Evaluation of Integrative Community Therapy with Domestic Violence Survivors in Quito, Ecuador

Chiara Sabina (), Diego Perez-Figueroa, Laurent Reyes, Eduardo Campaña Medina, Eluzinete Pereira de Souza, Lisa Markovits, Andrea Carolina Oña Jacho and Gissel Katherine Rojas Bohorquez
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Chiara Sabina: School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Diego Perez-Figueroa: Psychology and Behavioral Science Department, London School of Economics and Political Science, London WC2A 2AE, UK
Laurent Reyes: School of Social Welfare, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Eduardo Campaña Medina: Muyumpa—Community Therapy Training Center, Quito 170516, Ecuador
Eluzinete Pereira de Souza: Muyumpa—Community Therapy Training Center, Quito 170516, Ecuador
Lisa Markovits: Pa’Arriba Foundation, Potomac, MD 20854, USA
Andrea Carolina Oña Jacho: Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promoción y Acción de la Mujer, Quito 170143, Ecuador
Gissel Katherine Rojas Bohorquez: Centro Ecuatoriano para la Promoción y Acción de la Mujer, Quito 170143, Ecuador

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Integrative community therapy (ICT) is a methodology used in the public health arena to deal with problems facing communities such as depression, substance abuse, and stress. This approach is unique as it builds on critical pedagogy, cultural anthropology, communication, resilience, and systems theory. Additionally, creative arts therapies point to the utility of music as a therapeutic tool. This study employed ICT and a music workshop with domestic violence survivors in Quito, Ecuador, via a pre-post comparison group design. A total of 87 women completed the six-week study—49 in the intervention group and 38 in the comparison group. Measures were taken on self-esteem, general health, resilience, dating violence attitudes, and social support. Additionally, the intervention group answered open-ended questions about their experience, and some participated in a focus group ( n = 21). The quantitative results indicated that there was improvement in the domains of general health, self-esteem, and social support for the intervention group compared to the comparison group. Themes from the qualitative responses indicated changes in the relationship with the aggressor, psychological and emotional changes, changes in feelings of social support, and changes for the future. The study found promising results for this approach with domestic violence survivors, possibly leading to a community-grounded, non-hierarchical, culturally-responsive intervention for this population.

Keywords: Ecuador; domestic violence; community support; social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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