Separation, divorce, and woman abuse
- PMID: 12348986
- DOI: 10.1177/1077801296002001004
Separation, divorce, and woman abuse
Abstract
PIP: This study of domestic violence uses data gathered from interviews in 1987-88 from a random sample of 129 women with children who were divorced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, courts in 1986 to demonstrate that violence is a significant determinant of divorce and that violence plays an important role during asset negotiations after marital separation. The study revealed that many of the women experienced violence during their marriages and stated that it was a factor in their leaving their husbands (19% left because of the violence). Women left their husbands after particularly serious violent incidents or when they believed that witnessing the violence was harming their children. This sample was not asked to specify if they experienced violence during or after marriage, but 4% of the women reported experiencing violence for the first time during the separation, 11 women volunteered that violence extended from their marriages into their separation, and 6 women faced immediate threats of violence during separation. Reports in the literature indicate that marital separation increases women's risk of injury and of death. The current study indicates that experiences of violence impeded women's ability to negotiate for marital assets and child support during separation or for visitation rights after the divorce. Several women were also afraid to try to obtain increases in child support or to force their husbands to pay ordered amounts. Policy implications include the necessity of providing women with guaranteed child support and of exercising caution when recommending divorce mediation.
Similar articles
-
Should I stay or should I go? Some thoughts on the variants of intimate violence.Violence Against Women. 1997 Dec;3(6):629-35. doi: 10.1177/1077801297003006005. Violence Against Women. 1997. PMID: 12295557
-
Recent or imminent separation and intimate violence against women. A conceptual overview and some Canadian examples.Violence Against Women. 1997 Dec;3(6):566-89. doi: 10.1177/1077801297003006002. Violence Against Women. 1997. PMID: 12295554
-
Matrimonial Causes Act 1989 (No. 2 of 1989), 6 January 1989.Annu Rev Popul Law. 1989;16:66, 432-5. Annu Rev Popul Law. 1989. PMID: 12344499
-
Children's adjustment in conflicted marriage and divorce: a decade review of research.J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2000 Aug;39(8):963-73. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200008000-00007. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2000. PMID: 10939225 Review.
-
Marital conflict, divorce, and children's adjustment.Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 1998 Apr;7(2):259-71, v-vi. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 1998. PMID: 9894063 Review.
Cited by
-
Abused Mothers' Safety Concerns and Court Mediators' Custody Recommendations.J Fam Violence. 2012 May;27(4):321-332. doi: 10.1007/s10896-012-9426-4. J Fam Violence. 2012. PMID: 23144531 Free PMC article.
-
Partner aggression among men and women in substance use disorder treatment: correlates of psychological and physical aggression and injury.Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008 Nov 1;98(1-2):35-44. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2008.04.010. Epub 2008 Jun 13. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2008. PMID: 18554825 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
-
Intimate partner violence and stalking behavior: exploration of patterns and correlates in a sample of acutely battered women.Violence Vict. 2000 Spring;15(1):55-72. Violence Vict. 2000. PMID: 10972514 Free PMC article.
-
Physical partner violence and medicaid utilization and expenditures.Public Health Rep. 2004 Nov-Dec;119(6):557-67. doi: 10.1016/j.phr.2004.09.005. Public Health Rep. 2004. PMID: 15504447 Free PMC article.
-
Intimate partner violence as a predictor of marital disruption in rural Rakai, Uganda: a longitudinal study.Int J Public Health. 2016 Nov;61(8):961-970. doi: 10.1007/s00038-016-0891-z. Epub 2016 Sep 13. Int J Public Health. 2016. PMID: 27624624
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
