The Development 1 Implementation And Evaluation Of A Training Programme In Rape Crisis Intervention For Lay Therapists: A Community Psychology Approach

ABSTRACT

A conceptual framework was developed in the context of community psychology for the development of a training programme in rape crisis intervention for lay therapists who were members of the Rape Crisis Organisation in Cape Town, South Africa. This framework was structured around the use of lay therapists, crisis intervention (including crisis intervention with rape victims) and consultation. The interrelationships of these three ·aspects were explored. The programme consisted of theoretical input and experiential exercises pertaining to rape crisis intervention and was held over two full days and one evening. The programme was evaluated by means of a modification of the instrument reported by Carkhuff (1969) to assess the levels of facilitativeness (FAC) and action orientedness (ACT) that therapists were able to offer. This instrument consists of 16 client stimulus expressions to which the therapists are .required to . provide responses which are rated. Besides the experimental group which consisted of the members of Rape Crisis who attended the programme (N 7 8) ,there were two control groups: control group consisting of members of Rape Crisis who did not attend the progrrumae (N = 9) and control group consisting of people who were neither meuiliers of Rape Crisis nor who attended the programme (N = 8). The· data were analysed by means of  way AN OVA with repeated measures on two of the· factors (the stage of assessment and the client stimulus expressions) and no repeated measures on the other factor (the groups). There were no differences in levels of FAC that subjects were able to offer within any of the groups for any of the client stimulus expressions. However, members of Rape Crisis offered significantly lower levels of FAC than subjects who were not members of Rape Crisis (overall the stage of assessment and the client stimulus expressions). The levels of ACT that subjects were able to offer increased in the case of the experimental group for all 16 client stimulus expressions, decreased in the case of control group A for expressions and increased for one expression and decreased for one expression in the case of control group B. The theoretical and practical implications of these results were explored. In addition, this data was used in conjunction with information gathered from experiential reports that the members of the experimental group provided at the end of each component of the programme and from a questionnaire that they completed after the programme to yield a blueprint for future training programmes in rape crisis intervention. Finally, the training progrmrume was discussed in relation to the conceptual framework that had been developed.