Overcoming Conflicting Loyalties: Intimate Partner Violence, Community Resources, and Faith

By Irene Sevcik, Michael Rothery, Nancy Nason-Clark and Robert Pynn

To date, little has been published about the place of spirituality in working with survivors of intimate partner violence. Overcoming Conflicting Loyalties examines the intersection of faith and culture in the lives of religious and ethno-cultural women in the context of the work of FaithLink, a unique community initiative that encourages religious leaders and secular service providers to work together. The authors present the benefits of such cooperation by reporting the findings of three qualitative research studies. Individuals in secular and sacral services who work with victims of domestic violence, as well as academics in the fields of social work, psychology, and religious studies, will benefit from the insights, depth of experience, and range of voices represented in this valuable book.

Irene Sevcik, Michael Rothery, Nancy Nason-Clark, and The Very Rev. Robert Pynn have brought their professional expertise and experiences to benefit FaithLink at different times and in different capacities. All of the authors live in Calgary except Nason-Clark, who lives in Fredericton.

Sponsored by The Calgary Foundation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The University of Alberta Press
• Release date: Nov 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781772120653

Irene Sevcik

Irene Sevcik holds a Ph.D., University of Toronto, Faculty of Social Work (1986) and a Masters of Religious Education, Asbury Theological Seminary (1966). Throughout her career, Irene developed and managed intervention programs for children and families, including those affected by intimate partner violence. Prior to her retirement she served as Program Director of FaithLink - a community initiative which built relationships between religious/ethno-cultural communities and secularly-based service providers in collaborative responses to intimate partner violence. Irene's published works include: a working paper (1984) An Ecological Perspective of Child Neglect: Relevant Research Re-ordered: A Service Delivery Model Examine; book chapters (with Nason-Clark, Rothery and Pynn (2011), Finding their Voices and Speaking Out: Research Among Women of Faith in Western Canada; with Reed (2008), Its Everybody's Business; with Nason-Clark, Rothery, Pynn (in press), Caring for the Caregivers: The Efficacy of a Centred Meditation Practice within a Secular Setting); a journal article (with Giesbrecht (2000), The Process of Recovery and Rebuilding Among Abused Women in the Conservative Evangelical Subculture); and many unpublished research and program related reports. She has led numerous discussion groups and developed and offered training to religious organizations regarding the implementation of intimate partner and child sexual abuse protocol guidelines.