SERVICE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Abstract
Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House is my chosen serving learning agency. It is a child advocacy, sexual assault, and domestic violence prevention program that provides shelter and safety to victims of domestic and sexual violence, and helps them in navigating the legal system. This agency was chosen because it deals with issues that adversely impact the larger society. Domestic and sexual violence involve serious human rights violations and are considered severe global public health issues of concern with significant mental and physical health effects on the victims. Among the mental health effects of sexual and domestic violence include anxiety, depression, personality disorders, alcohol or substance abuse, eating and sleeping disorders, suicidal thoughts, social dysfunction, posttraumatic stress disorder, and an increased feeling of helplessness among victims, which adversely affects their self-esteem, increasing their risk of further violence. Physical effects of sexual and domestic violence include bruises, bite marks, cuts, broken bones, concussions, penetrative injuries, miscarriages, loss of vision and hearing, hypertension, broken bones, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) which can eventually result in death. Culture contributes significantly to how certain people and societies perceive, view, and process the acts of domestic and sexual violence. Equal power is given to both men and women in feminist cultures. However, sexual and domestic violence are more likely to occur in societies where males are viewed as superior and women are perceived as inferior. Also, higher rates of sexual violence are predicted in cultures that support the objectification of women.
Service Learning Experience
Introduction
There are various areas in which one can gain unpaid or paid experience within the field of social work. These areas include independent sectors, statutory, or third sector agencies operating in this field. This essay reflects my social welfare area of interest and the population served during my learning experience. My chosen service learning agency is Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House. The essay discusses why this agency was chosen, my personal experience as I was oriented to and familiarizing myself with the agency’s policies and procedures, and my experience with the people I was assigned to work with. Also, an overall learning experience focusing on the application of core social work values and functions is presented.
The Choice of the Service Learning Agency/Population
The chosen serving learning agency is Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House. It is a child advocacy, sexual assault, and domestic violence prevention program that provides shelter and safety, and helps victims of sexual and domestic violence in navigating the legal system. Currently, Ruth’s Cottage has a 25-bed emergency shelter for children and women involved in sexual and domestic violence. This service learning agency was chosen because it deals with issues that adversely impact the larger society. Firstly, domestic and sexual violence involve grave violations of human rights.
Secondly, domestic and sexual violence are associated with significant long- and short-term mental and physical health effects on victims regardless of their gender (Kalra & Bhugra, 2013). According to the author, these traumatic life events give rise to embarrassment, a wide range of negative emotions, and increase the feeling of helplessness among victims, thus, adversely affecting their self-esteem. This increases their risk of further violence. Other mental effects of domestic and sexual violence include anxiety, depression, personality disorders, alcohol or substance abuse, eating and sleeping disorders, suicidal thoughts, social dysfunction, and posttraumatic stress disorder (Alejo, 2014; Moraes et al., 2012). Physical effects of sexual and domestic violence include bruises, bite marks, cuts, broken bones, concussions, penetrative injuries, miscarriages, loss of vision and hearing, hypertension, broken bones, and sexually transmitted infections which can eventually lead to death (Alejo, 2014; Sardinha et al., 2022).
Culture contributes significantly to the way certain people and societies perceive, view, and process the acts of domestic and sexual violence. Attitudes towards domestic and sexual violence and the representations of genders differ within ego-centric and socio-centric cultures. Equal power is given to both men and women in feminist cultures. Sexual and domestic violence are more likely to occur in societies where males are perceived as superior and women are inferior (Kalra & Bhugra, 2013).
Also, a spectrum of acceptable and unacceptable sexual violence exists across cultures, with transgressive coercion on one extreme and permitted coercion on the other. This spectrum of acceptable and unacceptable violence is known as the culturally legitimized type of violence. For instance, when apartheid was in place in South Africa, raping white women was punishable, but the rape of black women was tolerated as a normal part of life. Also, it is fairly uncommon in some parts of rural India to witness childhood marriages or sexual relationships with a girl who is not yet an adult. This is prohibited since it is considered some sort of sexual coercion. However, the issue is endorsed by personal laws of people who engage in such marriages. For instance, young men in South Africa consider sexual violence legitimate since they believe that lack of sex adversely affects mental health (Kalra & Bhugra, 2013).
Furthermore, research reveals that higher rates of sexual and domestic violence are predicted in cultures that support women objectification, which makes them look inferior to males (Esquivel, 2020). Also, the difference in the meaning attributed to womanhood and manhood in different sociocultural settings varies. Paternalistic cultures encourage the view that men are responsible for safeguarding women from harm, which gives the thought that women are unable to protect themselves (Rudman & Glick, 2021). This increases the risk of women being assaulted by their partners in marriage.
The acts of sexual violence perpetrated against women may also be predicted by how people see rape and rapists in their culture. Such stereotypes are adopted from male-dominated sociocultural societies. Sexual violence may result from the misogynists’ attitude prevalent in the culture. For instance, a girl’s sexuality regulation in rural India is completely out of her hands. Women are expected to get married and bear children. After marriage, the control of a girl’s sexuality shifts from their father to their husband. Similar to most cultures, in India, men are considered to have a dominant position in a woman’s life (Kalra & Bhugra, 2013). This places women at a higher risk of sexual and domestic abuse.
Experience During Orientation to the Agency’s Policies and Procedures
From an operational perspective, Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House aims to end sexual and domestic violence through a cooperative and multidisciplinary approach to advocacy, investigations, and support while serving in the society to change behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs. Reflecting on my experience with the orientation to the agency program policies and procedures, I felt that the organization had established effective ways of helping the victims. Most women who experience domestic violence opt to run away and hide in a safer place where their abusers cannot find them. Therefore, providing the emergency rooms for women and children who have been abused was a great idea to me as this protects them from being attacked again by their abusers. I also felt it was a good idea to help victims of sexual and domestic violence in navigating the legal system since most victims are influenced by their friends and families to use out-of-court settlements, which I feel has contributed to increased cases of violence as perpetrators are not punished severely as they should when the cases are solved using out-of-court settlements.
Experience with the People I was Assigned to Work With
At Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House, I was assigned to work with mental health therapists. Our role was to encourage, empower, and give hope to the victims that everything would be alright. To ensure that we worked effectively and executed our roles as expected, we held meetings to discuss the needs of our clients. Particularly, we discussed the mental effects of domestic and sexual violence and ways of helping the victims to avoid mental distress. During these discussions, I felt that different people were impacted differently by the abuse and needed personalized treatment. However, since I was not a professional mental health therapist, I felt as if some of the professionals I was working with considered me incompetent in the field. I differed with majority of them. For instance, they refuted the idea of providing personalized treatment arguing that providing different classes for the victims would be expensive and time-consuming due to the high number of victims that visited the organization every day and suggested that offering the therapy services to people as groups would also be effective.
The meeting involved a discussion of various things relating to the treatment of mental illnesses. The mental health therapists explained to me different types of psychotherapy and informed me that psychotherapy is effective and appropriate in a wide range of conditions. We also discussed the benefits and drawbacks of different types of psychotherapy, including behavioral, cognitive, interpersonal, psychoanalysis, supportive, and psychodynamic psychotherapies. After the discussion, we concluded that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) was the most effective treatment for various mental sicknesses such as bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. The professional therapists also shared with me the different psychoactive drugs that are effective and widely utilized by psychiatrists and other medical doctors. Although I did know depression was the most common mental sickness affecting victims of domestic and sexual violence, I did not know the different classes of depressants used to treat depression. I was introduced to were Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs), and Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). Before the meeting, I was not aware of the most effective psychotherapy for treating mental illnesses. I also shared with my team members some of the practices that I had applied in real-life situations, such as behavioral treatments.
At the beginning of the meeting, I felt like I possessed very minimal knowledge about treatments for mental illnesses. The discussion of the different types of psychotherapy treatments for mental illnesses was very informative. I learned these types in detail and when they are applied. I also learned the benefits and drawbacks of different psychotherapy treatments for mental illnesses. Before the meeting, I thought Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) was the most effective type of psychotherapy. IPT is a diagnosis and time-limited targeted intervention for treating psychiatric disorders (Rajhans et al., 2020). After the meeting, I realized that CBT was the most effective treatment for various mental sicknesses. Also, although before the meeting, I believed our clients needed different types of psychotherapy depending on the type of mental illnesses, I changed this perception after the meeting since I realized that most treatment plans are intended to deal with a variety of mental illnesses. Thus, I agreed with the other professional that there was no need to have different treatment plans for every victim.
Reflecting on my experience at Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House, I must say the interaction was a learning process for everyone in the department I was serving in. We all learned from each other during the meeting since the discussions were open, and everyone was free to share their views and ideas. I also believe my team was very helpful to the agency since we helped the victims of sexual and domestic violence to deal with the mental distress that they were going through following their abuse and made it easier for them to open up and share their experiences. Research reveals that most sexual and domestic violence cases always go unreported due to various reasons such as stigmatization, shame, fear of retaliation, and economic dependence on the abusers (Wallace et al., 2019). The meetings were also useful in improving my communication skills and building confidence. Working with people from diverse backgrounds also improved my interpersonal skills.
Although we held various meetings discussing issues related to mental sickness, our last meeting was unique. The meeting was organized to bid farewell to all individuals who were on their internship and learning experience and who had completed their term. During this meeting, I had mixed feelings since I knew I would always miss the team that I had been working with. For sure, goodbyes are the hardest parts of our lives. I had bonded with the team members, and now we were more of friends rather than colleagues. During the meeting, I was complimented for playing an active role in the team and being respectful to all team members. When I was given a chance to address my team members, I appreciated each of them and asked for forgiveness if I had unconsciously wronged any of them.
Service Learning Experience Relating to the Application of Core Social Work Values and Functions
My overall experience at Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House was positive. In my opinion, all the six core social work values were upheld in the agency. First, the service core work value was demonstrated by helping protect victims of sexual and domestic violence and helping the mothers to take care of their children in a safe environment. The basic needs of the victims who were sheltered by Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House were provided, and their educational and emotional needs were addressed. Victims were also provided with safety planning services and helped with navigating the legal system. Secondly, social justice was upheld by the agency whereby victims were helped to become the voice in such situations and were protected from their abusers. The dignity and worth of a person were upheld by employees being mindful of the victims’ individual differences in behavior and thinking and the ethnicity and cultural diversity. Furthermore, the importance of human relations was acknowledged since, according to the policies of the agency, a lack of relationship between the mother or a child with the social workers then. These individuals would not feel safe when they are left to go back to society. Also, integrity was upheld in the organization. At Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House, information about the victims was kept confidential. Lastly, competence advocates were upheld in the agency, whereby the child advocates and mental health therapists hired by the agency were professionals in their field.
Also, the core social functions were applied at Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House. Firstly engagement was applied since employees held daily and weekly meetings to ensure that the mothers who had been sexually assaulted and those who experienced domestic violence were well prepared to enroll for a job and find a new home for themselves and their children. Also, assessments were provided to ensure that everything was running as expected. For example, after receiving mental treatment, victims were assessed to determine the state of their mental well-being. Furthermore, planning in the organization was observed on a daily basis to ensure that the set goals and targets were met. In relation to the implementation of core social work function, the professionals who had been hired to serve in the agency applied what they had learned and put it into practice to effectively help the victims of sexual and domestic violence overcome their situation. Also, workers evaluated and monitored the victims in the agency to ensure that they were progressively improving and were able to complete their daily tasks. After they were found capable of doing the same, they were placed into their new homes. Supportive counseling was also provided to the victims to empower and encourage them to face their situations bravery. Lastly, graduated disengagement was practiced where a family advocate worked with the school the affected children were going to ensure the child’s family needs were known.
During this learning experience, I realized that I was good at transferring the class gained knowledge into practice. Since we had read the core social work values and functions in a class, I could easily remember them and apply them in real-life situations. Also, the experience served to dispel some stereotypes that I previously held. Previously, I believed that men should always be treated as superior to their wives. However, as I continued to interact with individuals in the agency, I realized that such stereotypes promote sexual and domestic violence perpetrated against women. Before the experience, I believed that opening up about sexual and domestic violence issues was a good thing to do, and it helped victims heal from mental distress they may have been subjected to. Through this experience, this personal belief was affirmed. Also, during this learning experience, I reaffirmed the importance placed on the core social work values since upholding these values allowed the agency to run smoothly and achieve the set goals.
Conclusion
The chosen serving learning agency is Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House. This agency was chosen since it deals with sexual and domestic violence issues that adversely impact the larger society. Particularly, domestic and sexual violence are associated with significant mental and physical health effects on women and their children. Examples of mental health issues include anxiety, depression, personality disorders, alcohol or substance abuse, eating and sleeping disorders, suicidal thoughts, social dysfunction, posttraumatic stress disorder, and feeling of hopelessness. Physical effects of sexual and domestic violence include bruises, bite marks, cuts, broken bones, concussions, penetrative injuries, miscarriages, loss of vision and hearing, hypertension, broken bones, and sexually transmitted infections. It has been established that culture contributes significantly to how certain people and societies perceive, view, and process domestic and sexual violence acts. Feminist cultures accord equal powers to men and females, hence preventing sexual and domestic violence cases. Cases of sexual and domestic violence against women are more likely to occur in cultures where males are viewed as superior and women are perceived as inferior. Besides, cultures that support the objectification of women and make them look inferior to males contribute to a higher rate of sexual violence. During the orientation to the agency’s policies and procedures, I felt that the organization had established effective ways of helping the victims. At the agency, I was assigned to work with mental health therapists, and our team was tasked with encouraging, empowering, and giving hope to victims that everything would be alright. Interaction with the team was very informative to every other member of the team and me. The various core social work values and functions were upheld in the organization, which helped in the smooth running of the organization.
References
Alejo, K. (2014). Long-term physical and mental health effects of domestic violence. Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science, 5(1), 82-98.
Esquivel–Santos, M. G. (2020). The Spousal Violence on Women in Cabanatuan City.
Kalra, G., & Bhugra, D. (2013). Sexual violence against women: Understanding cross-cultural intersections. Indian journal of psychiatry, 55(3), 244-249. https://dx.doi.org/10.4103%2F0019-5545.117139.
Moraes, S. D. T. D. A., Fonseca, A. M. D., Bagnoli, V. R., Soares Júnior, J. M., Moraes, E. M. D., Neves, E. M. D., … & Baracat, E. C. (2012). Impact of domestic and sexual violence on women’s health. Journal of Human Growth and Development, 22(2), 253-258.
Rajhans, P., Hans, G., Kumar, V., & Chadda, R. K. (2020). Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Patients with Mental Disorders. Indian journal of psychiatry, 62(Suppl 2), S201. https://dx.doi.org/10.4103%2Fpsychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_771_19Rudman, L. A., & Glick, P. (2021). The social psychology of gender: How power and intimacy shape gender relations. Guilford Publications.
Sardinha, L., Maheu-Giroux, M., Stöckl, H., Meyer, S. R., & García-Moreno, C. (2022). Global, regional, and national prevalence estimates of physical or sexual intimate partner violence against women in 2018. The Lancet, 399(10327), 803-813. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02664-7Wallace, W. C., Gibson, C., Gordon, N., Lakhan, R., Mahabir, J., & Seetahal, C. (2019). Domestic violence: Intimate partner violence victimization non-reporting to the police in Trinidad and Tobago. Justice Policy Journal, 16(1), 1-30.
