding and acceptance of survivors’ cultural traditions, and include cultural values in their services.

Conclusions and Implications: This study identified multiple mechanisms to reduce help-seeking barriers including those focused on the community and family in addition to survivors. Further, a strong emphasis on establishing trusting relationships with survivors, family, and community, along with providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services appear essential to the help-seeking process. The authors discuss these implications for social work education and organizations. Future quantitative research can examine whether these mechanisms are effective in reducing barriers for Latina survivors and for whom (e.g., survivors with different acculturation rates, self-orientation).