Domestic violence services for men with men as providers

There is a dearth of men as providers for DV services and more men are needed as not only allies, but also as providers. Men respond better to other men for such services. For this assignment, you will begin to immerse yourself in the literature on an intimate partner violence related topic of interest to you (immigration issues, substance abuse, batterer intervention programs, etc.).  You will read scholarly articles on this topic, then summarize and critique the literature.

If you have an interest in a well-researched topic (e.g., police responses) it will be necessary to narrow down the topic (e.g., police responses in ethnic minority families).  Typically, this can be done as you begin to read the literature out there.  Or, you may find very, very little research in your area (e.g., services to address IPV against women with disabilities).  The fact that there is little research in an area can be interesting in and of itself, but you will need to also explore related literature in order to draw any conclusions (e.g., other research on women with disabilities, disability services more broadly).  We will meet regularly throughout the semester to discuss your progress, and to discuss how your area relates to other course concepts. 

Published literature reviews (i.e., articles titled “A review of the literature” or “A review”) can be extremely helpful as a model.  The journal Trauma, Violence, and Abuse prints only violence-related literature reviews, for instance.  However, the bulk of your literature review will focus on empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals. 

Your grade will be based on:

Quality of the literature summary

Critique of existing literature

Suggestions for future research and/or intervention in this area

Writing quality

1.  Quality of the literature summary........................................................................................ of 20

Is the literature summary clearly focused?  Does the paper demonstrate a good sense of the methods, theories, and findings of previous research in this area?  Does the paper include both general statements about the area and specific examples to illustrate those points?

2.  Critique of existing literature .............................................................................................. of 20

Does the paper go beyond merely summarizing existing literature?  Are the gaps or holes in existing literature clearly identified?  Are the strengths of the existing literature identified?  Are specific studies used as examples of strengths and weaknesses?  

3.  Suggestions for directions for future research or intervention in this area .......................... of 20

Does the paper make clear suggestions for future research and/or intervention?  Are the suggestions clearly related to the existing research?  Is the logic underlying the importance of these future directions made clear?

4.  Writing quality……………………………………………………………………………of 15

Do the different sections fit together?  Is there a logical flow and clear transitions?  Is the information well-organized?  Is APA formatting used consistently for citations and the reference list?