Personal Empowerment Process for Women in Domestic Violence Conditions. A College Experience Intertwined with Teaching

Abstract

During the 2017 second term, the School of Psychology of the National University of Costa Rica implemented an experience aimed at contributing to the empowerment of women in the Heredia Province, specifically those who had lived or are living in situations of violence by their intimate partners. The experience was part of the Program for Health Promotion and Awareness: contributions from Psychology. This experience intended to show how academic activity directly relates to teaching practices. The articulation of these components helped strengthen the students’ capabilities and tried to meet a concrete necessity of the Heredia community in health-related matters. Gender violence against women, particularly from their intimate partners, currently represents a growing public health issue; psychology and academia have an unquestionable role to play to study and reduce it. From this, the initiative emerged when implementing a process guided by a participative-methodology proposal. The experience was designed as a workshop focused on gender and built and enabled by the corresponding teacher and students of the course “Modelos de Intervención en Procesos Grupales” (Intervention Models in Group Processes), normally taught in the last year of the bachelor’s degree in psychology. The empowerment process aimed to promote, develop, and strengthen psychosocial aptitudes and skills that allow the participating women to work for a healthy, free-of-violence life. This experience enabled significant changes in women’s beliefs about traditional gender roles, and their place in their sentimental relationship. It helped them redefine their experiences with violence and allowed them to value their accomplishments and reassess their mistakes; it also favored their decision-making and their responsibility for their emotional stability.