We examined whether risks to children of intimate partner violence survivors affected the type of legal assistance accessed. We hypothesized that the level and type of perceived child risk would be associated with whether women sought a protection order in civil court or filed charges against a current or former intimate partner in criminal court. Using data from a sample of predominantly African American women (N=293), we found that some forms of child risk were positively associated with seeking a civil order of protection but negatively associated with pressing criminal charges. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are presented.
AkersC.KaukinenC. (2009). The police reporting behavior of intimate partner violence victims. Journal of Family Violence, 24, 159-171.
2.
BarataP. C. (2007). Abused women’s perspectives on the criminal justice system’s response to domestic violence. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 202-215.
3.
BellM.GoodmanL.DuttonM. A. (2007). The dynamics of staying and leaving: Implications for battered women’s emotional well-being and experiences of violence at the end of a year. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 413-428.
4.
BellM.GoodmanL.DuttonM. A. (2009). Variations in help-seeking, battered women’s relationship course, emotional well-being, and experiences of abuse over time. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 149-162.
5.
BennettL.GoodmanL.DuttonM. A. (1999). Systemic obstacles to the criminal prosecution of a battering partner: A victim perspective. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 761-772.
6.
Bent-GoodleyT. B. (2004). Perceptions of domestic violence: A dialogue with African American women. Health & Social Work, 29, 307-316.
7.
BlackM. C.BasileK. C.BreidingM. J.SmithS. G.WaltersM. L.MerrickM. T.. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
8.
BonomiA. E.AndersonM. L.ReidR. J.RivaraF. P.CarrellD.ThompsonR. S. (2009). Medical and psychosocial diagnoses in women with a history of intimate partner violence. Archive of Internal Medicine, 169, 1692-1697.
9.
BonomiA. E.HoltV. L.MartinD. P.ThompsonR. S. (2006). Severity of intimate partner violence and occurrence and frequency of police calls. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 21, 1354-1364.
10.
Burgess-ProctorA. (2008). Understanding the help-seeking decisions of marginalized battered women (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Michigan State University, East Lansing.
11.
BuzawaE.HotalingG.KleinA. (1998). The response to domestic violence in a model court: Some initial findings and implications. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 16, 185-206.
12.
CameronA. C.TrivediP. K. (2010). Microeconometrics using Stata. College Station, TX: Stata Press.
13.
CampbellJ. C. (1995). Assessing dangerousness: Violence by sexual offenders, batterers and child abusers. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
14.
CampbellJ. C. (2007). Assessing dangerousness: Violence by batterers and child abusers. New York: Springer.
15.
CarlsonM. J.HarrisS. D.HoldenG. W. (1999). Protective orders and domestic violence: Risk factors for re-abuse. Journal of Family Violence, 14, 205-226.
16.
CauceA.Domenech-RodríguezM.ParadiseM.CochranB.SheaJ. M.SrebnikD.BaydarN. (2002). Cultural and contextual influences in mental health help seeking: A focus on ethnic minority youth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 44-55.
CrenshawK. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43, 1241-1299.
19.
DavisM. S.O’SullivanC. S.SusserK.FieldsM. D. (2011). Custody evaluations when there are allegations of domestic violence: Practices, beliefs and recommendations of professional evaluators. Washington, DC: United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
20.
DavisR. E. (2002). Leave-taking experiences in the lives of abused women. Clinical Nursing Research, 11, 285-305.
21.
DurfeeA.MessingJ. T. (2012). Characteristics related to protection order use among victims of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 18, 701-710.
22.
DuterteE. E.BonomiA. E.KernicM. A.SchiffM. A.ThompsonR. S.RivaraF. P. (2008). Correlates of medical and legal help seeking among women reporting intimate partner violence. Journal of Women’s Health, 17, 85-95.
23.
DuttonM. A.GoodmanL.LennigD.MurphyJ.KaltmanS. (2005). Ecological model of battered women’s experience over time: Final report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
24.
DuttonM. A.GoodmanL. A.BennettL. (1999). Court-involved battered women’s responses to violence: The role of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. Violence and Victims, 14, 89-104.
25.
El-MouelhyM. (2004). Violence against women: A public health problem. Journal of Primary Prevention, 25, 289-303.
26.
EpsteinD.BellM.GoodmanL. (2003). Transforming aggressive prosecution policies: Prioritizing victims’ long-term safety in the prosecution of domestic violence cases. Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law, 11, 465-498.
27.
FischerK.RoseM. (1995). When “enough is enough”: Battered women’s decision making around court orders of protection. Crime & Delinquency, 41, 414-429.
28.
Fleury-SteinerR. E.BybeeD.SullivanC. M.BelknapJ.MeltonH. C. (2006). Contextual factors impacting battered women’s intentions to reuse the criminal legal system. Journal of Community Psychology, 34, 327-342.
29.
FordD. A.RegoliJ. (1992). The preventive impact of policies for prosecuting wife batterers. In BuzawaE.BuzawaC. (Eds.), Domestic violence: The changing criminal justice response (pp. 181-207). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
30.
FugateM.LandisL.RiordanK.NaureckasS.EngelB. (2005). Barriers to domestic violence help seeking: Implications for intervention. Violence Against Women, 11, 290-310.
31.
GondolfE. (1988). Battered women as survivors: An alternative to treating learned helplessness. New York: Lexington Books.
32.
GoodmanL. A.DuttonM. A.WeinfurtK.CookS. (2003). The Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index: Development and application. Violence Against Women, 9, 163-186.
33.
HaightW. L.ShimW. S.LinnL. M.SwinfordL. (2007). Mothers’ strategies for protecting children from batterers: The perspectives of battered women involved in Child Protective Services. Child Welfare, 86(4), 41-62.
34.
HareS. C. (2010). Intimate partner violence: Victims’ opinions about going to trial. Journal of Family Violence, 25, 765-776.
35.
HarrellA.SmithB. (1996). Effects of restraining orders on domestic violence victims. In BuzawaE.BuzawaC. (Eds.), Do arrests and restraining orders work? (pp. 214-242). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
36.
HoltS.BuckleyH.WhelanS. (2008). The impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and young people: A review of the literature. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 797-810.
37.
JaffeP.CrooksC.BalaN. (2009). A framework for addressing allegations of domestic violence in child custody disputes. Journal of Child Custody, 6, 169-188.
38.
JordanC. E. (2004). Intimate partner violence and the justice system: An examination of the interface. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 1412-1434.
39.
JordanC. E.CampbellR.FollingstadD. (2010). Violence and women’s mental health: The impact of physical, sexual, and psychological aggression. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 607-628.
40.
KellyU. (2009). “I’m a mother first”: The influence of mothering in the decision-making processes of battered immigrant Latino women. Research in Nursing & Health, 32, 286-297.
41.
KhawL.HardestyJ. L. (2007). Theorizing the process of leaving: Turning points and trajectories in the stages of change. Family Relations, 56, 413-425.
42.
KhngJ.OwR. (2009). Getting out: Factors that influenced abused wives’ decisions to leave their abusive spousal relationships in Singapore. Families in Society, 90, 153-161.
43.
LetourneauN.DuffyL.Duffett-LegerL. (2012). Mothers affected by domestic violence: Intersections and opportunities with the justice system. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 585-596.
44.
LiangB.GoodmanL.Tummala-NarraP.WeintraubS. (2005). A theoretical framework for understanding help-seeking processes among survivors of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36, 71-84.
45.
LinaresL. O.GrovesB. M.GreenbergJ.BronfmanE.AugustynM.ZuckermanB. (1999). Restraining orders: A frequent marker of adverse maternal health. Pediatrics, 104, 249-257.
46.
LoganT. K.ShannonL.WalkerR.FaragherT. M. (2006). Protective orders: Questions and conundrums. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 7, 175-205.
47.
LongJ. S. (1997). Regression models for categorical and limited dependent variables. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
48.
LuceaM.StockmanJ.Mana-AyM.BertrandD.CallwoodG.CoverstonC.. (2013). Factors influencing resource use by African American and African Caribbean women disclosing intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 1617-1641.
49.
MeyerS. (2010). Seeking help to protect the children? The influence of children on women’s decisions to seek help when experiencing intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 25, 713-725.
50.
MoeA. M. (2007). Silenced voices and structured survival: Battered women’s help seeking. Violence Against Women, 13, 676-699.
51.
ParkE. (2009). Battered women’s help-seeking: A turning point from victimization to readiness (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
52.
ParkH. M. (2009). Regression models for binary dependent variables using Stata, SAS, R, LIMDEP and SPSS (Working paper). Bloomington: Indiana University.
53.
PatzelB. (2001). Women’s use of resources in leaving abusive relationships: A naturalistic inquiry. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 22, 729-747.
54.
PetersenR.MoraccoK.GoldsteinK.ClarkK. A. (2005). Moving beyond disclosure: Women’s perspectives on barriers and motivators to seeking assistance for intimate partner violence. Women & Health, 40(3), 63-76.
55.
PtacekJ. (1999). Battered women in the courtroom: The power of judicial responses. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.
56.
RhodesK. V.CerulliC.DichterM. E.KothariC. L.BargF. K. (2010). “I didn’t want to put them through that”: The influence of children on victim decision-making in intimate partner violence cases. Journal of Family Violence, 25, 485-493.
57.
RhodesK. V.DichterM. E.KothariC. L.MarcusS. C.CerulliC. (2011). The impact of children on legal actions taken by women victims of intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 355-364.
58.
RichieB. (1996). Compelled to crime: The gender entrapment of Black battered women. New York: Routledge.
59.
SaundersD. G. (2007). Child custody and visitation decisions in domestic violence cases: Legal trends, risk factors, and safety concerns. Harrisburg, PA: National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women. Retrieved from http://www.vawnet.org/applied-research-papers/print-document.php?doc_id=371
60.
SaundersD. G.FallerK. C.TolmanR. M. (2011). Child custody evaluators’ beliefs about domestic abuse allegations: Their relationship to evaluator demographics, background, domestic violence knowledge and custody-visitation recommendations. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.
61.
SheeranM.HamptonS. (1999). Supervised visitation in cases of domestic violence. Juvenile & Family Court Journal, 50, 13-25.
62.
SokoloffN. J.DupontI. (2005). Domestic violence at the intersections of race, class and gender: Challenges and contributions to understanding violence against marginalized women in diverse communities. Violence Against Women, 11, 38-64.
63.
SpitzbergB. (2002). The tactical topography of stalking victimization and management. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 3, 261-288.
64.
StataCorp. (2009). Stata Statistical Software: Release 11. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.
65.
TaylorJ. (2002). “The straw that broke the camel’s back”: African American women’s strategies for disengaging from abusive relationships. Women & Therapy, 25(3/4), 79-94.
66.
WestC. (2004). Black women and intimate partner violence: New directions for research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 1487-1493.
67.
WolfM. E.HoltV. L.KernicM. A.RivaraF. P. (2000). Who gets protection orders for intimate partner violence?American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 19, 286-291.
68.
ZoellnerL. A.FeenyN. C.AlvarezJ.WatlingtonC.O’NeillM. L.ZagerR.. (2000). Factors associated with completion of the restraining order process in female victims of partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 1081-1099.
