Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2023, Social Work

Domestic violence is a prevalent issue with extensive impacts. For some, abuse greatly threatens immediate safety and survivors are forced to flee their homes to seek refuge in domestic violence shelters. These shelters address immediate environmental, social, and emotional concerns, helping guide survivors through recovery. Like all people, survivors encompass a wide range of intersecting identities and backgrounds, inevitably making their recovery experience individualized. In particular, mother-survivors staying in domestic violence shelters face unique challenges as restrictions are placed on them which make parenting more difficult and in turn hinder parts of their recovery. Through qualitative interviews conducted with mother-survivors and staff members of domestic violence shelters, this study examines the unique challenges and strengths of mothers recovering from abuse in a domestic violence shelter. Findings reveal that the shelter supervision and discipline policies inhibit the recovery of mother-survivors. Despite these struggles with child-related policies, however, findings also show that motherhood is an important source of strength in recovery for survivors. Recommendations include promoting survivor-centered, trauma-informed care in shelters, being sympathetic and flexible when communicating and enforcing parenting policies, continuously building up a mother-survivor's self-image, and, if possible, expanding interventions and programming to address the specific needs of mother-survivors.

Committee: Rebekah Crawford (Advisor) Subjects: Social Work