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ORIGINAL PAPER
‘‘God Just Brought Me Through It’’: Spiritual Coping Strategies
for Resilience Among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors
Rene
´Drumm •Marciana Popescu •
Laurie Cooper •Shannon Trecartin •
Marge Seifert •Tricia Foster •Carole Kilcher
Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract This study highlights the spiritual coping pro-
cesses for surviving and healing used by Christian women
in a conservative faith community who experienced inti-
mate partner violence (IPV). Using data from 42 in-depth
qualitative interviews of survivors of IPV, the findings
reveal a pattern of spiritually-based survival and resilience
strategies women used while coping with and eventually
escaping their traumatic lives. The analysis notes the cen-
tral role of spirituality as a means women used to move
from coping for survival to resilient self-efficacy and
healing. These findings assist clinical social workers with
identifying and accessing spiritual strengths as a spring-
board to wellbeing.
Keywords Intimate partner violence Spirituality
Coping Resilience
Introduction
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a social problem of
global proportions (Johnson and Zlotnick 2009; Kazdin
2011; Rasanathan and Bhushan 2011). Lifetime victim-
ization rates range from 10 to 50 % depending on the
population studied. These significant prevalence rates of
IPV come with a high cost to individuals and to society at
large that is well-documented in the research literature
(Cavanaugh et al. 2012; Johnson and Zlotnick 2009). As
the social and individual costs of IPV escalate, it becomes
increasingly important for clinical social workers to
address this social problem in a more comprehensive way
through early intervention efforts.
IPV produces trauma throughout the lifecycle. IPV
trauma occurs through dating violence in late adolescence
and young adulthood (Lehrer et al. 2006; Smith et al.
2003), and through IPV in adulthood and into old age
(Flannery 2003; Mouton et al. 2004). IPV’s indirect effects
extend to children, either through IPV escalation during
pregnancy (McMahon and Armstrong 2012; Jeanjot et al.
2008) or through the witnessing of abuse by children and
adolescents (Cavanaugh et al. 2012). Social workers have
long been engaged in alleviating the social problems
associated with IPV at these various stages of life (Danis
2003; Danis and Lockhart 2003; Goodman and Smyth
2011; Mears and Visher 2004; Pyles and Postmus 2004).
From a traditional social work ecological perspective,
intervening in any given stage of life will lessen the
intergenerational nature of this type of trauma. With this in
mind, clinical social workers have been particularly inter-
ested in developing programs for victims and offenders, as
well as therapeutic interventions designed to heal trauma
following IPV (Johnson and Zlotnick 2009; McNamara
et al. 2008). While these approaches are important and
helpful in the aftermath of trauma, a more proactive
approach calls for earlier intervention in the cycle of
trauma.
One avenue of intervention that offers potential for
reducing subsequent traumatization lies in understanding
the factors contributing to resilience and coping for abuse
survivors. By increasing our understanding of these coping
R. Drumm (&)L. Cooper S. Trecartin M. Seifert
T. Foster C. Kilcher
Southern Adventist University, P.O. Box 370, Collegedale,
TN 37315, USA
e-mail: rdrumm@southern.edu
M. Popescu
Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service,
400 Westchester Avenue, Room 128, West Harrison,
NY 10604, USA
123
Clin Soc Work J
DOI 10.1007/s10615-013-0449-y
mechanisms, clinical social workers can be more intentional
in strengthening existing positive coping attempts, thereby
increasing client resilience even in the midst of the trau-
matic relationship. Research literature identifies and docu-
ments the various ways in which victims of IPV cope with
abuse and eventually move towards safety (Dorfman 2004;
Goodman et al. 2009; Hodges and Cabanilla 2011; Jacinto
et al. 2010). Yet, while identifying help-seeking activities
that focus on using formal or informal resources to meet
physical and mental/emotional needs (Ansara and Hindin
2010; Fanslow and Robinson 2010; Morrison et al. 2006),
current research is rather scarce when it comes to spiritual
coping and healing mechanisms utilized by victim/survi-
vors to ameliorate or heal from abusive relationships.
Understanding the spiritual developmental process in a
general way as proposed by Pargament (2007) may be
helpful in contextualizing spiritual coping among survivors
of IPV and other types of trauma. Once a person’s indi-
vidual spirituality is established through internal and
external factors (Discovery), it becomes an important part
of their existence, acting as an organizing force as well as a
resource. The individual, by nature, wants to hold on to and
enhance their sense of the spiritual (Conservation) and
finds pathways to aid this process. When significant life
stresses come (Violation, Threat, and Loss), the established
spirituality becomes a resource for coping in a variety of
ways (Conservational Spiritual Coping). However, difficult
experiences may lead to spiritual questions and disorien-
tation (Spiritual Struggle), resulting in a need to redefine
and transform spiritual understandings (Transformational
Spiritual Coping). This transformation is a normal and
natural part of the process of maintaining one’s spirituality,
even though it can at times lead to a detachment or distance
from spirituality (Spiritual Disengagement). Nevertheless,
the natural striving for meaning, purpose, and significance
may well lead the individual to rediscover spirituality,
perhaps in new and different ways. This model for the
presence and role of individual spirituality allows for
repetitive cycles of movement through the various com-
ponents of spiritual experience. It is also important to note
that the processes described in the model may work for
good or harm in the individual, depending on the presence
of either positive or negative spiritual concepts and coping
methods (Pargament 2007).
The understanding of spiritual coping is particularly
important to clinical social workers for several reasons.
First, clinical social workers engage in practice with high
numbers of faith-adherent individuals. Although research
findings vary on exact population demographics, approxi-
mately 76 % of Americans identify as Christians (25 %
Catholic, 51 % Protestant) while only 15 % classify
themselves as having no religious affiliation (Kosmin and
Keysar 2009). Besides the sheer numbers of individuals
bringing a religious orientation to the help-seeking situa-
tion, clinical social workers need information on spiritual
coping mechanisms because of the pervasive influence that
religious practices bring to individual and family contexts.
Research notes that religious beliefs influence nearly every
aspect of human behavior, such as making economic
decisions (Lehrer 2004), engaging in sexual risk behaviors
(Hatzenbuehler et al. 2012), taking care of one’s physical
health (Acevedo 2010), or deciding which candidate to
vote for (Jansen et al. 2012), just to name a few. Looking
specifically at how religion may influence IPV response
behaviors, early researchers noted that religiously affiliated
individuals stay longer in an unhealthy relationship, even
one riddled with abuse (Horton and Williamson 1988).
Subsequent research suggests that, for Christian spouse
abuse victims, a conservative belief system may create
specific barriers to changing abusive circumstances
(Knickmeyer et al. 2010; Popescu et al. 2009) and very
often when working with professional helpers, such as
clinical social workers, women of faith feel forced to
choose between their faith and their freedom from an
abusive relationship (Nason-Clark 2004). This, in turn,
may keep women of faith in abusive relationships longer
because their closely held beliefs are not heard or under-
stood by professional helpers. Finally, Pargament’s
empirical work reveals that, when facing a crisis or a
traumatic event, people will often seek support from their
faith. In fact, 50–85 % of various groups find their spiri-
tuality beneficial as a coping mechanism (Pargament
1997). Thus, in order to work from a strengths and resil-
ience perspective, it is important to understand and be able
to enhance the spiritual coping mechanisms people of faith
bring to the helping relationship.
The scant existing research literature on spiritual coping
among women of faith offers a complex picture of the
positive ways in which religion and spirituality address
IPV, as well as the challenges experienced by women of
faith (Fraser et al. 2002; Giesbrecht and Sevcik 2000;
Nason-Clark 2000; Popescu et al. 2010; Pyles 2007). These
researchers note general ways in which religion or spiri-
tuality impact coping and survival or community response;
however, the individual coping mechanisms which clini-
cians may use to intervene from a strengths perspective
appear lacking. One exception in the literature comes from
a study of ethnic differences in help-seeking behaviors that
found the use of spiritual coping mechanisms, such as
prayer, to be helpful in the healing process among African
American IPV survivors (El-Khoury et al. 2004).
It is within this context that this article fills an important
gap in the existing research literature by identifying the
specific spiritual coping mechanisms used by women IPV
survivors as they experienced and sought healing from an
abusive intimate relationship. Recognizing these individual
Clin Soc Work J
123
spiritual coping strategies will assist clinical social workers
in providing positive tools that their spiritually-oriented
clients may use as they seek healing from their relationship
trauma.
Methods
The purpose of this analysis is to understand mechanisms
that women relied on to cope with an intimate relationship
in which abuse or violence was present. The analysis also
examines resilience strategies women discovered as they
engaged in healing from the trauma experienced in their
abusive relationships. The research question for this anal-
ysis is: What are the coping and resilience mechanisms that
women use as they move from surviving to thriving during
and following an abusive relationship?
The sample population was comprised of women sur-
vivors of IPV within a conservative Christian denomina-
tion. Because little is known about this particular
subculture in terms of coping and resilience, the method-
ology of choice was an inductive, qualitative approach.
Researchers gathered data by conducting in-depth
interviews. Participants were recruited through purposive,
convenience, and snowball sampling procedures. The
inclusion criteria included: (1) being female, (2) self-
identifying as a current or former Seventh-day Adventist,
(3) having experienced an abusive intimate partner rela-
tionship while a member of the Adventist church, and (4)
being 18 years of age or older. By contacting pastors,
conducting church presentations, and advertising in
denominational publications, researchers recruited and
interviewed 42 Seventh-day Adventist women who self-
identified as survivors of IPV. Prior to collecting data, the
co-principal investigators received permission to conduct
the study from Andrews University’s Human Subjects
Review Board and followed standard guidelines to protect
research participants. Confidentiality and voluntary par-
ticipation were emphasized when inviting women to par-
ticipate in the study, and all participants signed an
informed consent before being interviewed. Demographic
information for the participant sample appears in Table 1.
Data Collection and Analysis
Researchers developed an open-ended interview guide to
assist in getting similar information from all participants. The
eight interviewers (all members of the research team) were
trained in the use of the interview guide prior to conducting the
interviews. The interview guide inquired about participants’
victimization experience, their attempts at help-seeking,
the effects of abuse, and avenues for prevention and inter-
vention. Researchers conducted face-to-face interviews with
participants who were offered $75 to honor their participation
in the study. The interview times ranged from approximately
one and a half to four hours in length.
The first step in organizing the raw data was to create
verbatim transcriptions of the recorded interviews. The
research team members (the authors along with additional
research faculty) then reviewed the transcripts for com-
pleteness and accuracy. Researchers initiated analysis by
coding participants’ themes throughout the data. Provalis
Qualitative Data Miner software was used to facilitate the
coding process. The analysis used the constant-compara-
tive method, which assists in developing a grounded theory
(Glaser and Strauss 1967).
As coding continued in the analysis process, researchers
examined specific instances of the codes to clarify simi-
larities and differences between the researchers’ use of
these codes, improving inter-coder reliability. Researchers
addressed the issues of credibility and trustworthiness of
the data by using peer debriefing and conducting negative
case analysis (Lincoln and Guba 1985). Negative case
analysis is a process whereby researchers examine the data
for incidents that do not support or may contradict the
emerging analysis. Inter-rater reliability was assured by
using the process suggested by Marques and McCall
(2005). This method involves giving various members of
the research team the entirety of raw transcribed data to
discover similarities in coding. The research team met
immediately following the initial attainment of themes, yet
before formulating conclusions. This approach provided a
way to verify that the study’s findings represented a con-
structive measure in consistency of interpretation rather
than an evaluative measure occurring after the analysis.
Thus, the research team met regularly to reach consensus
on the emerging categories, themes, and types in the data.
Findings
This analysis offers insights into resilience mechanisms
and strategies for survival and healing among IPV survi-
vors. It is important to note that the women in this study
demonstrated resilience while still entrenched in the abu-
sive relationships. The analysis of all resilience themes
found in the transcribed participant interviews revealed a
number of categories of strengths used by the women for
coping with their abusive circumstances and that eventu-
ally strengthened their ability to take steps away from the
abuse. While these sets of resilience data offered insights
into the lived experiences of the study participants, the
researchers noted an emergent, overarching theme that
permeated the strengths findings: the role of personal faith
for resilience in the interviewed women. At all levels of
their experience, whether simply surviving the abuse,
Clin Soc Work J
123
Table 1 Participant demographics
Age 20–30 31–40 41–50 51–60 61 ?
2.4 % 19.0 % 42.9 % 21.4 % 14.3 %
Ethnicity African American Caucasian Hispanic Native American Other
14.3 % 76.2 % 4.8 % 2.4 % 4.8 %
Region Southeast US Southwest US Western US Northeast US Midwest US Canada
38.1 % 31.0 % 16.7 % 4.8 % 4.8 % 4.8 %
Child abuse history No history of child abuse reported Experienced one of the following: physical,
emotional, or sexual abuse
Experienced more than one of the following: physical,
emotional, or sexual abuse
45.2 % 40.5 % 14.3 %
Length of marriage 0–5 years 6–10 years 11–20 years Over 20 years Unknown
9.5 % 14.3 % 21.4 % 47.6 % 7.1 %
Children present at time
of abuse
Yes No
85.7 % 14.3 %
Type of IPV experienced Emotional Physical Sexual More than one type
95.2 % 66.7 % 47.6 % 85.7 %
Current relationship status Still in IPV relationship Separated or divorced Remarried Widow Never married
7.1 % 71.4 % 16.7 % 2.4 % 2.4 %
Clin Soc Work J
123
moving through the process of leaving their abusive part-
ner, or seeking healing, spirituality was an important and
primary resilience resource for this group of interviewees.
Because this theme of faith was so pervasive in the overall
resilience data, this analysis focuses exclusively on these
identified types of spiritual experiences that served as a
strong resource for the abuse survivors.
For the Christian women participating in this study, the
starting point for spirituality or individual faith was
expressed in terms of a personal relationship with God.
Even before finding themselves needing to cope with
abuse, having some type of connection to God provided a
common lens of spiritual experience for the participants.
The eventual actions and cognitive patterns used to cope
with the reality of abuse are grounded in and develop out of
their established relationship with God, serving as a pri-
mary source for surviving the ongoing abuse in their lives,
as well as a motivational element that shaped the direction
of both their resilience and life trajectory, from static sur-
vival to empowerment and healing.
The survival and healing process influenced by the
women’s faith was not a linear set of dynamics and
movement toward healing from abuse, nor did it involve
discrete steps or stages identified by the survivors. How-
ever, these themes of spiritual coping are, without question,
strongly present throughout the experiences of these
women of faith, intertwining and recurring in ways that
were unique to each participant.
Within the broad category of spiritual coping, the
resilience strategies that emerged as themes from the
analysis include: (1) experiencing God as a lifeline for
survival, (2) utilizing Bible reading and prayer as spiritual
coping practices, (3) attribution of resilience resources to
God, (4) the role of spirituality versus religion in coping,
and (5) spirituality leading to self-efficacy.
Resilience Through Utilizing God as a Lifeline
As women experienced increased isolation in their human
relationships due to the abuse dynamic, their relationship to
God became a lifeline that they identified as central to their
survival. The survivors often described their personal faith in
God in terms that denote a type of unique dependability that
could not be found elsewhere in their current experience. In
this way, their spiritual connection with God functioned as a
lifeline of survival despite the abusive circumstances they
were in. Though the ‘‘God as a lifeline’’ coping dynamic
seems to emerge initially as a survival mechanism while
entrenched in the abusive circumstances, this enhanced level
of relationship to God appears to follow the women
throughout their experience, into times of situational change
and healing. The following quotes from participants illus-
trate the importance of this resilience resource.
No, I don’t have the physical arm around me to hold
me when I cry, but I can go back to my bed and lay
on it and cry and talk to God…. God has never failed
me. (Brittany)
I think the thing that has helped me to get through it
all and during those times, especially when I couldn’t
talk to anybody else, I was talking to God. (Judy)
[God’s] the one that carried me through and that’s
one thing I know—that if I cannot depend on any-
thing or anybody else in this world there’s one person
I can depend on. (Amy)
Well, after the suicide [attempt] I realized He was the
only way out. God was my only way out of this….He
was the only thing I could hang on to at that point; I
was so desperate. (Karla)
Spiritual Coping Practices: Bible Reading and Prayer
The analysis revealed that the spiritual practices of prayer
and Bible reading functioned as the primary methods for
strengthening and maintaining the women’s relationship
with God and were thus a central means of tapping into faith-
related resilience. While these strategies were part of their
established spirituality paradigm prior to their abusive cir-
cumstances, the need to find ways to cope with the abuse
resulted in an intensification of these practices. To keep their
connection to God strong and viable, the women took an
intentional approach to prayer and scripture study. The
language used by the women shows their perception of these
practices as resources for coping, hope, and even main-
taining emotional and mental health. The following quotes
from participants illustrate the use of Bible study and prayer
in staying connected spiritually for survival and healing.
God just brought me through it…. That was what got
me through, just my relationship with God and
prayer. And really, truly, each day was just a matter
of prayer. (Regina)
In order to cope with my first husband, I spent a lot of
time in prayer on my knees. (Mary)
I would go to sleep and then about 2:30 or 3:00 in the
morning I would wake up and I would go to another
room and I would read my Bible and I would pray
and I would get strength for the day. I wasn’t sleeping
a lot but somehow God would give me strength for
the day. (Judy)
When I would get to the point where I had no hope—
didn’t even have a knot in the end of the rope to hang
onto—I would say, ‘‘O Lord, please show me
something that will help me right now,’’ and I would
Clin Soc Work J
123
just open the Bible and start reading the whole page,
and you would not believe all the verses in the Bible
that talk about children being returned. And that
really gave me some hope. (Sandy)
Interviewer: How did your spiritual life help you
cope with the difficulties?
Participant: Um, that holding on. And claiming some
[Bible] promises. And, especially the one—my
favorite one at the time…‘‘God has not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind.’’ And I was wanting to hold on to my sound
mind. Not lose it. (Lana)
Initial Resilience Attribution
A corollary process occurred as part of the lifeline survival
experience concerning the way survivors viewed positive
changes in their life circumstances. There was a pervasive
perception among survivors in this sample that any
improvement in their life, such as acquired resources and/
or strengths, resulted from the direct intervention of God,
acting on behalf of their welfare. Whenever their circum-
stance was ameliorated in some way, participants attributed
that action or event to God rather than to any self-efficacy,
other people, or the circumstances themselves.
I can see how God led me and how He put people in
my path that I needed to have there for comfort and
courage. (Pamela)
I was in a house that I couldn’t pay the rent on and since
we quit paying the rent, we got an eviction notice, and it
was only because of God’s goodness that He found us
another house, not an apartment. He [God] paid the
deposit on it through somebody else. (Amy)
He has always been there for me no matter what I’ve
been through and no matter what has happened and
how things have gone on. There have been so many
miracles just in the last year and a half. There were
times when I didn’t know how I was going to get gas
in my tank…I got out of my car and then got back in
and it was up higher about a quarter of a tank. I didn’t
have any money for gas. And it was just little things,
but I know that He is there and He’s watching out for
me, no matter what. (Lisa)
Role of Spirituality Versus Religion in Coping
and Resilience
As the women struggled to overcome the effects of abuse
in their lives, their developing spiritual coping strategies
often led them to view spirituality (inner connection with
God) and organized religion (external, institutionalized
expressions of faith) as separate entities. While women
gained strength from their spiritual lives, they were often
challenged by religious traditions, institutions, or people
associated with them. These challenges led survivors in
some cases to diminish the role of religion in their lives
while adhering to their personal or internal spiritual prac-
tices. The quotes below present a range of ways in which
women came to separate their personal spirituality from
institutional religion.
I withdrew from organized religion…[but] every bad
thing in my life has made me more spiritual, not less.
It has definitely driven me to the source, because you
know you can go to people but then you stand the
chance of being judged, condemned, made to feel like
you could have done it differently or it was your fault,
or even just privacy you know…. And God is there
for all of it, and He won’t tell anybody and He for-
gives you, and you move on. (Beth)
I think that my faith in God is probably stronger than
it has ever been…. I learned in counseling about
spirituality. I have learned that there is a difference
between the two things [religion and spirituality]….
Spirituality involves knowing that Jesus was a safe
person…. The most important thing is that we wor-
ship Jesus. And I think that the healing comes from
that perspective, rather than the [church] denomina-
tion. (Alma)
I’ve done a lot of searching in my own mind to try
and work out what I truly believe and what I can
accept from the things I was taught as a child and
what parts of those things I can’t accept. I probably
have a view of God that’s much different from the
traditional Adventist view…. [Before, I was] looking
at God through other people’s eyes and I’ve just had
to come to terms in my own mind with what I believe
about who God is and what He needs from us and
what my purpose is in life. And in a way it’s made me
stronger…because I do, probably for the first time,
feel that I have a strong sense of purpose in life.
(Diane)
Resilience and Spiritual Coping Leading to Self-
Efficacy
In different points in the process from surviving to thriving,
the participants’ spiritual practices provided opportunities
to gain important and healthier insights which assisted
them in making changes and recovering from abuse. They
reported gaining understanding into the nature of the abu-
sive relationship using these spiritual coping strategies. The
Clin Soc Work J
123
spiritual process also transformed their view of God, and
how they believed God viewed the abuse. These discov-
eries and insights assisted in developing a sense of self-
efficacy that led survivors to a higher level of self-valuing
and eventually to moving away from the abusive
relationship.
The more I prayed, the more God would reveal the
type of person I was married to…. Christ showed me
through my relationship with Him that that wasn’t
His will for me. That I deserve better. (Nora)
I started praying, uh, for God to help me…and I
guess I had a realization that it wasn’t God’s will that
I submit to that [abuse]. (Kay)
I thought God was emulated by my earthly father. I
thought that I had just messed up and I thought that
He wouldn’t want me either…. Then I learned to
know God, who He was, and He accepted me….
Then I learned about a caring God. (Cassie)
I read that book and I’m like, ‘‘Wow, I don’t have to
hate God anymore. He doesn’t really want me to live
like this.’’ And that gave me the courage to leave.
(Diane)
Discussion
This analysis focuses on the ways in which spirituality
served as a primary coping mechanism and avenue to
resilience in this sample of abuse survivors. Women within
this faith group demonstrated resilience in surviving and
healing from the trauma of IPV through their relationship
with God and using that frame of reference to eventually
move away from their abusive relationships.
Important to the understanding of these findings is the
intentional use of ‘‘spiritual coping’’ rather than ‘‘religious
coping.’’ This distinction is made to most accurately
attribute the highlighted resilience dynamics to a personal,
individual understanding of and inner connection to a
transcendent higher power or God, or even more broadly to
‘‘a search for the sacred’’ (Pargament 1999), rather than to
identification with or relationship to a religious system.
Though spirituality and religiosity are, by nature, signifi-
cantly interrelated, this set of findings focuses specifically
on the spiritual experiences of the participants relative to
resilience and, in fact, aspects of the findings themselves
demonstrate the need for making this careful distinction.
While these data provide evidence of thematic spiritual
occurrences common to most study participants, this
analysis also serves to inform clinical social work through
observations about the broader processes at work in the
individuals studied and comparing that to what is known
about the usefulness of addressing spirituality in the clin-
ical setting. Researchers who have devoted their efforts to
this area have observed that ‘‘perhaps the greatest chal-
lenge for mental health professionals is to become better
acquainted with the multifaceted nature of spiritual life’’
(Pargament et al. 2008, p. 397). Because individuals
overwhelmingly use their sense of the sacred in their lives
(whether it is more or less connected to specific religious
practice), and because spirituality seems to increase in
importance as individuals face problems, an understanding
of spirituality’s role as a clinical tool is critical. Indeed, the
mental health community has long wrestled with the
complex relationship between clients’ religion/spirituality
and psychological processes, and how that impacts the
clinical setting. Further, clinical practitioners often do not
share the religious or spiritual views of their clients. It may
be helpful for mental health professionals to view faith and
spirituality as part of the cultural values structure of a
client, and thus, a functional resource to potentially serve
the client (Goldberg 1996). It is in this context that spiri-
tuality may pragmatically serve as a resilience strategy for
victims of IPV.
Pargament’s model (2007) lends itself well to further
interpretation of the findings of abuse survivors’ faith-
related resilience experiences. While the participants’
experiences were not exactly the same, a consideration of
the emergent themes regarding spirituality as a whole
offers an illustrative model, based on their collective
experience, that could potentially prove helpful in devel-
oping clinical responses to IPV. The women in this study
did share many similarities in their initially established
spiritual understanding and values, perhaps due to the
sample being drawn from individuals with the same faith
tradition (Seventh-day Adventist). It may be helpful to note
that this particular denomination, like many evangelical
Protestant Christian faith groups, places a strong emphasis
on the development of a ‘‘personal relationship with God,’’
particularly through the use of corporate and individual
practices of Bible study and prayer. The abuse the survi-
vors faced motivated them to strengthen these already-
familiar spiritual strategies or pathways, both to conserve
their spirituality and to cope with the violence in their lives.
These pathways led them to additional spiritual coping
dynamics. They began to cling to an inner spiritual focus—
relating to God as the only constant in their lives—and
through dependency on this lifeline, they found ways to
survive and they also attributed their resilience to God
alone as a response to their dependency on Him. However,
at some point, the juxtaposition of their abusive situation
with the development of their spirituality through the use of
faith-based coping at times created a need to re-evaluate
their spiritual understandings, including their religious
Clin Soc Work J
123
frameworks. Through a realization of the dichotomy
between organized religion and their own individual spir-
ituality, they became positioned to reshape aspects of their
faith, finding themselves willing to part with previous
negative religious coping, marked by normalization of
abuse, self-blame, unhealthy concepts of God, and mind
frames that could result in re-victimization. This spiritual
transformation is characterized by development of self-
efficacy, naming abuse for what it is, and ultimately
claiming God as a direct contributor to empowerment and
healing. The use of this model as a theoretical framework
for the study data supports the evidence in this analysis that
the spiritual coping dynamics experienced by the abuse
survivors are part of a non-linear, ongoing process, through
which women develop resilience as a result of a personal
faith that enables them to find their inner voice as well as
the power and strength to oppose and recover from abuse.
Clinical Applications
With a theoretical model in place for addressing abuse in
the clinical setting, we can attempt to offer more specific
practical suggestions for use of the lessons learned from
this analysis. There has been an obvious shift with regard to
the inclusion of spirituality in social work practice, moving
from the prevalence of humanism in social work thought in
the second half of the twentieth century (Gray 2008), to a
wider recognition of the importance of spirituality in social
work practice starting in the last decade of the twentieth
century (Canda and Furman 1999; Kvarfordt and Sheridan
2009) and a strong mandate to respect spirituality and
integrate it in clinical interventions, following ethical
guidelines (Cheon and Canda 2010; Canda et al. 2004;
Sheridan 2009). Further, the Council on Social Work
Education’s updated standards (2001) mandated an
understanding and consideration of spirituality in social
work practice. However, despite this progression, social
workers’ limited training on spiritual integration in the
clinical setting still affects practice (Sheridan et al. 1992).
Without a well-rounded understanding of the impact of
spirituality on trauma, or the use and importance of spiri-
tuality as a coping mechanism, clinicians might mistakenly
assign negative labels—such as engaging in magical
thinking, being superstitious, or giving away one’s
power—to people who engage in spiritual or religious
coping behaviors. This analysis cautions against that
mindset and encourages, instead, an approach to interven-
tion that uses the client’s operating belief system as
strength and an avenue of healing. Recently published
research (Damisch et al. 2010) supports the idea that
people who engage in what has been labeled as supersti-
tious behaviors actually boost their confidence in preparing
for an upcoming task. This increase in confidence improves
performance and self-efficacy. This same mechanism may
be at work in this sample of IPV survivors. As the women
come to see God as their lifeline and attribute any good
result to divine intervention, they become aware of ways in
which God may be leading them away from the abusive
relationship and then act on those beliefs to escape harm.
These findings can be used at each stage of the inter-
vention process to improve clinical work with abuse survi-
vors. For example, in the initial interview with survivors,
clinicians should ask specifically and intentionally about the
client’s belief system and how that has impacted their coping
and survival. For example, asking, ‘‘Do you have a spiritual
or religious tradition that has been helpful to you?’’ may
open the door for such dialog. Then, if the client presents
with strong belief patterns that could be interpreted as
magical thinking or superstitious, instead of labeling it or
attaching a pathological diagnosis, clinicians can attempt to
identify the ways in which that belief system has encouraged
survival and perseverance in the face of adversity.
As treatment continues beyond the initial assessment
phase, clinicians can help their clients to articulate, rec-
ognize, and legitimize their spiritual coping mechanisms.
Helping clients name and normalize their use of spiritual
tools for coping and healing is empowering and potentially
increases self-efficacy. For example, for clients who use
spiritual coping strategies, asking the question, ‘‘How does
God’s love and value for you enter into this relationship?’’
may help the client to move in the direction of increased
self-valuing, leading to opening the door to ending the
abusive relationship. Another possible question to pose to a
client with spiritual coping mechanisms in place would be,
‘‘If God was telling you that it’s time for you to be safe,
how would you know, what would you see, hear, or
sense?’’ This line of questioning validates the coping
strategy and invites the client to consider alternatives that
are legitimate forms of self-efficacy from her own belief
system.
At an early stage of treatment, some clients may not
understand the difference between religious practices and
individual spirituality. The clinician can take an active role
in assisting the client to separate these concepts since
engaging in spirituality practices, at least for many in this
group of survivors, has demonstrated a greater positive
impact in healing than corporate religious activities.
On a more macro level, these findings should lead
clinical social workers to forge partnerships between clergy
and IPV service providers. Researchers note a stark dis-
connect between IPV shelters and the religious community
(Nason-Clark et al. 2010). Yet, based on existing data,
particularly among African American survivors, fostering
an active connection between IPV shelters and faith-based
organizations may be important in facilitating a healing
environment (Few 2005).
Clin Soc Work J
123
Limitations of the Study
In addition to limitations inherent in qualitative studies and
snowball sampling, this study is limited by its focus on a
single Christian denominational group of women. It would
be beneficial to interview participants from many faith
groups to further understand resilience strategies within
those groups, to learn commonalities and differences
among various faith traditions. The study is also limited by
the nature of self-selected participants in the research
process.
Conclusion
Clinical social workers have an opportunity to be at the
forefront in an initiative to fight IPV by identifying and
encouraging the use of spiritual coping mechanisms that
lead survivors to a greater sense of self-worth and resil-
ience. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser-
vices’ research reports that spirituality remains one of the
important individual protective factors against mental
health problems (2001). Yet, this valuable resource is often
underutilized as a resilience strategy for IPV survivors. By
becoming more proactive in helping clients identify and
employ their spiritual coping strategies, clinical social
workers will open previously untapped avenues of healing
and increase their effectiveness when serving this vulner-
able population. This practice approach calls for openness
to and acceptance of clients’ varying faith perspectives,
while encouraging positive spirituality that promotes the
improved self-worth needed by victims of abuse. Finally,
the understanding of spirituality as a resilience tool is a
valuable resource throughout the continuum of care for
IPV survivors. Whether in the clinical setting itself, or in
partnership with agencies and faith organizations, recog-
nizing the potential of individual spirituality can aid and
possibly hasten victims’ movement from a position of
surviving continuing abuse, to thriving, hope, and healing.
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Author Biography
Rene
´Drumm is a professor and dean of the School of Social Work at
Southern Adventist University. Dr. Drumm holds a doctorate degree
in Sociology with an emphasis in Family Studies from Texas
Women’s University and a Master’s degree in Social Work from
Michigan State University.
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