Welcome to the Clark Anti-Violence Education Program
What is the CAVE Program?
The Clark Anti-Violence Education (CAVE) program is a new program supported by a generous grant from the Department of Education. The program is directed by Professors Denise Hines and Kathleen Palm from the Psychology Department. Amy Cameron, a doctoral student in the Psychology Program, is the project coordinator.
The goal of the program is to reduce dating violence and sexual assault at Clark University through education programs and campaigns throughout the year. It is a coordinated effort by several offices at Clark, including law enforcement, the Dean of Students office, women's studies, athletics, health care services, the counseling center, housing authorities and RAs, judicial boards, and representatives from student government and other concerned student groups. This coordinated campus response team meets regularly to discuss policies, procedures, and programming on campus that are related to issues of dating violence and sexual assault.
We are also working in conjunction with community victim service and law enforcement agencies to develop educational programming for students, campus police, and judicial boards. The primary service agency working with us is Daybreak, the most comprehensive domestic violence program in the Greater Worcester area. The Daybreak (http://www.ywcaworcester.org/daybreak.html) program, which was originally founded on the campus of Clark University over 30 years ago and is now part of the YWCA of Worcester, offers extensive services, including violence prevention education, staff training, numerous victim services, court and police advocacy, and emergency shelters.
What Information Can I Find on this Webpage?
This webpage is designed to provide students, faculty, and staff at Clark University with general educational information on dating violence and sexual assault, but more importantly, it has a wealth of information on what to do if you witness an incident of dating violence or sexual assault or if you or a friend of yours experiences an incident of dating violence or sexual assault and wants to know the options available for help. Please click on the Campus Resources or Off-Campus Resources tabs for resources available to you. You can also contact the CAVE program office, the Dean of Students office, the Counseling Center, Health Services, or the University Police, to discuss what happened and the options available.
What Kinds of Programming are Scheduled or Planned?
During orientation, many of the incoming students participated in a new program called, "Bringing in the Bystander." This was a 90-minute program, where students divided into same-sex groups of about 30 to discuss what dating violence and sexual assault are and how to properly and safely intervene before, during, or after an incident of dating violence or sexual assault that they may witness.
You may have also noticed several posters in your dorms, the student center, the athletic center, and elsewhere on campus. Please take notice of these posters because they provide valuable suggestions on how to intervene in cases of dating violence and sexual assault. They also direct you to this webpage, where you can locate all sorts of resources to help you or a friend who may have experienced dating violence or sexual assault.
In addition, we are working with Daybreak to bring other types of programming, such as plays and discussion groups, to campus at key times, such as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October and Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April. We will post and announce information about these programs as they are scheduled.
How Can Students Become Involved?
We will be training student peer educators, who will perform various functions, such as contacting all incoming students each year about our orientation program; performing key roles in the bystander educational programming; emailing all incoming students each year with information on dating violence and sexual assault, and a link to our website; and manning informational tables in the student center. Peer educators will be trained primarily through a first seminar in the Psychology Department that will be devoted to educating students on the scholarly literature on dating violence and sexual assault; and training students on how to be peer educators. For more information on this course and/or how to become a peer educator, please contact either Prof. Denise Hines (dhines@clarku.edu) or Prof. Kathleen Palm (kpalm@clarku.edu).
What is the Expertise of the Program Directors and Coordinator?
Kathleen M. Palm, Ph.D., is Clinical Coordinator and Research Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department. She has published in the areas of sexual victimization, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse, with 15 articles and 5 book chapters. She also has worked as a therapist with victims of violent crime since 1998, and is a licensed psychologist in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Denise A. Hines, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department. Having published over 20 articles and 2 books on issues of family violence, she is an expert on issues of intimate partner violence. In addition to the funding provided by the Department of Education under this project, she is also funded by a research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health on mental health issues and intimate partner violence. For more information, you can visit her webpage at: www.clarku.edu/faculty/dhines
Amy Cameron, M.A. is a graduate student in the Psychology Department. She has volunteered as a Rape Crisis Counselor at Planned Parenthood and is studying clinical psychology.