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Silent Crises: Understanding the Information Landscape in an Online Community of Individuals in CrisisALA, Library Research Round Table July 2009For more informationLynn Westbrook, School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin; lynnwest@ischool.utexas.eduMaria E. Gonzalez, School of Library and Information Science, Wayne State University; eb9414@wayne.edu See also other work on this area at: [http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~lynnwest/cris/]Long-term Research AgendaStructured, holistic examination of the information experiences of survivors of intimate partner violence Using Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) models, develop a theoretical framework for placing the individual in the context of complex, progressive situationsApplicable to parallel crisis situations experienced by victims of natural disasters, abrupt life changes

Published to Date [Lynn Westbrook] Information Myths and Intimate Partner Violence: Sources, Contexts, and Consequences. Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology. 60 (4): 826-836. 2009.Crisis Information Concerns: Information Needs of Domestic Violence Survivors. Information Processing and Management. 45 (1): 98-114. 2009.Understanding Crisis Information Needs in Context: The Case of Intimate Partner Violence Survivors. Library Quarterly. 78 (3): 237-261. 2008. [Winner of 2008 Jesse Shera Research Award]E-Government Access to Social Service Information: State Web Resources for Domestic Violence Survivors. Dee Dee Davenport, Jennifer Richey, and Lynn Westbrook. Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology. 59 (6): 903-915. 2008.E-Government Support for People in Crisis: An Evaluation of Police Department Web Site Support for Domestic Violence Survivors Using Person-in-Situation Information Need Analysis. Library and Information Science Research. 30: 22-38. 2008.Digital Information Support for Domestic Violence Victims. Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology. 58 (3): 420-432. 2007.Surviving Domestic Violence: Seeking Support in Cyber-Space. In Proceedings of the Information Resources Management Association International Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 22, 2007. Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, editor. Information Resources Management Association, Hershey, PA: 1294-1296. 2007. Present Research ProblemWithin an online community, what are the information needs, barriers and resources of survivors of intimate partner violence?Within an online community, how do those information needs, barriers, and resources correlate with the three large-scale stages of an IPV relationship (i.e., in, leaving, or left a relationship)?Objective for practical applicationInform the design and development of formal information structures and services, such as library Web pages and virtual reference Shape evolution of information networks with meaningful categories drawn from IPV survivors expression of situations and needs not just practice or theory

Definition of IPVIntimate partner violence pattern of abusive behaviors carried out in an intimate relationship to maintain power and control Abuse cycle including honeymoon periodAbuse can be verbal, physical, financial, emotional, sexual, and/or socialAbuse almost always escalates

Incidence and Prevalence5.3 million intimate partner victimizations per year in the United States1 2 million injuries per year21,252 deaths in 1995 or 33% of all women murdered31.5 - 2 % of women over 18 affected each year425 30% affected over lifetime5Higher rates among some U.S. minorities6Under-reported crime7

1 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2003). Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States, p. 7. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/ipv_cost/ipvbook-final-feb18.pdf2 Ibid., p.8. Note: Of the 2M injuries, 555,000 require medical attention; 145,000 require hospitalization. 3 Ibid., p.8.4 Tjaden, Patricia and Nancy Thoennes. (2000). Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, pp. 25-32. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183781.pdf5 Ibid., pp. 25-32.6 Ibid., pp. 21-24. 7 U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2007) Intimate Partner Violence: Reporting to the Police. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/report.htm#reasons8Annual Costs in U.S. $67 billion total as estimated in 19961$4.1 billion - Medical and mental health2 $1. 8 billion - Lost earnings and productivity3Approx. $ 8 billion - Police, court and legal costs4$13,800 per victimization533% of costs are borne by the victim667% of costs by insurers, public systems1 Note: Miller et al included human and emotional cost so that this impact is not ignored in public policy. Miller, Ted R., Mark A. Cohen, and Brain Wiersema. (1996). Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, p.19. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/victcost.pdf ; Max, Wendy, Dorothy P. Rice, Eric Finkelstein, Robert Bardwell, and Steven Leadbetter. (2004). The economic toll of intimate partner violence against women in the United States. Violence and Victims 19(3):25972. Other researchers are attempting to estimate long-term costs of health care to survivors of IPV; see McCloskey, Laura. (Forthcoming). The Cost and Benefits of Intervening: Battered Womens Mental and Physical Health Over Time. Boston, MA: Harvard School of Public Health; and Thompson, Robert S. and Frederick Rivara. (Forthcoming). Long-term Health Care Effects of Domestic Violence. Seattle, WA: Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. For abstract, see http://depts.washington.edu/hiprc/projects/prevention/health.html2 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2003). Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. Atlanta ,GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, p. 2. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/ipv_cost/ipvbook-final-feb18.pdf3 Ibid., p. 24 U.S. Department of Justice. (2008). Practical Implications of Current Domestic Violence Research: For Law Enforcement, Prosecutors and Judges. Washington, D.C.: National Institute of Justice. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/225722.pdf ; Catalano, Shannan. (2007). Intimate Partner Violence in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/ipv.htm.; American Bar Association. Commission on Domestic Violence. Survey of Recent Statistics. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.abanet.org/domviol/statistics.html5 This is a conservative estimate for assaults requiring hospitalization, in 1993 dollars. For other estimates see, Miller, Ted R., Mark A. Cohen, and Brain Wiersema. (1996). Victim Costs and Consequences: A New Look. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, p. 24. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/victcost.pdf 6 National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2003). Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pp. 36-39. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/ipv_cost/ipvbook-final-feb18.pdf9BackgroundMore complex demands with fewer resources for services for survivors of IPV and their childrenAvailable resources require effective targetingSocietal demands for greater self-reliance, self-efficacy of all citizensClinical and academic alternative solutions to coping with aftermath of violent or abusive relationshipsOverlapping problems require tiered information and help-seeking

Trends1993 2005 decrease in the prevalence of IPV along with decreases across all violent crimes1

Increase in absolute numbers as population increases2

Less assistance as resources curtailed3

Expansion of coordinated efforts of criminal justice and social service agencies4

Encouragement by funders for integrative research prevention programs5

Therapeutic approaches utilizing narrative and story telling for attaining individual integration of abuse experience instead of total recovery from abuse6

1 U.S. Department of Justice. Bureau of Statistics. (2007).Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/intimate/overview.htm2 Ibid.3 National Network to End Domestic Violence. (2009). Domestic Violence Counts 2008: a 24-hour Census of Domestic Violence Shelters and Services. Washington, D.C.: NNEDV. Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.nnedv.org 4 For a long list of federally funded research and resources refer to The Greenbook Initiative, Tools and Resources. (2008). Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://thegreenbook.info/read.htm5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Domestic Violence Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliances (DELTA). Retrieved June 18, 2009 from http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/DELTA/default.htm6 Reyes, Gilbert and Gerald A. Jacobs, Eds. (2006). Handbook of International Disaster Psychology: Interactions with Special Needs Populations. Westport, CT: Praeger; Graessner, Sepp, Norbert Gurris, and Christian Pross, Eds. (2001). At the side of torture survivors : treating a terrible assault on human dignity. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

11Role of librariesHistorical role as hub for community information and referral servicesProfessional ability to conduct tiered reference interviews with the focus on problem-solution rather than on information-distributionInstitutional responsibility for supporting and serving all members of population with a particular emphasis on those who have few options for informationHelps survivors = help children

Data analyzedActive, established, protected bulletin boardPermission of moderator; no interactionTen months of online discussions659 threadsBetween 1 and 31 posts per thread, avg. 5.5 733, 272 wordsApproximately 150 unique posters during period analyzedThere are 659 threads, or cases, in the batch of cases analyzed to date (Bahrain32). I have changed the slide to reflect the change.13MethodologyConstant comparison content analysisA priori codes derived from previous studiesDevelopment of code book and rulesHyperResearch to mark text & produce reportsIdentified all mentions of barriers, needs, preferences, and resourcesExamined individual posts for evidence of StageOne original coder with check-coder after 4 iterations of code book development

StagesStage, In Relationship: may be thinking of leaving but has made no concrete, externally-visible step towards doing soStage, Leaving: may still be in contact but has taken concrete, externally-visible steps towards leaving including limiting contact and moving outStage, Left Relationship: the only regular contact is that which is required by law, imposed by childcare demands, or forced by the abuserBarriersInternal factors (e.g., confusion, embarrassment, fear, PTSD) or external factors (e.g., bias, safety disregard, service capacity) prevent, limit, or inhibit a survivor from seeking or using a resource.

Does not include the abuser physically impeding the use.

NeedsPoster recognizes s/he has an information need and asks others to fill it.

Information needs include asking for advice, requesting judgments, identifying abuse boundaries, confirming that an experience or analysis is accurate/valid, identifying techniques for dealing with abuse or abuser.

ResourcesAny positive mention of, full posting on, or recommendation of a system, professional person, book, web site, music, reading, movie, article, or self-contained document. Includes a resource mentioned by any poster.If the poster does not like or agree with the result but continues to use the item then it is still coded as a resource.

Coding processTwo researchers identified parameters of the 6 codes including initial definitionsThrough 4 rounds of code development the definitions, examples, exclusions, and referrals were tested, refined, and applied by both researchers to samples of 10-30 threadsFinal code book rules were completed Coding was completed by Westbrook and reviewed by Gonzalez; the 9 differences were resolved in discussionFinal reports were generated from the datas codingBasic numbersStages (606 total codes on stages)In relationship: 181 (30%)Leaving relationship: 135 (22%)Left relationship: 290 (48%)Information elements (2232 total codes on IE)Barriers: 487 (22%)Needs: 434 (19%)Resources: 1311 (59%) [many repetitions]Yes, these are correct.20Correlation numbers1Barriers22% from those in a relationship; 16% from those leaving; 62% from those who have leftNeeds40% from those in a relationship; 24% from those leaving; 36% from those who have leftResources21% from those in a relationship; 23% from those leaving; 56% from those who have left

1 Note: The instances of barriers, needs, resources that are paired with stage codes will not add up to the total mentions of information element codes as there were many cases were posters described barriers, needs, and resources without revealing their relationship stage at the time of posting. Also, several posters who did reveal the stage of their relationship mentioned more than one barrier, need or resource at the same time.

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Information Elements Correlated to StageWhat are the barriers for in?Internal Confusion (choice to leave, how to leave)Fear (of abuser, of failure, etc.)Police attitude (skepticism, judgment)Attitude to abuse (only severe injury counts)ExternalFamily (lack of support, actual pressure)Essentials (job, housing, etc.)Criminal justice system in the short term (e.g., judge refuse PO)System capacity (e.g., long wait for shelter)

Examples of barriers, inInternal Confusion: gosh inside my head I feel like its very much confused, spinning in cyrcle"s, decided on what to doFear: i am in fear constantly and am in desperate need to find what to doExternalFamily: My father thinks I should just accept my ex the way he is and go back to him on his terms. He thinks that I caused the relationship problems.Practical: I went back to my abuser. Cause I couldn't get a job or place to live.

What are barriers for leaving?InternalFear of and confusion about criminal justice systemEmotional response to abusers remorseFear for childrens safety, emotional security, etc.ExternalCriminal justice system equity in the long termGoing off the gridCivil court system re keeping childrenBalancing requirements, e.g., DV counseling and workExamples of barriers, leavingInternalFear of system: It was part of his plea to have no contact with me. I know he is violating it himself, but can he use it against me, like as an accessory to a crimeEmotional response: I made the mistake of being nice. Letting him hang out a couple nights so he could tuck the kids in. ExternalGoing off grid: do not use any banking or credit cards so he had to have found me that way. i have tried to contact the social security admin but they were no help. What are the barriers for leftInternalReluctance to use support network, e.g., shamePTSDEmotional exhaustionEmbarrassed to to get follow-up helpExternalCriminal justice system, follow-up supportAttitudes of support network membersAccess to supportCounselors who do not understand IPVExamples of barriers for leftInternalReluctance to use support network: I cant tell my parents everything... its almost embarassing in a way.PTSD: I hadn't thought about this relationship for years but last week .. I have been having flashbacks.ExternalCriminal justice system: my ex is still stalking me, my ro modifications were denied, and today is cino de mayo, which means it's his latest excuse to just bump into me out in public.Access to support: What my husband did to me was so long ago. Is it too late for help?What are the needs for inIn relationshipUnderstand and define abuseFind a way to leave, emotionally and practicallyFind a way to care for children, emotionally & practicallyLeaving relationshipBuild self-esteem Understand honeymoon stage of abuseFinding a counselorLeft relationshipManage information re courts, life essentials, etc.Identify abuse signals in new relationshipExamples of needsWhen I state the facts, I start to think,WHY am I talking to this man, still???? I so much want out how do I in the world get the courage toWhat about my son? I don't want him to grow up in a divorced home, but I KNOW that growing up in an abusive home would be worse. But, what will H do to son when I'm not around?I think my inner relationship self esteem must be so low that on some level if P wants to see me, then I feel like I have some worth.

What are the resources?Bookswhy does he do that? inside the minds of angry and controlling men. by lundy buncroft. this'll really shed light on things!Internetlearning everything i could about patterns/characteristics/ effects/types of abuse & how to recover. There are a lot of great websitesPeopleToday I met with our County Court's Victim's Advocate, for about an hour, and I was able to give my "Victim's Impact" statementSystems DV agencies also help with safety planning/support for women who are choosing to stay, it can help keep you safer & more prepared.Implications for librariesTook me 5 months from the time i found this site to leave my abuser.Help people find the online communities that provide support, encouragement, and informationI got out of there when I got individual counseling that helped me re-connect to my self worth.Help people find community resources of all typesI used every search engine out there I could think of - Google, Live Search, Ask, Yahoo, etc.I tried different variations of phrasingHelp people use the Internet effectively32Implications for information studiesRefine understanding of IPVNeedsServicesResourcesDevelop greater understanding of other individual crisesJob lossPension lossHome lossIllnessQuestions remainingWhat are the information needs best met within the library, e.g., books collected and services offered?What are the information needs best met by developing relationships with community experts, e.g., teaching shelter staff to use the Internet effectively to further their support of survivors?What policy, staff training, and marketing developments could help libraries support patrons who are facing personal crises?Suggestions? Input? Queries?What should be examined next?What are the strengths and weaknesses of your own communitys resources in the area of personal crisis management?What research results would be of most use to you in developing your librarys support of people in crisis?35