OBJECTIVES We assessed weapon use in intimate partner violence and perspectives on hypothetical firearm policies. METHODS We conducted structured in-person interviews with 417 women in 67 battered women's shelters. RESULTS Words, hands/fists, and feet were the most common weapons used against and by battered women. About one third of the battered women had a firearm in the home. In two thir...

BACKGROUND Previous descriptive studies have demonstrated the problematic nature of physicians' attitudes toward battered women. However, little empirical research has been done in the field, especially among the various medical specialties. OBJECTIVES To compare the approach and feelings of competence regarding the care of battered women between primary care and non-primary care physicians. ...

To provide differential effectiveness on length of stay at a shelter and receipt versus non-receipt of a protection order (PO), and outcomes of violence, functioning, and resiliency, in 300 abused women (150 first-time users of a shelter and 150 first-time applicants for a PO) who participate in a 7-year study with outcomes measured every 4 months. Four months after a shelter stay or applicatio...

Life history theory provided a framework for examining the relations among child sexual abuse (CSA), childhood adversity, and patterns of reproductive development and behavior. A community survey that assessed CSA, life history variables (e.g., age of menarche), and social and family background was administered to 623 women (mean age=26.9 years). Independent of social and family background, CSA...

BACKGROUND Women's responses to partner violence are influenced by a complex constellation of factors including: psychological attachment to the partner; context of the abuse; and structural factors, all of which shape available options for women outside of the relationship. OBJECTIVE To describe women's responses to physical partner violence; and to understand the role of women's economic re...

The problem of drug-exposed infants has been a societal concern for more than a decade. The Future of Children devoted its first journal issue in spring 1991 to this topic and has provided information updates in subsequent journal issues. The 1991 issue reviewed the major trends in judicial, legislative, and treatment responses to this problem, reporting that, for the most part, appellate court...

Based on twelve in-depth interviews at a battered women’s support center in Colima, Mexico in 1996, the following paper is an analysis of the figurative language used by battered women at different points of group therapy. This research compares the type of metaphors and similes used by participants at the beginning of the therapeutic process with those used by participants at the end of the sa...

Physical injuries among battered women represent risks for both acute and long-term physical health functioning. The current study assessed the nature and extent of minor and severe injuries among a help-seeking sample of battered women. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the unique roles of physical violence, sexual coercion, psychological abuse, and stalking to the pred...

Battered women's reasons for staying with or leaving their male partners are varied and complex. Using data from the Domestic Violence Experience in Omaha, Nebraska, a discrete-time hazard model was employed to examine a woman's decision based on four factors: financial independence, witness of parental violence, psychological factors, and the police response to the domestic violence call. Find...

Community members (N 187) rendered judgments about a case of a battered woman who killed her abuser allegedly in self-defense. The experiment was designed to isolate the effects of time delay before killing and the victim’s sleeping status, as prior research has confounded these two variables. Results showed that delay affected conviction rates only for women; men convicted at high rates regard...