NCJ Number
209514
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 19 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2004 Pages: 355-366
Date Published
December 2004
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study assessed a broad range of current health outcomes among women with varying victimization histories who resided in high-crime neighborhoods, with attention to the potential protective role of social connections to current neighbors.
Abstract
The selected areas corresponded to police districts with the highest rates of violent crime in Boston, MA, for the years 1991-95. The study sample consisted of 160 mothers of low socioeconomic status who received primary pediatric care at a large inner city teaching hospital during 1996-98. Self-reports were obtained through an interview format. Six items assessed the history of physical violence the women experienced as children; five items assessed the lifetime history of completed rape that women experienced at any time in their lives by any type of perpetrator; nine items assessed the frequency of physical violence inflicted on the woman by an intimate partner as means for resolving conflict during the past month; and nine items assessed the frequency of being the victim of simple or aggravated physical assault, robbery, and burglary in the neighborhood in the past year by any type of perpetrator. Women were also asked about their social relationship with neighbors in the past year. Also, perceived general health was assessed for the past month. The study found that women with two or more types of victimization reported higher global distress, symptoms of posttraumatic distress, and illicit substance use than women with no or only one type of victimization. Women with low levels of social connection to neighbors reported higher bodily pain than women with high levels of social connection to neighbors. 4 tables and 60 references