Victim Advocate for a Police Department/OH. Offers emotional support, victims' rights information, and help in finding needed resources.
Daniela Jauk 0:04
Welcome to Why Sociology
Angela Adkins 0:11
a podcast series featuring mini interviews with sociology majors who have taken Career Pathways beyond academia, in applied and clinical careers. And to show not only tell
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why and how sociology matters in this world
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we are Angela Adkins from Stark State College
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and Daniela Jauk from the University of Akron, both located
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in rubber city Akron, Ohio,
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but we feature sociological movers change makers and shakers from all over the US and the globe.
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Welcome to our virtual Why Sociology studio, today we have the honor and pleasure to talk to Kelly Roach from Akron, Ohio. She's a victim's advocate. So Kelly, welcome. Thank you for taking the time. What are you doing?
Kelly Roach 1:18
Well, thank you guys for having me. So to start my job as a victim advocate. So I'm based out of local police department, East Lake Police Department, basically, a bulk of my job is making sure victims are notified of court proceedings, we provide emotional support, we let them know when court dates are walk them through the court process, we can assist with obtaining criminal protection orders, temporary protection orders, and things like that we also do a domestic violence support group every Monday night. So that is primarily what I do. But I'm kind of at the mercy of whatever's going on in the city that day. So we also help out on like calls where there, somebody passes away, whether that be an accident or natural causes will help the families coordinate, you know, pretty much what happens next. It's a lot of crisis intervention, sort of just helping people navigate through those crises.
Daniela Jauk 2:20
What is the typical day like, for typical day, what are your working hours?
Kelly Roach 2:25
My schedule is kind of flexible, depending on again, what's going on, there's really not a typical day, every every day is a little bit different. You never know who you're going to come across. And you know what they're going to be going through that you have to help them through, there's been a lot of things thrown on my plate that I really haven't had the answer to that I've had to sort of figure out myself. So I've certainly learned a lot from being in this position.
Angela Adkins 2:52
It's such an important job being an advocate, what you do, and you know, the willingness to not only support but then as you said, you know, go out and find the answer if that's what you need, and do what's needed in the moment. We're very interested in, 44and I know our students are, in how does sociology inform what you do? You know, in other words, what did you learn as a sociology major that really you think helps you most today in this sort of position?
Kelly Roach 3:23
I mean, I think just the general fact of you know, sociology is the study of people and having the understanding that whatever problem they're facing right now, is the result of the environment that they were exposed to whether that be recently or starting at a young age, we also deal with a lot of people, oftentimes, there's not just one issue at hand. So kind of diving into, you know, what's really going on in these people's lives and getting to sort of the root of the issue.
Angela Adkins 3:56
I think that that's really a great example of using the sociological imagination of being able to see things in context. And to know that even in highly individualized circumstances, there are connections to broader factors. So I think that's a great example of that.
Daniela Jauk 4:14
Our podcast us name is Why Sociology in three weeks I think we you are an Akron, sociology graduate by sociology Kelly, why did you gravitate toward sociology?
Kelly Roach 4:27
Honestly, completely by accident. My original plan was, I want to do go to the police academy. That was my original plan out out of high school. I actually graduated high school early, so I decided I was going to sort of boost my resume by I enlisted in the Air Force Reserves. Because when I graduated high school, I had my associate's degree, you know, I had some time to kill before I could get into the police academy. So I decided, you know, I was gonna go to college for a little bit And then I still had some time to kill. So I went into the reserves. And after that I was just kind of over the excitement of what I thought, you know, I would get out of going to the police academy and things like that. And also, my time during basic training, I got to know so many people on a very personal level I lived in, in basically a room with 50 other women completely separated from technology for eight weeks. So I mean, you really get to know a person, and it's on a level that I mean, I don't truly think I'll ever get to experience again. So then I kind of, you know, got back into classes, and I was like, alright, let's, you know, dive into this. And during my time at Akron, I needed a an internship. So I got it in with Cleveland rape crisis. And, you know, that's just a whole nother level of diving into advocacy and using what I learned in school, and then just kind of went from there.
Daniela Jauk 5:58
Why would you recommend studying sociology to students who are listening to this right now?
Kelly Roach 6:04
I think I would recommend sociology just because you use it every day. And I think it really helps you deepen your relationships with people by understanding or having a basic understanding of why people are the way that they are.
Angela Adkins 6:19
I think that's the best reason that there is to talk about sociology is it helps you understand everything in a deeper way. So absolutely, I think that's very good advice. Now, if we have students who are interested in doing what you do, can you give us a couple of nuts and bolts? Not I mean, you didn't mention kind of how you got into the current position, but what might be a good path to go that way. And what might they expect upon entering the field or trying to enter the field, if this is something that they're interested in,
Kelly Roach 6:52
if you're interested in being an advocate, I think number one would be finding an organization that allows you to volunteer, even if it's just part time, like I said, I started at rape crisis of southern Medina counties, and I was a hotline advocate a few nights a month. And that's kind of how I started, the training was fantastic. And I got a lot out of it. And there's so many organizations out there that you could get involved with, whether it's rape crisis, or domestic violence shelters, so that would probably be where I would start, if I was gonna give that advice. As far as what to expect, it's a lot being an advocate, you sort of have to be very aware of boundaries, and be able to separate yourself from home life and work life. And it's a very fine line to walk sometimes. But you have to be able to separate those things and have solid supports, whether that's family or friends, people you can lean on, you got to have an outlet, because the things that you're going to see, especially depending on where where you start very dark sometimes and important to take care of yourself as well.
Daniela Jauk 8:01
We're coming to a close of our mini interview. What is a piece of advice you want to give current or incoming sociology students? Is there anything you wish you would have known?
Kelly Roach 8:13
I definitely wish I would have gotten involved. Earlier, I was in sociology club, my last semester at Akron. And I think that would have been so helpful if I would have jumped into that in the beginning, because you just meet so many people who are already, you know, kind of immersed in what they're going to do with their degrees that you can kind of bounce ideas off of each other of you know, what direction you plan to go in and you gain so many connections in that I know I have a few friends who are, who were in sociology club, who are teachers who are other advocates who are in mental health services, but even sociology club aside, I was in marching band that was that was huge for me to meet people and getting involved in extracurriculars and things like that. And being able to apply what you're learning in sociology to you know, these people from all sorts of different walks of life, what what they've gone through and where they've been and who they are. I think that's that was huge for me.
Daniela Jauk 9:16
And this is also deeply sociological, because you are talking about that social capital, right? You are making connections, right, each with you potentially for the rest of your life and the distance ties that can also play into your career. IDo you still hang out with some folks?
Kelly Roach 9:33
Yes, actually a few from the University of Akron from the rape crisis center, some of the medina counties and then another friend of mine, I know she's actually an advocate.
Angela Adkins 9:46
Before we wrap up here, Kelly, I want to say thank you so much. Oh, okay. Well, the listeners can't see but your dog just popped up and I was very excited to see the dog screen. She's wonderful, but I wanted to say before you go Thank you so much for everything that you do. I think it's such a good example of exactly Why Sociology is important is so that we can use it to take care of each other and yours is a hard and an a very important role and as you said, you know can probably sometimes get very dark and so I'm really glad to know that you are out taking care of others as they're trying to traverse What are probably terrible circumstances that is so important. Thank you very much.
Daniela Jauk 10:33
Thank you also from me, clearly our wonderful victims advocate out there in the community. Thank you guys
Daniela Jauk 10:50
Thank you for tuning into Why Sociology. Stay tuned for more mini interviews with applied and clinical sociologist and see you next time