Roosevelt Faculty Jill Coleman Adds Domestic Violence Awareness to Courses

By Angela Walsberg, Roosevelt University student

Imagine being a victim of domestic abuse, the one you love is hurting you, and there was no one there to help you out? This is how it used to be—earlier. Back then, if a domestic violence issue arose and the police were called to the scene, the police would most likely just set the two individuals aside and try to talk to them to settle their dispute. Often this method would not work, and the abuse would get worse, resulting in the police returning to the same house multiple times without the root of the issue being solved. The violence continues to escalate, possibly resulting in the victim’s death. This example of the cycle of violence captures the essence of a story, that many who have experienced abuse in the past, and the reason why Domestic Violence awareness education needs to be taken seriously.

Domestic abuse is described as a way to try and gain control over a partner. Domestic abuse can be physical, emotional, or verbal abuse. Most domestic violence happens between married couples, but can also happen between dating couples, and affects anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, or gender.

Although domestic violence has always been a serious issue, now there are additional stricter laws for domestic abuse. In fact, many companies and even schools are now offering domestic awareness programs to educate on the prevention of domestic violence.
One such place is Roosevelt University. At both its campuses (Schaumburg and Chicago), faculty that are working hard to educate their students about domestic abuse. Also, the state of Illinois has the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence that provides educational and training resources. This group also works with local organizations to raise awareness about violence.
Here at the local level, there are many other local government and community organizations that do hands-on work with women who are in abusive relationships or trying to leave those relationships. A strong one is the Northwest Suburban Alliance on Domestic Violence, which co-sponsoring (with Roosevelt University) a domestic violence conference at Schaumburg’s campus on Oct. 27th. Those who attended heard guest speakers and community leaders talk about this problem, and learned more about what’s being done—and can be.

One such Roosevelt faculty member, Dr. Jill Coleman, social psychologist, teaches a Psychology of Women course. As she puts it, “Some instructors, myself included, also try to include information about domestic violence into our courses. If individuals in the campus community are dealing with violent relationships in their own lives, our counseling center has resources to guide them through their specific situations”.

Dr. Coleman estimates that about 10-20% of students in a given Psychology of Women class have had some sort of personal experience with partner violence, and says, “Perhaps they have been in relationships themselves or have a close friend or family member who was/is in an abusive relationship”.

Many victims of domestic violence usually tend to keep it to themselves, and don’t file reports against their abuser. This may be because they feel such violence is caused by something they did to upset the abusers.

Whatever the reason, trying to hide the fact that a person was (or is) a victim of abuse will not help that victim out in life. The emotional and psychological consequences of domestic abuse are severe. Many reports state that these can lead to anxiety, depression, a sense of loneliness in the world, or of being isolated. In fact, experiencing domestic violence can even lead to suicide by victims. Unfortunately, most of the symptoms or abuse are ignored , and often, many people just don’t realize how common and serious this issue really is.

Recently, Dr. Coleman’s class (Psychology 345: Psychology of Women) completed a service project to benefit the Women in Need Growing Stronger (WINGS) organization in Palatine, IL, and organized a drive on the Schaumburg campus to collect clothing and other household supplies that were then delivered to one of the organization’s drop-off locations. Some of her students extended the collection sites to their homes and workplaces, with one student using Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights as a collection site.

“We also organized a food sale that helped raise nearly $300 for the organization,” Coleman says. “Throughout the semester, we discussed issues related to violence against women (i.e., sexual harassment, sexual assault, partner violence, etc.).”

During spring semester 2012, she will be offering the class as a Transformational Service Learning class, thanks to a grant from the Mansfield Institute for Social Justice at Roosevelt University. Students in the class will be required to complete 20 hours of community based service during the semester. While students will not be required to pick a service site that deals with violence against women, Coleman predicts that a number of students in the class will be interested in this kind of work. She is currently looking for sites to partner with.

Coleman explains her feelings about domestic violence this way: “ I think domestic violence is a complicated issue. A lot of college students, particularly traditional age students, are not aware of how prevalent partner violence is. I believe that there are also misconceptions about abusive relationships, such as that they all involve physical abuse and that they are abusive from the very beginning, when neither of these is necessarily true.

Coleman continues, “Because people are not educated about the cycle of violence or the early warning signs, they are more vulnerable to being involved in violent relationships and not removing themselves from situations as early as they could. “ Her bottom line: “People should be educated early about partner violence, and this education should be directed at both women and men.”

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.

Rolling Meadows Police Department Responds to Domestic Violence

By Danielle Ladehoff, Roosevelt University student

In 2010, the Rolling Meadows Police Department attended to over 250 cases involving domestic trouble and over 70 cases of domestic battery. Battling domestic violence cases is a daily occurrence for this town’s police force. To deal with this high number of domestic violence cases, Rolling Meadows Chief of Police, Dave Scanlan, has made special training for handling these types of cases a top priority for his force. Although their budget does not allow for a special team to handle domestic violence cases, the police officers of Rolling Meadows are well-equipped to sufficiently manage and properly handle the abusive person as well as care for the victim of the abuse or trouble.
For each domestic violence call, two officers must respond. To ensure the responding officers are well prepared for any domestic violence situation they are called to, they are briefed by the dispatcher on their way to the call. An extremely important piece of the debriefing includes any information about past offenses against the alleged abuser. In addition, the officers are told whether weapons or intoxication are involved so they can better prepare themselves potentially dangerous situations for themselves as well as the victim. The last important piece of information the responding officers receive include information as to who is involved in the domestic violence cases. If children were present at the time of the abuse, or involved, different measures of protection would be taken than if just adults were involved.
All this information is necessary to have prior to arrival so the officers can properly and efficiently assess the situation and have a planned approach to guarantee safety for the victims. Once the officers have arrived at the domestic violence call, they split the parties up and review and evaluate the situation. If the officers find probable cause, the abuser is arrested. Since the majority of domestic violence cases Rolling Meadows police officers see involve families with children, they have set in place safe havens for the victims. If the victims feel they need to seek immediate refuge, the Rolling Meadows police have connections to safe houses including catholic charities, Omni, Women in Need Growing Stronger, as well as court services. These places can offer protection to families or victims when staying in their house is no longer an option as they fight for their safety.
Depending on the case, the severity of injuries and circumstances surrounding the incident, the abuser can receive probation, supervision or jail time. If substance abuse is involved, which is very prominent in the domestic violence cases Rolling Meadows police handles, they may also be ordered to attend substance abuse programs. When children are involved, the police may contact the department of family services or be put in alternative housing to ensure their protection. Whomever the victim may be, they also have the right to seek an order of protection against their abuser. This forbids contact between the victim and the abuser, and allows the police to take action, including arrest if the order of protection does not keep the abuser away.
Due to the increase in domestic violence crimes and reoccurrence, Chief Dave Scanlan is fighting to get the budget for a social worker to become apart of his team. Having a social worker would provide more in-depth follow up with victims and families, and would help these victims during court trails. Furthermore, it would give victims an outlet to discuss their fears, wants, and needs throughout the entire process. It is a vital piece to the puzzle to give the utmost protection to victims who seek it, and those that are afraid of the repercussions. Chief Scanlan will keep preaching about the important role a social worker plays until he receives room in the budget to hire one. Until then, he continues to stress comprehensive training to his police force so they can protect victims in the best way possible.

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.

Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault Provides Much More Than Services for Victims

By Brittany L. Perlow, Roosevelt University student

Before the age of eighteen; one out of three girls and one of seven boys will be the victim of sexual abuse, according to Jim Huenink, executive director of the Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault (NWCASA). This statistic is startling to the majority of the population because they simply aren’t aware of the issues of sexual assault. These violent crimes continue to be misunderstood, undereducated, and remain the pink elephant in our criminal justice system.. Striving to end sexual violence in our community, the Northwest Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NW CASA) and its executive director; Jim Huenink work each day to challenge the statistics of sexual assault and rape.

For almost 35 years, NWCASA has provided free services for victims and their loved ones. These services include 24/7 crisis hotlines and legal and medical advocacy. They also provide in-person crisis intervention and multiple different types of counseling services.

Because few victims of sexual assault decide to step forward and take action against their perpetrator, it is extremely beneficial that NWCASA provides court advocacy. Going to court with the victim is important because often the victim is put on trial , and the victim’s behavior is questioned—an experience which can be traumatizing. NWCASA’s providing legal advice and emotional support greatly helps victims to successfully participate in prosecution.

NWCASA takes proactive measures to stop sexual assault crimes from happening--therefore resulting in less people needing services. It does this by raising public awareness of sexual assault crimes, promoting education and prevention within the community, and training professionals.

By exposing the truth, NWCASA challenges prevalent societal attitudes and beliefs people hold in regards to the act of rape or sexual assault. Rape and sexual assault happens in so many different ways. The myths of rape all center on the belief that a woman is looking to have sex.

Perhaps it is the ignorance of this belief that causes someone to tell a woman that it was her fault that she was raped because she was in the wrong neighborhood, wore the wrong clothing, and had been drinking. Blaming the victim is very harmful to the victim’s self-esteem and potential recovery and should be avoided. Men would never be accused of doing these things which would then be used to blame them for causing their own rape. Consciously or not, this way of thinking has become the norm over time due to the inequality of women in our society. NWCASA works diligently to show that rape and sexual assault is never the victims fault and there is help.

One of the strongest ways NWCASA demonstrates that they are an organization that is about more than simply providing services is in giving educational presentations. Last year NWCASA’s educator gave presentations to approximately 17,000 people. Although this number is substantial, it is only a start because much more outreach needs to occur in order to diminish sexual assault and violence.

Specifically, NWCASA cautions young women about the dangers of not watching their drinks because they are way too frequently the victim of date rape drugs. NWCASA stresses to young men that in Illinois, “No means no.” Young men are told that if they are in a sexual relationship with their girlfriend, they can be prosecuted for sexual assault if she says no and he forces himself on her. Consequently, these young men are taught what constitutes consent.

Just as important as reaching out to young men, is The Men’s Initiative. NWCASA started this educational program partnering with the Northwest Suburban Alliance on Domestic Violence, which emphasizes that domestic violence is everyone’s problem and urges men who aren’t abusive to take a positive step by be a part of the solution in ending violence.

NWCASA also provides training for law enforcement officials, teachers and medical officials. The training aims at equipping these leaders in our community with the tools necessary for them to be better able to respond to victims as well as helping to increase their knowledge of sexual violence. NWCASA also works with the Cook County state attorney office and has been part of implementing a twenty-four hour training program for their assistant’s state attorneys. This will help to fundamentally change the biases and problems within the criminal justice system.

All these activities and outreach make NWCASA an important partner of the Northwest Suburban Alliance on Domestic Violence, helping to prevent domestic violence and future sexual assaults.

NWCASA: 24 Hour Confidential Hotline: (888)802-8890

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.

Preservation of Human Dignity (PHD)

By Laurie Stock, Roosevelt University student

For the last 40 years, an organization dedicated to the Preservation of Human Dignity (PHD) has provided pregnancy help and education to women in northwest suburban communities. Contrary to what some people might think, the "P" in PHD does not stand for Palatine. PHD stands for Preservation of Human Dignity. Although most of PHD’s clients are from the Palatine, Schaumburg, Wheeling, Elk Grove, and Barrington townships, the organization’s services assist women from all areas and demographics who are struggling with pregnancy and or parenting young children.

PHD ‘s involvement with domestic violence problems often is primarily that of referrals. Kim Stobbe, clinical director of PHD, is a member of the Northwest Suburban Alliance on Domestic Violence and previously worked for Safe from the Start, a non-for-profit agency dealing with domestic violence. Although PHD does not directly provide domestic violence programs or services, many of its clients are victims of domestic violence. The organization’s trained counselors are well versed in recognizing signs of domestic abuse and in making the appropriate referrals to agencies and shelters that they work closely with, such as WINGS in Palatine. Many women who come to PHD for assistance often won’t admit or don’t recognize that they are victims of domestic violence. Consequently, it often takes numerous counseling sessions before this sensitive issue can be addressed.

In addition to offering pregnancy related programs and services, PHD also provides educational prevention outreach programs to students and parents in the communities. These focus on healthy sexuality and healthy relationships. The "Friendship Project" is a program geared toward children grades 3rd through 6th. It focuses on character education, being a good friend, and ultimately anti-bullying. "Now We’re Talking" is a workshop for Junior High School parents aimed at helping them communicate more effectively with their teens on sensitive subjects such as dating and sexuality. "Independence Highway" includes a four session- abstinence related program on drugs and sex education taught to high school sophomores in health classes. To date 6,600 students have participated in this program. And Common Sense Parenting is an educational program for parents of toddlers and preschoolers offered as a seven-week program to in- house clients and offered as a seminar on a quarterly basis in the community.

For those who’d like to make a difference through PHD, there are many ways. Volunteers can make a monthly donation to PHD’s Spirit of Life Program; host a baby bottle drive or a baby shower; donate items to the resale store; sponsor a fundraising event; or donate time. Volunteers work on fundraising events; in the resale store, maternity or baby closets; on special projects; or could work directly with PHD clients after attending a mandatory 12- week training program & assessment.

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.

Elgin’s Community Crisis Center

By Kevin Miehlke, Roosevelt University student

We live in a world where violence unfortunately exists within the homes of some families. The side effects of domestic violence can be detrimental to individuals, and experiencing or witnessing violence can leave children with a shattered sense of how to appropriately function within their relationships.

However, the Community Crisis Center of Elgin believes that through children we can break the cycle of violence and prevent future generations from living with the threats and fears of family violence.

The Center has been open since 1975, and although they have seen a 2003-2004 renovation of their building to be completely ADA compliant and struggled through times of financial stress, its doors have remained open every single day in order for victims of domestic violence to safely seek out shelter and resources.

It is crucial that children be reached early on so that habits of fear and violence do not become engrained into their lives. Just last year, Community Crisis Center was able to provide services to 480 young people and give shelter to 155 of them.

Gretchan Vapnar, executive director of the Community Crisis Center, oversees the coordinators for children’s services. She explains that the Center wishes to encourage children in their programs to identify and articulate their feelings so that kids can develop better conflict resolution skills. Certified professionals provide age appropriate counseling to improve self-confidence and an understanding of family functionality.

In order to reach out to other children in the community who have experienced domestic violence, the Center’s community educators work with some of the nearby school districts to speak with students and faculty on domestic violence, sexual assault, and economic issues. By having these Center community educators maintain a clear presence in schools, students can be assured that there are resources and contacts available if they have witnessed domestic violence.

Members of the Community Crisis Center have seen that the majority of relationships related to domestic violence are male-centered, and so there must be efforts taken against the idea that men demonstrate a controlling behavior. Children need role models in their community, both men and women, who can express to younger generations the dire need for loving and caring relationships between spouses and families.

Unfortunately, like so many businesses recently, the Center has been significantly affected by decreases in funding for their programs to the extent that layoffs and pay cuts had to be made in order to keep their operations running continually twenty-four hours a day. They cannot afford to close their doors for the sake of all those they have supported as well as future clients. The agency’s hotline is staffed by professionals who often serve as the first wave of support for victims.

Some of the other specific services the Center provides include legal and medical advocacy; meals and financial help for housing; shelter for women and their children; counseling; economic crisis program; sexual assault program; and the batterer’s intervention program. The Community Crisis Center staff pride themselves on creativity and a strong sense of family as they ambitiously work to accomplish the goals they’ve set.

There is a level of domestic violence in Illinois that is far greater than the resources available in agencies aiding efforts against domestic violence. However, initiatives run by the Community Crisis Center and other organizations associated with the Northwest Suburban Alliance on Domestic Violence are doing their best to combat domestic violence and educate surrounding communities concerning the extent of such violence. Just as the Community Crisis Center has never allowed their doors to be closed, we all must work without ceasing to ensure that domestic violence does not become a habit of the future.

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.

Harper College’s Women’s Program

By Fay Manglicmot, Roosevelt University Student

The Rita and John Canning Harper’s Women’s Program has helped over 300 women whom experienced domestic violence with tuition assistance, career counseling, and emotional support in 2011.

On average, two-thirds of the individuals enrolled in the program report that they have been in an abusive relationship. The program’s aim wasn't specifically to target victims of domestic violence, but intake forms originally developed by the Illinois Department of Labor, found most participants were in that category, said Susan McNamara, a specialist and grant writer for the women’s program. She said the statistics helped staff members to expand their programs focus to better address the needs of abuse survivors.

“It’s a program of opportunity and hope… A place for one-on-one support to achieve their goals for education, career plans and for moral support,” said McNamara

The program started in the early 1970’s as a result of a questionnaire mailed to the community. Women, who responded, wanted a means to continue their education. In 2011 alone, the program helped 540 people.

The Women’s Program at Harper College provides and supports education and employment goals of single parents, displaced homemakers, women who have experienced domestic violence or individuals with limited English proficiency. It is designed to help women set their own goals in a step-by-step plan and to also help with career directions, according to McNamara. A two-credit course called Life Choices and Career Direction helps them refine goals and plan for their education. In addition, it assesses their career interests and personal style to help explore their education and career options. Many students are successful in discovering and reaching their career goals.

Women’s program seminars that anyone can attend are offered periodically throughout the year. Recent seminar topics included- financial management, legal matters, divorce process, and domestic violence prevention.

Networking with other women and building support could be very beneficial, and the program has helped women reach a number of their goals. Many women have found it to be a great pathway for a new start.

“I’m so glad that I found the Women’s Program,” says Jean, whose story is told in the Women’s Program brochure. “I was beginning to think that there was no hope for me, but now I can see that there is some light at the end of my tunnel. I am really proud to be a participant in this program.”

If you know someone who needs moral support, resources, and help finding career directions, then the Women’s Program at Harper College can help them discover great opportunities that can lead to a wonderful life- changing experience.

Roosevelt University Students are learning about domestic violence in their Writing Social Justice course.