Understanding Causes of and Responses to Intimate Partner Violence in a Jewish Orthodox Community: Survivors' and Leaders' Perspectives

Abstract

There has been little research on intimate partner violence (IPV) in faith-based communities. This qualitative study examines social attitudes and religious values in an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community that affect the incidence of IPV and prevent women survivors from seeking help. Interviews were conducted with 8 Orthodox women and 11 community leaders, and findings include the following: (a) causes of IPV were early marriage, separation of the sexes, and personality characteristics; (b) religious beliefs and social values were barriers to seeking help; and (c) the role of rabbis in education and marital intervention was viewed in markedly different ways by the two sets of respondents. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Formative Experiences of Orthodox Jewish Women: Attachment Patterns and Spiritual Development

“…The anxious respondents were most likely to report supernatural experiences. These results are similar to findings from another recent study (Ringel and Bina 2007) suggesting that adults who grew up in secular, and at times troubled, family backgrounds may have sought support, safety, and stability both in their new religious community and through their religious faith. To date there has been no research looking at attachment experiences in relationship to individuals who leave the faith of their families.…”

“…Another recent study by the author and her collaborator (Ringel and Bina 2007) suggests that Orthodox returnees may be at continued risk for multiple problems, including substance abuse, family violence, and psychological disorders. Orthodox returnee clients may therefore search for a cohesive social group, clear moral guidelines, and a social system that would help them regulate and contain unmanageable affects and impulses (Geyer and Baumeister 2005).…”

“…In this study, the author included highly observant Orthodox respondents, but excluded the Hasidic and Modern Orthodox denominations. The community adheres to conservative social values including complementary gender roles and early marriages, and they emphasize daily observance through prayer, rituals, and religious events (for related articles by this author, see Ringel 2007;Ringel and Belcher 2007;Ringel and Bina 2007). Religion plays a major role in the fabric of familial, social and cultural life of the community.…”

'He said he loved me. I wanted to be loved': Young women's experiences of coping with violence in intimate relationships.

“…Researchers have reported a higher prevalence of IPV for women with mental health concerns such as depression or anxiety (Hazen, Connelly, Soriano, & Landsverk, 2008;Keenan-Miller, Hammen, & Brennan, 2007;Leaman & Gee, 2008), women with low self-esteem (Waldrop & Resick, 2004), aboriginal women (Bohn, 2003; Statistics Canada: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics [Stats Can], 2005;Oetzel & Duran, 2004), refugee and immigrant women (Stats Can, 2005), women with a blue-collar job (Frasier et al, 2004), pregnant women (Muhajarine & D'Arcy, 1999;Roelens, Verstraelen, Van Egmond, & Temmerman, 2008;Sonis & Langer, 2008); and adolescent or young adult women (Caetano, Vaeth, & Ramisetty-Mikler, 2008;Stats Can, 2005;Romans, Forte, Cohen, Du Mont, & Hyman, 2007;Wiemann, Agurcia, Berenson, Volk, & Rickert, 2000). Other risk factors identified are having children in the household (Romans et al, 2007), being married (Hazen & Soriano, 2007;Leaman & Gee, 2008;Ringel & Bina, 2007), being in a commonlaw relationship (Stats Can, 2005), separation or divorce (Romans et al, 2007), being in a relationship for three years or less (Stats Can, 2005), marital dissatisfaction (Stith, Green, Smith, & Ward, 2008), and low-class or no income (FPTM, 2002;Fox et al, 2007;Muhajarine & D'Arcy, 1999;Shobe & Dienemen, 2008;Stalans & Ritchie, 2008). Some inter-couple characteristics that increase a woman's risk of experiencing IPV are low quality relationship communication (Fox et al, 2007;Ronan, Dreer, Dollard, & Ronan, 2004) and silence regarding the abuse and violence …”

“…Many authors state social services professionals need to be culturally and socially sensitive when working with women in IPV relationships (Bent-Goodley, 2004;Bohn, 2003;Lee et al, 2007;Magnussen, Shoultz, Hansen, Sapolu, & Samifua, 2008;Oetzel & Duran, 2004;Ramos et al, 2004;Vandello & Cohen, 2008;Winstok, 2006). Not only do women's IPV stories exemplify this point, but their stories also call on professionals to be sensitive to religious and spiritual beliefs (Ringel & Bina, 2007), consider IPV a community issue (Stueve & O'Donnell, 2008), and reflect on gender attitudes and roles regarding IPV (Nabors & Jasinski, 2009;Robertson & Murchver, 2007) when working with women in IPV relationships. As the study findings indicate, young women when coping with an IPV relationship take into consideration cultural and societal implications, personal religious and spiritual beliefs, community resources and hindrances, and gender stereotyping.…”