NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area, Sahtu Settlement Area, Dehcho Region, North Slave Region, South Slave Region, Qikiqtaaluk Region

Tags: social sciences, public policy, community response, intimate partner violence

Objective(s): To integrate several sources of data to create an action plan that maps the socio-spatial problem of intimate partner violence; to create narratives describing community response in rural and northern areas of the Prairie Provinces and the NWT; and to generate a grounded theory as a practical tool to create and sustain non-violent communities in these regions of Canada.

Project Description: This study will: 1. Integrate several sources of data to create an action plan that maps the socio-spatial problem of intimate partner violence; 2. Create narratives describing community response in rural and northern areas of the Prairie Provinces and the NWT; and 3. Generate a grounded theory as a practical tool to create and sustain non-violent communities in these regions of Canada. The overall research strategy is community-based participatory action research and adheres to the common elements of: a collaborative approach; equal status of participants; research questions defined by community participants; and analysis and interpretation of results in affiliation with community participants toward taking action. The research team will utilize a variety of methods to gain a better understanding of existing community response to intimate partner violence and to generate policy recommendations for meeting the needs of these communities. The research team will contribute to existing theoretical understanding of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and generate knowledge that is action-oriented and usable by policy makers and useful to front-line services providers. Funding provided through the letter of intent allowed for two team meetings to collaboratively generate research questions, discuss methodology, and conduct ongoing e-dialogue to include additional partners in the research and discuss the research plan. Using a variety of methods to communicate results, the team will maximize policy change and community action to implement findings from the research. By interacting with communities, community researchers and university researchers, this research project will contribute to ending IPV through awareness, and assisting to shape policy and government and community responses to intimate partner violence and contribute to transforming this global issue that transcends culture, economics, political ideology, and historical time frames. The research team will involve two students currently enrolled at North Slave/Yellowknife Campus (Nursing and Social Work) in data collection. The NT Coalition Against Family Violence (representatives from Justice & Health & Social Services, GNWT and Community NGOs) are informed of the study and will be regularly updated on the progress and methods as they evolve. The team has made presentations to the NT Shelter directors and will be meeting regularly with them on processes and methods. Working with our Aboriginal Committee team members of this project, a dissemination plan will be developed that is inclusive of all of the communities impacted by the study and will occur consistently over the course of the five year project. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from December 20, 2011 to December 31, 2011.