The traumatic effects of wife -beating: An ecological perspective

Susan Gabrielle Wilkie, Purdue University

Abstract

The overall purpose of this study was to gain some understanding of the components that contribute to psychological well being for women after leaving abusive intimate relationships. Trauma symptoms of women who have left marital relationships that did or did not include physical abuse were compared, the hypothesis being that women who experienced physical abuse in their intimate relationships will suffer more trauma symptoms as a result of the abuse than women who left a relationship that did not involve physical violence. Long-term adjustment for women who have exited physically abusive intimate relationships was examined by exploring the relationship among coping strategies, social support and long-term distress symptoms in survivors of woman beating within an ecological framework. The hypotheses were that women who experienced physical abuse in their intimate relationships would differ significantly from women who had not been physically abused on both their coping strategies and experiences of social support. This study was concerned with how personal and contextual factors shape the patterns of social support and coping responses likely to be displayed by survivors of domestic violence and how these factors relate to long-term adjustment. In addition to coping and social support, contextual factors examined included: childhood exposure to family violence, helpfulness of social institutions' responses to requests for help in leaving the relationship, current personal resources and the severity of violence experienced in the past relationship. Results indicated that women with a history of domestic violence report significantly greater trauma symptoms, a significantly higher use of avoidant-coping strategies and lower perceived social support than those women who have left an intimate relationship that was not physically abusive. Results indicated that increased levels of violence, minimal personal resources, lack of institutional and informal social support, and greater-avoidant coping styles were related to greater trauma symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of both possible direct effects of domestic violence and indirect effects upon functioning through the impact on coping responses, available social support and contextual factors.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Thomas, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Psychotherapy|Womens studies

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