Effects of Battered Women’s Early Responses on Later Abuse Patterns

Abstract

Abused women (N = 234) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to determine whether violence increases during the course of an abusive relationship. Comparisons were made between women with short-term violence and long-term abusive relationships to assess whether strategies used by victims during early incidents affected the duration of the violence. Women out of the relationship were also contrasted with women still in the relationship. The data supported the picture of increasing abuse for 18 months with a relatively stable rate from then on. The number of forms of abuse and the severity of them tended to quickly increase over early events. Women with short-term violence were more likely to make plans following early incidents, typically involving changing the marital situation. Whether experiencing short-term or long-term abuse, battered women perceived their own sanctions on the abusers as responsible for the cessation of the violence. Continued investigation is necessary to replicate these findings and to identify strategies for reducing violence while women are in the relationship.

Typologies of Abuse Among Afro-Trinidadian Women

“…Their partners attempted to control and isolate the women from family and friends and called them names or insulted them within the first 6 months of their current relationship; this escalated into physical abuse during the second 6 months or third 6 months of the relationship. This is consistent with research that reported the escalation of abuse during the first year of the relationship (Follingstad, Hause, Rutledge, & Polek, 1992;Frisch & MacKenzie, 1991), after which time it leveled off and remained fairly consistent (Follingstad et al, 1992). For a few women (12%) minor physical abuse occurred within the first few months of the relationship but did not escalate to major abusive episodes until 5 or more years into the marriage.…”

“…For most, the escalation of abuse followed a pattern: minor abuse within the first 6-month period of the relationship escalating to major abuse during the second and third 6-month periods. Previous studies have reported similar patterns of escalation (Follingstad et al, 1992;Frisch & MacKenzie, 1991). Early abuse was subtle enough for women not to recognize it as such, and a few even questioned whether minor abuse, such as slapping and pushing, was violence.…”

Influence of emotional coping on decision to stay in dysfunctional mentoring relationship

“…Hence, battered women do not stay in abusive relationships because they want to be abused, but because of their positive expectations of the relationship's future (Ahmad et al 2009). Indeed, research has found that if the batterer shows no remorse and does not treat the woman better during the honeymoon phase, the latter tends to leave (Follingstad et al 1992). We propose that similar compensatory behaviors are also present in mentoring relationships.…”

“…Indeed, research has found that if the batterer shows no remorse and does not treat the woman better during the honeymoon phase, the latter tends to leave (Follingstad et al. ). We propose that similar compensatory behaviors are also present in mentoring relationships.…”

The Effect of Coping on the Physical and Mental Health of Abused Women

“…Reports provide several explanations for abused women's utilization of health care. For example, abused women may not utilize health care until the severity of the abuse escalates (Follingstad, Hause, Rutledge, & Polek, 1992;Leserman, Li, Drossman, & Hu, 1998). Other studies describe barriers to adequate utilization of health care for abuse related injuries including cultural constructs that discourage disclosing the abuse (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000b) or because the abused woman fears that her children will be taken away from her (Loue, 2001;Zink & Jacobson, 2003).…”