The Economy and Intimate Partner Violence Chapter 8

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Refers to the physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse that takes place between intimate partners. Sexuality and type of relationship do not make a difference.

Forms of IPV Physical abuse Intimate Terrorism Situational Couple Violence Emotional or Psychological Abuse Domestic Violence Homicide Sexual Abuse Stalking

Individual Risk Factors for Experiencing IPV The Perpetrator  Gender  Witness to IPV  Substance abuse  Poverty  Unemployment  History of incarceration  Anger management issues The Victim Gender Victim of child abuse/ sexual abuse Poverty Race Unemployment Teen pregnancy Substance abuse Early sexual initiation

Childhood Trauma and IPV  One of the highest individual risk factors for men is witnessing IPV as a child.  For women, encountering childhood abuse (sexual or physical) is one of the highest risk factors.  How do you think these two differences induce different outcomes (becoming the abuser vs. becoming the victim)?

Couple Risk Factors STRESS can make conflict more likely.

Structural Risk Factors Hierarchy Stratification The Economy

Social Structure Vs. The Individual  The Social Structure refers to the way social positions, social roles, and networks of social relationships are arranged in our institutions. But…  The Ecological Fallacy states that aggregate-level data cannot be used to predict individual-level risk for an event or experience. **So What is at the root of IPV? Is it individual agency or structural restraint?**

The Economy and IPV Micro Level Social class Control of household income Prohibition of labor Loss of job because of IPV Macro Level Wage discrimination Occupational Sex Segregation Economic dependence Compulsory Partnering Race

Affluence is not always a Buffer Story of Warren and Felicia Moon

Tools of Control  The chicken and the egg relationship:  Batterer prevents woman from working or from gaining access to finances battering causes job loss, lost wages, lost relationships.  You Cant Work- makes partner unable to make relationships or have access to resources, making it more difficult to leave.  Intrusion at work- constant monitoring of actions leads to fear and alertness causing loss of relationships and potential job loss.

The Historical Context: Stratification of Race and Gender Relegation of Tasks- America’s agricultural economy. Industrialization- segregation of race and gender. WW2 & “replacement workers”-low level jobs and wage inferiority. Todays Labor Market- Occupational sex segregation and economic dependency.

Wage Discrimination

“ Yeah, I got my older son, I got all my stuff, and we went to Chicago. Um, with me working for the moving company, I knew this guy who drove a truck, and so he was up there and he had to go back to Chicago, so he took us to Chicago. I stayed in a hotel for about a week and then went to a shelter. I stayed in the shelter, but, mind you, I’m a hot girl, so, I don’t know, but I stayed in the shelter for, like, three days and then met this guy. One day when I was outside of the shelter. And I do not know what was going through my mind, but I liked him; he was like, “Why don’t you come to Minnesota with me?” So I came to Minnesota. I’d been in Chicago for a week and a half. [AH: And how quickly did you move to Minnesota?] The next day after I met him. It was like no, I didn’t it was like one of those stupid you’re-risking- your-life moves, but I was like, “Hey, what do I have to lose right now? I have absolutely nothing.” (Andi, twentysomething African American woman, Minnesota)

How could the recent recession that affect IPV?