Poster #31

The Role of the Psychologist as a Social Advocate: Examining the rise of IPV during Covid-19

By: Miranda Landfield. Co-authored by Naqsh Ali, Shay Azarafza, Shelly Baer, Naomi Griffin, Dilara Kosak, Jennifer Lerch, Rose Patatanian, Elizabeth Quintero, Stephanie Scott, and Dr. Guy Balice

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked an increase in rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) due to the stay at home orders which were not safer for IPV survivors. The devastating impact the pandemic had on IPV demands a call to action for psychologists to use their expertise and take on the role of a social advocate. This paper provides examples for how psychologists should advocate for IPV survivors within the context of survivor’s struggles related to the pandemic. Psychologists are uniquely positioned to be a social advocate within the macrosystem and microsystem due to their responsibilities as a confidant and researcher. Particularly when survivors do not have an option to leave the relationship, psychologists should use their confidant relationship to advocate for safety. Psychologists should also inform the legislation process with evidence based research, advocating for funding to be allocated to resources like IPV intervention programs, prevention efforts, and crisis hotlines. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the ongoing pandemic of intimate partner violence, and this paper strives to empower psychologists to be proactive in the fight to end this devastating cycle of violence.

miranda landfield

My colleagues and I are part of an Intimate Partner Violence Research Group under the guidance of our faculty chair, Dr. Guy Balice. I have been a part of this group since I started at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology two years ago and the group has published multiple papers and participated in poster presentations in the past. We have been working on a paper about the role of psychologists as social advocates, and we have used the increase in IPV during Covid-19 as a case study and a springboard for our call to action that psychologists need to be more involved in advocacy work, especially for survivors of IPV.