NCJ Number
199910
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 17 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2002 Pages: 743-757
Date Published
December 2002
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the comparison of independently developed tools to measure work-related control, abuse, and sabotage.
Abstract
The contradictory findings of studies of the effects of battering on labor force participation that uses standard measures prompt the development of other instruments perhaps better suited. This study reports and compares data collected using two instruments independently designed to measure abuse related to labor force participation. The Work/School Abuse Scale (W/SAS) was administered to 40 welfare recipients. A Work-Related Control, Abuse, and Sabotage Checklist (WORCASC) was administered to a total of 162 welfare recipients including the same 40 that answered the W/SAS. The W/SAS is a checklist of tactics abusers use to restrain women or interfere with their work and school activities. The WORCASC contains eight control and seven threat and interference items. Results show that between 8 percent and 20 percent of participants said their boyfriends, husbands, or exes had restrained them or interfered with their work or education in the ways mentioned in the W/SAS. The findings confirmed the reliability of the two instruments, the extent to which they measure something distinct from physical abuse, and their association with relevant outcomes such as being written up, reprimanded, or losing pay at work. 3 tables, 4 notes, 25 references