Community Violence and Its Direct, Indirect, and Mediating Effects on Intimate Partner Violence

• NCJ Number: 216535
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 12 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2006 Pages: 1132-1149
• Author(s): Chitra Raghavan; Amy Mennerich; Ellen Sexton; Susan E. James
• Date Published: December 2006
• Length: 18 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: New York City, New York; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Annie E. Casey Foundation; US Dept of Health & Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Expanding on previous research examining the relationships between intimate partner violence (IPV) and neighborhood disadvantage, this study examined social disorder or social incivilities and community violence, the presence or absence of IPV among the members of the women’s social networks and the association of substance use, as well as the role of community violence as a mediator of substance use and network violence.

Abstract

Findings suggest several pathways associated with economic disadvantage that may render women more vulnerable to intimate partner violence (IPV). Living in a neighborhood with higher compared to lower levels of social disorder, such as public intoxication and selling of drugs was found to increase women’s exposure to serious levels of violence. Findings indicated that the relationship between substance use and IPV was best explained by a mediational relationship rather than a direct one; using substances appeared to increase risks of women’s exposure to community violence, thereby increasing the risks of IPV. Substance abusing women were more likely to be assaulted by their partner as a result of their exposure to community violence rather than as a direct result of their drug use. Examining the role of neighborhoods in IPV may be especially pertinent when considering substance use in poor populations. Research has shown that substance-abusing women are at high risk of experiencing IPV. Data for this study were obtained as part of a larger study examining social network composition in a welfare-to-work program. The study sample recruited from six sites: New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri, California, and North Carolina. The study examined 50 low-income, nonshelter women to determine the links among social disorder, violence in the social support network, community violence, and women’s substance use and to predict IPV. Figure, tables, references