NCJ Number
194587
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2002 Pages: 53-74
Date Published
March 2002
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This is a comparative study of 82 battered women with children who sought counseling in Italy and the United States.
Abstract
The goals of the study were to compare specific risk factors and psychological consequences related to domestic violence across three ethnic groups (Italian, Anglo-American, and Mexican) in the two countries. Among the risk factors examined were men's substance use and unemployment, women's unemployment, social isolation from extended family networks, and lack of social resources. In 1991 this study completed interviews with 50 Anglo and Mexican women who were staying in shelters in the Southwestern United States. Most of the Mexican women in the American sample spoke Spanish, indicating strong cultural and recent ties to Mexico. In 1992 the study involved interviews with 32 Roman women who had contacted the hotline for battered women and had come to the hotline offices for counseling. The interview protocol included questions about the husbands' abuse of the mother and her children, employment status and sociodemographics, social and family support networks, the mother's history of abuse in her family of origin, and her current mental health symptoms. The mother was also asked about the psychological symptoms of one of her children. The study found that battered women in Italy were more likely to be married to their abusers and to have endured more years of violence than women in the United States. Descriptions of violence in the home were similar in frequency and severity across groups, although fewer Italian women (30 percent) reported sexual abuse from their partners than either Hispanic or Anglo-American women (more than 70 percent). Drinking was strongly associated with domestic violence in the United States, but not in Italy. Women and children showed elevated psychological symptoms. Across ethnic groups, the average child exposed to marital violence was within the clinical range according to the Child Behavior Checklist, although Mexican children showed slightly fewer overall symptoms. Italian children were less likely to display conduct problems than American children of any ethnic origin. Although there were few differences in the impact of abuse, the catalysts and family circumstances were apparently different across cultures. Study limitations are discussed. 1 table, 3 figures, and 38 references