Abuse is a serious and underreported problem that is prevalent among women with disabilities in the United States. Studies show that the percentage of women with disabilities who have been abused is approximately 62-67%; these women experience all kinds of abuse for significantly longer periods of time. Because rehabilitation professionals have been one of the primary service providers for people with disabilities, the purpose of this study was to investigate rehabilitation professionals' Practices on helping abused women, by surveying a cross-section of rehabilitation professionals to determine their knowledge of, self-assessment concerning, and opinions about helping female consumers with abuse issues. A sample of 183 male and female professionals working in the rehabilitation field was invited to complete an electronic 53-item questionnaire developed for this study. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Demographic characteristics of the participants were used as independent variables and the total mean scores of measures of their abuse-related knowledge, opinions, and self-assessments were used as dependent variables. Three null hypotheses were addressed for this study: (1) there is no difference due to gender in subscale scores on the Rehabilitation Professionals' Practices on Helping Abused Women with Disabilities Scale (RPPHAWD); (2) there is no difference due to experience in subscale scores on the RPPHAWD; and (3) there is no difference due to certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC) status in subscale scores on the RPPHAWD. The hypotheses were tested using a 2 x 2 x 2 Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), and three individual Univariate Analyses of Variance (ANOVAs) were run for each of the three subscales separately to determine where the significances may have occurred. Three principal findings resulted from the study: (1) gender was found to be statistically significant (p < .05) on subscales 1 and 3; (2) experience was not found to be statistically significant; and (3) certified rehabilitation counselor status as well as the two and three-way interactions were not found to be statistically significant. The findings may be useful in guiding policy makers and curriculum developers considering whether to include topics concerning the dynamics of violence in rehabilitation educational curricula. Such topics to be considered would include concepts and theories, history and characteristics, assessment, intervention, and prevention of abuse, with an emphasis on violence involving people with disabilities. A proposed rehabilitation education curriculum for the study of the abuse and maltreatment of people with disabilities is included in Chapter Five. / text

Even though social work research on violence against women has increased in the last decade (Slayter, 2009), there is little research on social workers’ understanding of disabled women’s experiences of male partner violence (MPV). When there is a gap in research and practice evidence, this may lead to less than ideal work experiences because social workers may be lacking crucial information, to deliver meaningful support and assistance to disabled women. Given these findings, it was essential to hear from social workers who had worked with disabled women who had experienced MPV. The aim of this investigation was to inquire about social workers’ perspectives, theoretical approaches and practice contexts related to disabled women who had experienced MPV. In this collective case study, sources of data that were accessed included federal and provincial government legislation, position documents, provincial archives, academic literature and thematic analysis of ten transcribed interviews of key participants. Findings showed that even though provincial government policies or programs were the main influences on social workers’ practices with disabled women who had experienced MPV, work settings and social workers’ attitudes also played a crucial role in how participants understood disability and male partner violence. Social workers in this current study often found themselves in the middle, trying to respect service users by meeting their needs, while remaining accountable to a system that demanded efficiency and accountability. Social workers often advocated for disabled women because of barriers such as a lack of accessible housing, transportation or work. Factors such as social welfare policies, social work education and training that shaped social workers’ practices could be strengthened to help them to better meet the needs of disabled women who have experienced MPV. / May 2017

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT:A lack of research on disabled women and HIV and AIDS within the South African context has been identified by various authors. The present research is a qualitative investigation into the lived experience of seventeen disabled South African women. Their knowledge of and attitudes towards HIV and AIDS and sex and sexuality, their lived experience with regards to these issues, as well as to sexual abuse, rape and violence, and their access to HIV related health care services is explored in the present study. Semi-structured questionnaires were employed. Content analysis revealed that most participants knew of HIV and of ways of HIV transmission, and slightly fewer of them knew where to access HIV and AIDS related health services. The vast majority of participants reported that they saw no difference between sexual practices and sexuality of disabled- compared to non-disabled people. Misperceptions of others’ with regard to the sexuality and sexual practices of disabled people were identified as the main barriers to disabled women’s equal access to HIV and AIDS related health services, and to their freedom of choice and expression in terms of sex and sexuality. Almost all of the women had been subjected to rape, sexual abuse and violence. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ‘n Tekort aan navorsing oor gestremde vroue en HIV en VIGS binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is deur verskeie outeurs geïdentifiseer. Die huidige navorsing is ‘n kwalitatiewe ondersoek na die lewenservarings van sewentien gestremde Suid-Afrikaanse vroue. Hulle kennis van, ervanrings rondom en houdings teenoor HIV en VIGS, seks en seksualiteit, seksuele mishandeling, verkragting en geweld, en kwaliteit van toegang tot HIV en VIGS-verwante gesondheidsdienste word in hierdie studie ondersoek. Semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude is met die vroue gevoer, en inhoudsanalise is toegepas. Bevindinge sluit in dat die meeste vroue van HIV en van oordragsmetodes bewus was. ‘n Effe kleiner groep van deelnemers was bewus van presies waar om toegang tot HIV en VIGS-verwante gesondheidsdienste te verkry. Die oorgrote meerderheid van die vroue het geen verskil gesien tussen die seksuele praktyke en seksualiteit van gestremde en nie-gestremde persone nie. Die wanopvattings van ander (nie-gestremdes) rakende seksuele praktyke en seksualiteit van gestremde persone is aangedui as die grootste struikelblok tot die vroue se gelyke toegang tot HIV en VIGS-verwante gesondheidsdienste, asook tot hulle vryheid van keuse en uitdrukking in terme van seksuele praktyke en seksualiteit. Bykans al die vroue in hierdie studie is al blootgestel aan verkragting, seksuele mishandeling en geweld.

With an explicit focus on how power is enacted and what this produces in the everyday lives of chronically ill women living on B.C. disability income support (BC Benefits), this research is located at the contested juxtaposition of what I refer to as three fields of possibility; feminism, poststructuralism and critical disability studies. Each of these fields suggests methodological, empirical and interpretive readings that enable me to produce different knowledge, differently, about disabled women’s lives. Using verbatim narrative accounts from in-depth interviews focused on how each of four participants live their lives, take care of themselves, and make sense of and respond to the government policy and practices to which they are subject, reveals everyday, embodied practices of the self that constitute their subjectivities as disabled women. Together, these accounts along with critically interpretive reflections reveal/expose/make visible the lives of these women in response to exercises of power in ways that unseat, unsettle and disrupt taken-for-granted understandings of those who are disabled, female and poor. Along with explicating power relations in the lives of disabled women and what these produce, I also link these critically to their health, socio-economic well-being and citizenship, while creating a disruptive reading that destabilizes common-sense notions about disabled women securing B.C. provincial income support benefits. Thus my research purposes and those of my disability activism are melded as these intersect within the (often-contested) borders of poststructural and social justice terrain. Despite public claims by the B. C. government to foster the independence, participation in community and citizenship of disabled people in B.C., the intersection of government policy and practices and how they are read and taken up by the women, produce profound uncertainty in their lives, such that these women become uncertain subjects. Living poorly, they experience structural poverty, compromised well-being and “dis-citizenship” (Devlin & Pothier, 2006), all inconvenient facts reflecting a marked disjuncture between how government programs are publicly represented and their strategic effects. / Graduate

This collective case study explored the impact of a later-in-life learning disability (LD) diagnosis on women in poverty. The study focused on the perspectives of four women who were not identified with LD as children but accessed assessment services as adults receiving Oregon's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). All four reported painful awareness of learning differences as youths; as adults they voluntarily engaged in a "labeling event," furthering a process toward personal transformation and enhanced well-being initiated by their own awareness and curiosity. The women described critical social and emotional support systems and relationships that helped them integrate understanding of the LD construct, education and employment opportunities that came in the wake of the diagnosis, and decisions made regarding disclosure. Self- determination theory and interpersonal neurobiology undergird reflections on narratives and themes. Recommendations for practice include providing low-income women assessed with LD (1) access to an LD specialist; (2) case planning and case management with a strength-based focus; and (3) assistance working with the public schools for those who are parents. The study underscores the significant services provided by Oregon DHS to low-income women with learning disabilities who have not been identified by K-12 school systems and recommends that DHS undertake further quantitative and qualitative research in collaboration with a research institution.

xiii, 94 p. / The purpose of this study was to explore theoretically linked social cognitive factors that may predict career development outcomes for college women with learning disabilities (N = 136). Following Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), I hypothesized that specific person inputs and background and contextual variables would be predictive of career decision self-efficacy and career outcome expectations. The specific model tested was whether the person input of GPA and contextual inputs of parent education level, perceived barriers, and perceived supports predicted career decision self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations and whether these relationships were mediated by career education and exploration. These relationships represent early-occurring constructs within SCCT. I used Path Analysis to determine whether the experiences of college women with learning disabilities fit these early-occurring constructs within SCCT. Results demonstrated that the early-occurring constructs of the SCCT model did not fit for this population. I conducted revised and exploratory post hoc models to achieve a better fit for the data. In the revised and exploratory models, one potentially important finding was that real world work experiences, such as paid work, volunteer work, and internship experience, may be of particular importance for the formation of career decision self-efficacy and career outcome expectations for college women with learning disabilities. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. / Committee in charge: Dr. Benedict T. McWhirter, Chair; Dr. Ellen H. McWhirter, Member; Dr. Lauren Lindstrom, Member; Dr. Douglas Blandy, Outside Member