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Abused women less likely to be in
stable relationships
Newswise — Poor women who are physically
or sexually abused at some point in their lives are less likely to
maintain stable intimate relationships, according to a new study of
more than 2,500 women by sociologists from The Johns Hopkins
University and Penn State University.
The women involved in the study said
they want fair treatment and companionship from their partners, just
like everybody does, the researchers said.
Many of those who had been abused as
adults told ethnographers that they had decided to forego marriage
and cohabiting relationships, at least temporarily. Those who were
sexually abused in childhood were not as likely to avoid
relationships altogether; rather, they tended to engage in a series
of short-term, transient relationships, many of them abusive.
While there is no evidence that abuse
rates have increased, the number of women postponing intimate
relationships may be growing, said Andrew Cherlin, the Griswold
Professor of Public Policy at Johns Hopkins and lead author of the
report, "The Influence of Physical and Sexual Abuse on Marriage and
Cohabitation," to be published in the Jan. 21 issue of American
Sociological Review.
"What's changed over the past few
decades is the social context of abuse," Cherlin said. "Women don't
have to stay with abusive men anymore because they have alternatives
to marriage."
The researchers, working in Boston,
Chicago and San Antonio as part of the long-term research project
called "Welfare, Children and Families: A Three-City Study,"
surveyed a random sample of 2,402 Hispanic, African American, and
white women. Ethnographic research teams studied another 256 women
in depth for several years, observing day-to-day activities and
conducting repeated interviews.
All of the women studied were the
primary caregivers of at least one child.
Fifty-two percent of women in the
random-sample survey reported being physically or sexually abused at
some point during their lives. Twenty-four percent said they were
sexually abused during childhood or adolescence. Forty-two percent
of women who had never been abused were married at the time of the
survey, compared to 22 percent of women who had ever been abused. Of
the 256 women studied in depth, one-sixth -- many of whom had been
physically abused as adults -- said they were taking a timeout from
intimate relationships with men.
"Women's decision to take a timeout from
such relationships is an important one for policymakers to
understand," said co-author Linda Burton, director of the
ethnographic component and Penn State professor of human development
and sociology. "These women are not saying they will never enter
intimate relationships again, but, rather, they need recovery and
reflection time from abuse they experienced as adults to avoid
entering a subsequent abusive relationship."
Cherlin and Burton suggest that reducing
levels of sexual abuse and physical violence in families could
increase the number of healthy, stable, long-term unions. They argue
that current marriage promotion policy debates at the federal and
state levels, which tend to blame declining cultural values or
unemployment for lower marriage rates among the poor, should also
focus on the consequences of abuse.
Other authors are: Tera Hurt, University
of Georgia; and Diane Purvin, Wellesley College.
Funding support came from National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning
and Evaluation, Administration on Developmental Disabilities,
Administration for Children and Families, Social Security
Administration, National Institute of Mental Health, The Boston
Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Edna McConnell Clark
Foundation, The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Hogg Foundation for Mental
Health, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Joyce Foundation,
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation,
Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The David and
Lucile Packard Foundation, and Woods Fund of Chicago.
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