Visible Bruises: Domestic Violence and Trauma-Informed Instruction in Remote Learning Environments

The pivot to remote instruction opened doors for the creation and adoption of new best practices in online and distance programming in higher education. However, this pivot also opened doors right into students’ private lives and homes. New policies and practices on attendance, participation, grading, camera use, proctoring, and recording have unintentionally created inequities for many underserved students. In one of the most egregious ways, the privacy and safety of students have been compromised for those learning remotely from a place where domestic violence exists in primary or secondary relationships within the household. For domestic abuse survivors, remote instruction not only removed a potential safe haven on campus but also opened the opportunity for fellow students and faculty to directly witness the effects of trauma or even the trauma itself.

Navigating these complex situations requires a solid understanding of Title IX, mandated reporting, and digital privacy; however, a refresher on these policies and laws was rarely a priority during the remote pivot. Many instructors are murky on the requirements and ethics of mandated reporting. Still fewer are familiar with both Title IX law as well as digital transformation fundamentals and digital privacy considerations. Further compounding this issue is that faculty were also not previously equipped to confront both community trauma from COVID-19 and domestic violence trauma among students. Overnight, faculty felt the pressure to become experts in online teaching and proctoring, student data privacy, FERPA, HIPAA, Title IX, and trauma-informed care and instruction. Any misstep can lead to compound trauma or what Freyd and Birrell (2013) have defined as betrayal trauma. Institutional betrayal as compound trauma in higher education can create more inequitable and deleterious outcomes for students learning remotely. This chapter will explore various scenarios of privacy, safety, and confidentiality breaches in remote instruction within homes suffering from domestic violence and how an understanding of trauma-informed instruction, mandated reporting, and institutional betrayal can create more equitable solutions for online students.

Domestic violence is a sensitive subject. Many professionals in education and social services do not know the patterns of violence and the terminology that defines the accompanying trauma. The investigation of this topic relies on a broad-based understanding of the mechanics of domestic violence within the higher education system. The author’s own positionality and experiences as an educator have informed and influenced this work, so this chapter begins with this positionality. The inequities experienced by domestic violence survivors are ultimately relationship-based, and to understand these complex relationships, it is necessary to first understand definitions and contexts.

This chapter will first introduce the author’s positionality, definitions for understanding, and contexts before relevance. The chapter then employs case study methodology to provide readers from a broad audience (K-12, higher education, community organizations, etc.) with the opportunity to engage with real-world problems in online learning and domestic violence. The chapter concludes with insights into the case studies and recommendations.

Positionality

My positionality and experience as a faculty developer, writer, and researcher have impacted my work in the areas of trauma stewardship and what I call radical faculty self-care. I served many years as a community college developmental instructor, teaching underserved and underprepared students from many backgrounds. I am a compassionate human being, and as my doctoral research was a study of the interstitial relationships between student sexual assault survivors disclosing to faculty as mandated reporters, I expressed the importance of Title IX on my first teaching days of the semester while going over the syllabus with my students. I believe that it is a combination of my own status as a survivor, my compassionate nature as a teacher, my transparency with my students about my research topics, and my emphasis on the importance and protections of Title IX upon first meeting students that led to a high number of student sexual assault and domestic violence disclosures to me. I vividly remember students asking me to come into the hall so that they could lift their shirts and show me their bruises. While the violence took place inside the home, and they wore clothing and makeup to cover the undeniable abuse, these students chose me as a safe person to bear witness to their trauma in the relative safety and reprieve of our physical campus. Furthermore, my colleagues and I have experienced the moral dilemmas of honoring their relationships with their students and the confidentiality of these students who disclose yet request our discretion and the legal obligations of the mandated reporting of sexual violence. Title IX does not address the full murkiness of these relationships, and the consequences of institutional betrayal to students when reporting is not the best option.

These experiences have helped me to become a participatory action researcher and a case study educator on sexual violence in higher education. As a trauma counselor, trauma-informed instructor, and trauma researcher, I subscribe to the survivor-centered approach, doing my best not to misappropriate survivors’ narratives while sharing them so that their stories can help practitioners and other survivors move forward. In combining this ethos with case study methodology, I have provided mini case studies in this chapter so that readers may reflect on different scenarios of domestic violence in online classrooms and explore options for how to best assist these students within the contexts of the situation. All cases here are based on real events, use synonymous names, and have been represented with the permission of the survivors.

Definitions

Domestic Violence

Over the years and throughout organizations, the types of abuse experienced by domestic violence survivors have not changed, but the vehicles of abuse have changed drastically. For instance, on-campus stalking still happens, but it now usually involves at least one element of cyberstalking. According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, “Domestic violence (also referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), dating abuse, or relationship abuse) is a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate relationship” (n.d.-a). Power and control are the key elements of all types of domestic violence. Domestic violence educators describe several types of abuse including but not limited to physical, sexual, mental, emotional, financial/economic, verbal, and spiritual. Among these, many specific patterns of domestic violence can be found, such as isolation, intimidation, gaslighting, neglect, and stalking. A new type of violence is now recognized: technological abuse, which can involve restricting access to computer files, distributing information and images without consent, and cyberstalking. As we move toward an ever-increasing online teaching and learning environment, it is important to understand the types of abuse that can take place in that environment and how that abuse needs to be addressed, reported, and resolved, whether disclosed by a student or directly witnessed by an instructor.

Primary Trauma      

There are multiple, sometimes competing and confusing definitions of trauma. To begin, the term “trauma” can be used interchangeably to refer to both the traumatic event itself and the body of changes in attitude, expression, belief, and value system the traumatic event causes in individuals or groups. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) defines a traumatic event as “a shocking, scary, or dangerous experience that can affect someone emotionally and physically” (n.d.). At the same time, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides some basic definitions for the changes in personhood. SAMHSA describes individual trauma as resulting from “an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life-threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being” (n.d.). Throughout my career, I have adopted or developed my own definitions of a traumatic event and individual trauma to add to these recognized definitions:

1.  a traumatic event is any occurrence in which an individual or group’s previous coping mechanisms no longer suffice, causing the individual or group to create a new set of coping mechanisms (these can be positive and/or negative);
2. the body, mind, and spirit’s normal reaction to abnormal circumstances.

In any case, primary trauma is the trauma experienced by the direct victim of a traumatic event, such as a survivor of a sexual assault.

Secondary and Vicarious Trauma

However, the trauma is not limited only to students; in being exposed to student trauma, faculty themselves might experience their own trauma. VAWnet, a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, defines secondary or vicarious trauma as “the emotional effects that can occur when an individual bears witness to the trauma experiences of another. For example, victim advocates may experience secondary traumatic stress from listening empathically to survivors recounting their stories” (n.d.). Usually, secondary trauma results from an intentional disclosure on the part of a student, as in the case of a student voluntarily scheduling time to meet with an instructor to discuss their situation. Vicarious trauma is more of an unintentional witnessing, such as driving to work past a disturbing scene of a car accident. In the case of online and distance education, secondary trauma could result from a student scheduling a private Zoom meeting with an instructor to explain why they are behind on assignments or why they never have their camera on during synchronous sessions. Vicarious trauma could arise from a faculty member directly witnessing domestic violence within the home via audio and/or video capture. This observation could occur synchronously or asynchronously if a video or audio recording is part of a discussion board requirement or the medium of another assignment.

While secondary and vicarious trauma might sound minimal compared to primary trauma in the case of domestic violence, it is far from negligible and can have far-reaching and long-lasting negative effects on the individual bearing witness. VAWnet continues by stating,

These personal reactions, combined with the requirements of mandated reporting for Title IX sexual violence and any abuse of a minor (dual-credit students often opt to take online courses at a local community college or university during high school), can take a huge toll on faculty members who must negotiate what is best for their students and what is required of the law, all in an online space.

Collective Trauma

Across all these definitions, the only constant is change. There are numerous subsets of trauma, including but not limited to compound trauma, complex trauma, and insidious trauma. Most recently, there has been some debate over whether the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic can be considered a collective trauma, with most trauma-informed researchers wholeheartedly including it. Saltzman (2020) defines collective trauma as “an event, or series of events that shatters the experience of safety for a group, or groups, of people” and that “these events are a shared experience that alter the narrative and psyche of a group or community.” The global pandemic has caused us to reflect on the relative safety of shared spaces on college campuses in terms of contagion; however, in “safely” sending students home, we may have inadvertently sent them back into the home front battlefield. Indeed, many students of all ages have valued the physical educational environment as a safe haven from domestic violence for generations.

Compassion Fatigue

These cumulative effects of vicarious trauma can lead to compassion fatigue, especially where multiple students’ disclosures and personal experiences are present. However, vicarious trauma can happen to any instructor who bears witness to student trauma, as we assume that all faculty members are compassionate human beings who care about their students’ health, safety, and well-being. VAWnet defines compassion fatigue as

Institutional Betrayal

Freyd and Birrell (2013) define institutional betrayal as the compound trauma that arises among members of an institution (such as colleges, universities, churches, etc.) as the “institutional failure to prevent sexual assault or to respond supportively when it occurs” (p. 38). When faculty as mandated reporters report disclosed violence to their Title IX office, police officers, and/or the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), students can feel betrayed by the faculty they chose to trust when they disclosed to them. Some faculty may see the potential for the erosion or destruction of their teacher-student relationship as a necessary casualty in the battle to protect that student from the violence in their home and/or relationship.

Decolonial Feminist Theory

In evaluating domestic violence relationships of students and the responsibilities of online teaching faculty, the privacy, security, and confidentiality of student data is a correlating concern with the student’s health, safety, and well-being. No matter the gender of the students, approaching this equity problem from a critical-feminist theory lens can benefit all. The critical-feminist approach seeks to empower the voices of specific groups which have been historically silenced, what some are now referring to as “Decolonial Feminist Theory” (Manning, 2021). It acknowledges that there is no single truth but that the cumulative knowledge of survivors voicing their experiences can pave the way for newer, more improved policies and practices. It prioritizes women’s “freedom, choice, and personal responsibility” over government constraints (UAH, n.d., par. 14). Individualist feminists, also known as “ifeminists,”

This framework of individualist and/or decolonized feminism helps faculty reconsider the needs of students by prioritizing their choices disclosure, action, and safety. It aligns with the domestic violence counseling principle that survivors, especially women, should be trusted to know what is best for them.

Contexts

Vulnerable Populations

While domestic violence does not discriminate across age, gender, race, location, religion, or socioeconomic status, some groups are at a higher risk than others due to environmental and intergenerational factors. Some of the more salient groups of vulnerable populations in the online college environment are discussed here.

Impoverished Students

Many students, unfortunately, struggle with unemployment, food insecurity, and the threat of homelessness. While numerous assertions exist that many individuals are only one paycheck away from being homeless, those familiar with the power and control techniques of domestic violence understand that individuals are often more likely only one relationship away from being homeless. Jones et al. (2012) found in a study that:

A common question asked of domestic violence survivors is why they do not leave an abusive partner and/or why it took them so long to leave. Homelessness is a true threat to domestic violence survivors, as it is “the devil you know.” Staying with an abusive partner is often seen as a more viable alternative to living on the street or in a homeless shelter where one can be raped, exposed to HIV/AIDS, or murdered by a stranger or a casual acquaintance within the homeless population.

First-Generation Students

Numerous studies have been conducted into the relative “high-risk” nature of first-generation students in comparison to continuing-generation students in higher education in the United States. The 2017 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences found that only 20 percent of first-generation college students graduate with a bachelor’s degree by the age of 25, compared to 43 percent for continuing-generation students. They also had lower high school grades than their counterparts (Gewertz, 2017). Socioeconomic status, race, gender, and age have all played a part in describing what has been labeled as “non-traditional” students, many of whom are also first-generation. This work takes the environmental and/or community approach to student preparedness, removing the “at-risk” label from students and placing the onus of being underprepared and/or underserved on the educational community. Likewise, students who become victims of sexual assault will not be described as engaging in “risky behavior” but rather being exposed to risk factors within the educational environment.

Unfortunately, the global pandemic unsettled the foundations for first-generation students in many ways, including financial, environmental, and safety situations. Soria et al. (2020) found that:

First-generation students, like undocumented students, experience real concerns about their abilities to pay for college while battling other barriers to education and dealing with home life.

Undocumented Students

The threats of domestic violence, intergenerational violence, and homelessness can be more realistic for some groups than others. While the cruelty of divided families was visible via the media during the Trump Administration’s removal and relocation of undocumented Latinx immigrants, the threats within these destroyed or threatened households were more concealed. In her recent book, Uncolonized Latinas: Transforming Our Mindsets and Rising Together, Valeria Aloe (2022) states,

Undocumented students, such as those mentioned in the above example of intergenerational Latinx violence, have been at even higher risk during the pandemic due to isolation during sheltering-in-place protocols and the recent Trump administration’s policies on immigrants, immigration, and deportation. As stated above, domestic violence centers around more power and control. These extra layers of policy and protocol gave abusers more abusive power and coercive control over their partners and have been a terrifying reality for many Latinas and/or undocumented partners. Immigration status abuse and threat is now a recognized type of domestic violence used to intimidate undocumented partners and keep them quiet, under control, and attached to their (often documented or legal citizen) abusive partner.

Given the number of salient factors affecting online students pre- and post-COVID, teaching faculty must understand multiple types of trauma involving privacy, security, health, and safety in the home, family, community, and institution. Implementing trauma-informed instruction for online students is more necessary than ever before.

Case Study Methodology

While domestic violence is a historical problem, technology is a new one. Due to the changing landscape of higher education, this chapter takes a case study approach to engage the highly interpretive and complicated nature of domestic violence in online education. After reading the two mini case studies, readers should evaluate how they might best help these students by utilizing the given strategies and considerations. These case studies can be examined individually but are best utilized in the traditional case study methodology of employing groups. It is recommended that the case studies be used in a department meeting or professional development session in which faculty from the same disciplines engage with one another on the topic of digital privacy and domestic violence. A facilitator can assign the case studies in the session as they are short, break faculty into pairs or small groups, have them discuss the case studies and debate potential solutions, and then come back to discuss in the larger group. This activity is often referred to as a “Think-Pair-Share.” This activity is great for these types of meetings and provides faculty with a model to use in class activities. Participants can engage in person in small groups or online via breakout rooms. Brainstorming solutions first in small groups and then in the larger group before reading the strategies section is recommended. This will fuel solution generation via divergent, creative thinking and encourage dialogue on competing needs and potential solutions. Readers should factor in the unique views of the students, the faculty, and the institutions, the requirements of mandated reporting and Title IX policies, and what is best for the student.

Mini Case Study #1

Miss Phoebe is teaching an asynchronous online course in Communications. As part of the course, students are required to introduce themselves during the first week by uploading a video of themselves talking about their career goals. Victoria, a Latina in her early 20s, is enrolled in the course from the beginning, showing active in the LMS analytics, but does not upload a video and receives a zero for this assignment. For the rest of the semester, Victoria is an active, engaged, and enthusiastic learner, participating in all the asynchronous discussions, assessments, and assignments, including ones requiring videos of herself talking. At the end of the semester, Victoria is sitting between a B+ and A- grade, the zero from the first video introduction assignment being the only points bringing her cumulative course grade down. Miss Phoebe receives an email from Victoria stating that she truly enjoyed the course and did not complete the first assignment because she lives with her boyfriend. During that first week of class, she had visible bruises on her face and neck because her boyfriend had become angry with her for spending money on college tuition and “letting uninvited guests into [his] house” via the online class. Victoria asks if she can make up the assignment. She tells Miss Phoebe that her boyfriend has been very sweet and supportive since he made clear that he would not help her financially with her future tuition. Victoria shares that her boyfriend is much calmer now that he understands that the asynchronous nature of the course meant that others would not be able to see or hear what was happening live in his house. Victoria hints that she is an undocumented student while her boyfriend is a legal citizen, older than her, and white.

Mini Case Study #2

Mr. Burton teaches an online, synchronous course in Economics. He prides himself on his engaging micro-lectures, breakout room discussions, and group activities. Jasmine, a white student in her late 30s, is very talkative and gives great examples of how she connects the course material to her experiences as a lesbian woman. However, she only engages using the chat or audio features in the LMS; she has never once turned on her camera. Mr. Burton’s syllabus states that it is the expectation that students will “be actively engaged with their cameras on” during their synchronous online sessions. Still, after working with Jasmine, he realizes that he never wrote a consequence for a student not turning on their camera. He also realizes that “expectation” is not a “requirement.” He chooses to let it slide until multiple students private message him to complain about this in one session. Feeling the pressure, Mr. Burton privately messages Jasmine, “Is there a reason you never have your camera on? Please turn your camera on.” Instead of turning her camera on, Jasmine immediately and completely leaves the online learning environment. The next day, Mr. Burton receives an email from Jasmine stating, “I was triggered when you called me out yesterday. The reason I don’t like to turn my camera on is that I am uncomfortable being on a webcam because I was forced to do pornography as a child by the men in my family. I know this is something I need to work on because everything is online these days, but I’m just not there yet, and you pressuring me that way reminded me of being pressured by other older men in my life. I’m not sure what to do now moving forward in this class.” Mr. Burton does not know how to do so either.

The Need for New Strategies

The following section is provided as further considerations within the contexts of the mini case studies. After reviewing the cases, readers should continue to this next section and then return to brainstorming potential solutions on their own or in groups. Faculty are recommended to incorporate these practices into their teaching wheelhouse and prepare for these situations when teaching online courses.

Trauma-Informed Instruction

 At a base level, safety is a survival instinct; there is not much that one can accomplish without feeling safe. Minahan (2019) reminds readers:

Trauma-informed instruction is simply that—being supportive of our students’ needs knowing that we cannot control or prevent everything. There is a certain amount of letting go to be done in the service of trauma-informed instruction. Just as trauma-informed care is utilized by frontline domestic violence advocates, counselors, and therapists, the wise professional knows that while they might not be able to “check it at the door,” there is a professional line that one cannot cross. The even wiser professional and teacher invests more in their own self-care than in their students to best provide the service and support necessary for their most underprepared and underserved students.

Online Safety Planning

One of the most common questions asked of those in abusive relationships is why the abused do not leave the abusive. Fortunately, as practitioners and researchers have learned more, we have a troubling yet stark answer to this question. The National Domestic Violence Hotline states,

Again, the decolonial feminist lens asks us to let women make their own decisions, so rather than telling survivors to leave their abusive partners, give them information and let them make their own decision. We should remind ourselves that they know their partners best.

Creating a safety plan can truly be a lifesaver for domestic violence survivors. Safety plans are based upon different categories of “If… Then…” statements involving domestic violence. Depending on one’s situation and their partner, a safety plan might mean leaving or staying with the abusive partner; unfortunately, sometimes staying is the safer choice. If a student discloses to an instructor in a synchronous online setting, the burden of proof has been met. This is the time to ask a student about online safety planning. Technological abuse can easily extend into an online student’s educational life. While the instructor does not need to help the student create an online safety plan, they can encourage the student to do so. LoveIsRespect.org has an excellent guide called “Who’s Spying on Your Computer? Spyware, Surveillance, and Safety for Survivors.” This guide is referenced in this chapter, but it should only be shared with a student survivor once they have made it clear that it would be safe to do so. Student survivors can also safely access the National Domestic Violence Hotline online; the site builds safety by allowing website visitors to immediately hit the red X in the top right corner to safely leave the site without leaving it in the browser’s history. Once again, it is only safe to share this with a student if there will not be a record of the website link in an email.

Intersectionality Matters

All students are individuals. They have different needs. In reflecting on those needs, cultural considerations need to be made. As in the given case studies, these students’ histories, genetics, finances, and more all play a part in how they live in and approach the world. In trying to support all students, instructors should educate themselves on the possible needs of students without drawing particular attention to them while trying to support the student. They should avoid making assumptions or asking questions about students’ race, finances, sexual orientation, religion, and age. However, understanding these might help them better interact and connect with students. For example, in many cultures and religions, divorce is not an option, so safety planning might involve minimizing the effects of the abuse instead of leaving it altogether. In any case, safety planning is best left to professional domestic violence counselors who have training in conducting lethality assessments. Compile a list of local and online resources to share with diverse students to reach out to these professionals. Many local and state agencies provide assistance for specific groups such as disabled women who are survivors of domestic violence, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides interpretation services in over two hundred languages. As we serve a diverse body of students, some of whom may now be able to take college courses via online instruction for the first time, we need to be cognizant of their needs.

Making Allowances

Sometimes, it may be prudent to give a student an alternative way to complete an assignment or to extend a deadline. This can obviously arise from any number of situations beyond domestic violence. However, having the compassion to help students out in these ways will not only help the students to be more successful in college but can also help them to trust their instructors more. This can make all the difference when they need help. It should be remembered that instructors should only engage with students on this topic if it does not put the student at more risk. One way to circumvent this issue is to make resources available to all students. For instance, resources for domestic violence can be placed in the syllabus or in the LMS along with other key resources on disability services and Title IX policies. This way, the information is accessible to all students at any time, is contained among other information which helps it be more innocuous, and does not single any one student out through email or messaging.

Allowing Choice

Mandated reporting leaves no wiggle room. However, if reporting a domestic violence situation puts a student survivor more at risk, is this truly ethical? This is a question each instructor will have to grapple with themselves if they ever meet with this type of situation. Having said that, decolonial feminism prioritizes choice over governance. If subscribing to this paradigm, instructors can follow this practice if a student discloses to them: explain the nature and requirements of mandated reporting so that students know for the future, give the student the choice of whether they want the instructor to report it, follow through on the student’s wishes, and refrain from pressuring the student to take any actions. One well-timed check-in with the student throughout the semester can be taken as a sign of compassion; constant checking in can feel like pressure or manipulation, which the survivor is already experiencing from their partner. Share resources for domestic violence when safe; then leave the student to choose how they will proceed.

Conclusion

The recent pandemic has given us new ways to connect with one another in the online teaching and learning environment and a better understanding of the effects of isolation and trauma on individuals. As we move forward, we can build upon these principles to better understand the unique challenges our students face and assist those who might be in a domestic violence situation.

References

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