Internet access and use in domestic violence shelters: Policy,capacity,and management barriers

Abstract

• Summary: Domestic violence agency administrators struggle to incorporate the Internet safely and effectively into their intimate partner violence (IPV) services. This study utilizes two data gathering tools to identify administrative concerns and web content in the 91 Texas shelters. The first research stage employed a mixed-methods questionnaire (89% response rate) to identify managers’ Internet use patterns and managerial needs. In the second stage, all shelter web sites (65) were submitted to a multi-context content analysis.

• Findings: Overall, findings indicate that administrators see a serious need for basic administrative support tools (e.g. policies and training materials) and the development of cyber-safety resources (e.g. online stalking tips). Administrators view the Internet’s potential for increasing staff efficiency and clients’ sense of self-efficacy as worthwhile. Questionnaire findings indicate that 66 percent of directors need a means of helping clients learn to do their own information-seeking, only 54 percent have a written policy, and 46 percent have no in-house training at all. Web site findings indicate that 61 percent of the sites lacked minimal cyber-safety information despite administrative concerns about cyber-stalking.

• Applications: IPV shelter administrators’ two Internet utility criteria, service priorities and resources, privilege implementation barriers and ignore the embedded expectations of communication and resource support. By shifting from a shelter-based Internet perspective to a user-generated perspective, administrators can integrate clients’ expectations with the shelter’s options. The resultant conceptual framework for Internet integration posits the lived information experience as managers’ basis for shaping social communication, resource generation, information seeking, and decision-making.