NCJ Number
74135
Date Published
1980
Length
0 pages
Annotation
A case history of a battered and abused wife, given in the form of an interiew, portrays the many problems and ambivalent feelings the victim experiences. Four alternative solutions to her predicament are explored.
Abstract
The director of a women's shelter discusses the case history presented and then helps the viewer explore several alternatives to her dilemma. Any woman who finds herself in a similar situation is urged to seek the aid of women's shelters that exist in many parts of the country. Before definitive changes can be made, the woman should go to the shelter and discuss her problem with a facilitator, or counselor. The shelter will give the woman and her children immediate shelter and help her with legal aid, employment, long term shelter, and economic supports, such as food stamps. The alternatives discussed include (1) returning to the husband while remaining in touch with the shelter and receiving support and assistance from the facilitators; (2) moving into the home of relatives but only if open, honest, and healthy communications can be achieved; (3) leaving the husband, finding a place to live with the children, getting a job, and child care assistance, and learning to be independent; and (4) sharing housing and child care with another woman in similar circumstances. The positive and negative aspects of these options are explored. It is pointed out that each woman must choose what is right for her at that particular time in her life.