Reflections on Racial Differences in Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence: Black Women Have to be Strong* (original) (raw)
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Journal of Sociology and Social Work, 2017
The purpose of this study was to apply Critical Race Theory to investigate whether differences exist between African American women and Caucasian women on constructs measuring conflict negotiation and parenting attitudes for female perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Using the lens of critical race theory, we hypothesize that there are statistically significant differences between African American women and Caucasian women for indicators of parenting attitudes (measured by the AAPI-2) and intimate partner negotiation (measured by the CTS-2). The study employed a non-equivalent, control-group design and involved secondary data analysis. Data on 133 women was collected by a batterer intervention program in a metropolitan area in the Southeastern U.S. Binary logistic regression suggests that(1) the women in this sample who were more likely to score high on the CTS-2 physical scale were more likely to belong to the African American cohort; and (2) those women who scored in the high risk parenting category were also more likely to fall in the African American cohort. Findings indicate that critical race theory is a useful theoretical framework for understanding macro conditions in which women perpetrate IPV.
“I'm Black, I'm Strong, and I Need Help”: Toxic Black Femininity and Intimate Partner Violence
Journal of Family Theory and Review, 2020
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious threat to the lives of Black women in the United States. Research has shown that Black women report more serious injuries and mental health consequences, are less likely to report IPV, and receive fewer services related to IPV victimization than White women do. This article proposes the new concept of toxic Black femininity, which refers to the constant attempts for Black women to uphold a stereotype of being militantly strong and responsible for the overall well-being of the Black image while simultaneously denying their own needs in an attempt to maintain the status quo. We describe the theoretical framework behind the term toxic Black femininity, its historical origins, how the need for survival has led to the manifestation of toxic Black femininity, and the importance of dismantling these toxic ideologies. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a social ill that disproportionately affects Black women (Lacey, West, Matusko, & Jackson, 2015). Black women are at a higher risk of receiving more serious injuries or mental health diagnoses and of dying from IPV than are White women (Fischer et al., 2015; Iverson et al., 2013). Black et al. (2011) reported that 43.7% of Black women
Black Women and Intimate Partner Violence: New Directions for Research
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2004
African American women are at elevated risk for nonfatal and lethal intimate partner violence (IPV). Accordingly, the purpose of this article is to review our current knowledge, with a focus on the sociodemographic factors that make this population particularly vulnerable to abuse. Future research directions include using more diverse Black samples, considering how living at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression shapes Black women’s experience with violence, exploring the influence of historical events and oppressive images on victimization, and focusing on survivors’ resilience and activism.
African American Women and Domestic Violence: Addressing their Voice of Silence
BRK Global Healthcare Journal
Historically, during slavery, the international slave trade promoted normalization of violence against African American women. During slavery, African American women endured inhuman conditions because of the majority race views of them as being over-sexualized, physically strong, and immoral. This perception of the African American women as being highly sexual and more sexual than white women results in slave owner justifying their sexual violation and degrading of the African American women. The stereotypical representations of African American women as strong, controlling, dangerous, fearless, and invulnerable may interfere with the African American women receiving the needed services for domestic violence in the community. The Strong Black Women Archetype has been dated back to slavery describing their coping mechanism in dealing with oppression by developing a strong, less traditionally female role. The authors developed a model: The Multidimensional Perspectives of Factors Cont...
Myths and stereotypes of actors involved in domestic violence
Aggression and Violent Behavior, 1999
Stereotypes exist about actors involved in domestic violence, particularly women of color. It has been suggested that Black women are more aggressive and accustomed to violence than White women. Moreover, victim resistance, marital status, and perceiver's sex have all been found to influence perceptions of domestic violence culpability. Since the 1970s, when domestic violence was acknowledged as a social problem, researchers have examined how the lay person's perceptions of battered women and their batterers are influenced by extralegal factors. Although research on perceptions of domestic violence when White women and men are involved has increased dramatically in recent years, there is a dearth of research on perceptions of such violence when women and men of color are participants. The available findings on the influence of stereotypical notions concerning victims and batterers upon perceptions of domestic violence are examined. This review will provide the available evidence and suggest research areas where information is needed to more fully address the needs of people of color in understanding their own victimization and how actors in the legal system can guard against biased responding.
Domestic Violence and Racism against Black Women
Artigo, 2020
This qualitative research study, which involved interviews with black women victims of domestic violence, was aimed at verifying if there were any inscriptions of the ideal of whiteness introjected in their subjectivities and at evaluating the contexts in which racism and domestic violence appear in their lives. The importance of this type of study is in highlighting the existence of the myth of racial democracy in Brazil, in its perverse face, by showing how the ego ideal of whiteness is propagated unconsciously through ideology as a way of subjugating the black racial-ethnic group to the dominant one. The study emphasizes the high rate of domestic violence against black women and the urgency of public policies for the prevention of these crimes and the protection of the victims.
Critical Race Theory, Parenting, and Intimate Partner Violence: Analyzing Race and Gender
Research on Social Work Practice
This study sought to investigate similarities and differences among race, gender, parenting attitudes, and conflict negotiation tactics of perpetrators of intimate partner violence in a batterer intervention program. Method: This research utilized a nonequivalent, control group secondary analysis of 238 women and men. Results: Logistic regression indicated (1) an increased likelihood for scoring higher on the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2) physical assault subscale and Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory-2 (AAPI-2) high-risk parenting group for those in the African American category compared to the White category; (2) African American women are more likely to be unemployed, score higher on the CTS-2 Physical Assault subscale, and in the high-risk AAPI-2 parenting group than African American men; and (3) White women are more likely to experience injury and score in the high-risk AAPI-2 group compared to White men. Conclusions: Critical race theory provides a necessary understanding of these findings within structural inequality in the United States. Further results and implications are discussed.
Intimate partner violence against women: Exploring intersections of race, class, and gender
2007
Although intimate partner violence cuts across all socioeconomic levels, empirical research consistently documents a connection between economic status and violence. Low-income and poverty are among the strongest, most consistent correlates of male-to-female domestic violence and most studies which include a measure of socioeconomic position consistently document a greater incidence of battering among those lower on such scales. Despite this extensive empirical evidence supporting a connection between socioeconomic status and intimate partner violence, there is a notable absence of a theoretical understanding of this relationship. Theories of domestic violence causation have not, to date, adequately incorporated economic variables. The purpose of this dissertation is to test hypotheses shaped by social exchange theory about the impact of economic indicators on the risk of violence against women in intimate relationships. The bargaining model predicts that violence would decrease when women's economic resources increase because, in gaining greater resources, women also gain more power. In contrast, resource theory warns that women's gain in resources could potentially spark a "backlash." As women gain economic resources and become more economically independent, men may resort to violence to compensate for labor market difficulties and for frustrations when women iii outperform them. Using data from the third wave of the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Survey (n=1800), measures of economic status are examined with logistic regression. Following an intersectional approach , the strength of these models is examined across racial and ethnic groups, with a particular emphasis on African American women.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern that affects an alarmingly high percentage of women. There is evidence to suggest that African American women are impacted by IPV at higher rates than are Caucasian women, yet little of the IPV literature addresses the cultural and structural factors that differentially affect African American and Caucasian couples. The present paper reviews the existing literature on IPV towards African American women, including prevalence, theories, risk factors for victimization, victims' psychological sequelae, barriers to service utilization, coping strategies, and interventions for survivors and perpetrators of IPV. Recommendations for counseling, research, and policy are explored.