Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1059-5434
Date Available
5-15-2025
Year of Publication
2025
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Sociology
Faculty
Claire Renzetti
Faculty
Nicole Breazeale
Abstract
This dissertation explores how participation in a Therapeutic Horticulture program may support the self-efficacy of survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. Through a thematic analysis of interviews with 45 women living at a domestic violence shelter in Lexington, Kentucky, this study investigates whether and how gardening activities contributed to participants’ belief in their abilities to shape outcomes in their lives.
Findings are organized around Bandura’s four sources of self-efficacy: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological/affective states. These insights contribute to feminist criminology and trauma-informed care literature by illuminating the transformative potential of nature-assisted healing programs.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2025.163
Recommended Citation
Reeves, Rachel Marie, "BREAKING GROUND ON SELF-EFFICACY: A QUALITATIVE EXPLORATION OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE SURVIVORS’ EXPERIENCES WITH THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE" (2025). Theses and Dissertations--Sociology. 61.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/sociology_etds/61
Included in
Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons