Gender Differences in the Relationship Between the Nature of Intimate Partner Violence and the Survivor’s Help-Seeking

Abstract

This study used the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey to examine how gender interacts with the nature of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the survivor’s help-seeking. A total of 3,878 IPV survivors (869 male and 3,009 female) were included in the study sample. Dependent variables were help-seeking and the use of formal and informal sources. Independent variables included gender, race, income, and the patterns of victimization and consequences of victimization. The results showed that survivors’ characteristics and the patterns of victimization and consequences affect help-seeking, and that gender moderates the relationship between consequences and the use of formal help.

Keywords

intimate partner violence domestic violence gender help-seeking survivor

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Afifi

T. O.

MacMillan

Cox

B. J.

Asmundson

G. J. G.

Stein

M. B.

Sareen

(2009). Mental health correlates of intimate partner violence in marital relationships in a nationally representative sample of males and females. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 1398-1417. doi:10.1177/0886260508322192

Allin

Masseria

Mossialos

(2009). Measuring socioeconomic differences in use of health care services by wealth versus by income. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 1849-1855.

Ansara

D. L.

Hindin

M. J.

(2010). Formal and informal help-seeking associated with women’s and men’s experiences of intimate partner violence in Canada. Social Science & Medicine, 70, 1011-1018. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.12.009

Archer

(2000). Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 651-680. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.126.5.651

Arias

Corso

(2005). Average cost per person victimized by an intimate partner of the opposite gender: A comparison of men and women. Violence and Victims, 20, 379-391. doi:10.1891/vivi.2005.20.4.379

Arnocky

Vaillancourt

(2014). Sex differences in response to victimization by an intimate partner: More stigmatization and less help-seeking among males. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 23, 705-724. doi:10.1080/10926771.2014.933465

Black

M. C.

Basile

K. C.

Breiding

M. J.

Smith

S. G.

Walters

M. L.

Merrick

M. T.

, et al. (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.

Bonomi

A. E.

Thompson

R. S.

Anderson

Reid

R. J.

Carrell

Dimer

J. A.

Rivara

F. P.

(2006). Intimate partner violence and women’s physical, mental, and social functioning. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30, 458-466. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2006.01.015

Breiding

M. J.

Chen

Black

M. C.

(2014). Intimate partner violence in the United States—2010. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

10.

Breiding

M. J.

Smith

S. G.

Basile

K. C.

Walters

M. L.

Chen

Merrick

M. T.

(2014). Prevalence and characteristics of sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence victimization—National intimate partner and sexual violence survey, United States, 2011 (Surveillance summaries). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6308a1.htm

11.

Brown

G. A.

(2004). Gender as a factor in the response of the law-enforcement system to violence against partners. Sexuality & Culture, 8, 3-139. doi:10.1007/s12119-004-1000-7

12.

Caldwell

J. E.

Swan

S. C.

Woodbrown

V. D.

(2011). Gender differences in intimate partner violence outcomes. Psychology of Violence, 2, 42-57. doi:10.1037/a0026296

13.

Cattaneo

L. B.

DeLoveh

H. L. M.

(2008). The role of socioeconomic status in help-seeking from hotlines, shelters, and police among a national sample of women experiencing intimate partner violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78, 413-422.

14.

Cho

(2012). Racial differences in the prevalence of intimate partner violence against women and associated factors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27, 344-363.

15.

Cho

Wilke

D. J.

(2010). Gender differences in the nature of the intimate partner violence and effects of perpetrator arrest on revictimization. Journal of Family Violence, 25, 393-400. doi:10.1007/s10896-009-9300-1

16.

Coker

A. L.

Davis

K. E.

Arias

Desai

Sanderson

Brandt

H. M.

Smith

P. H.

(2002). Physical and mental health effects of intimate partner violence for men and women. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23, 260-268.

17.

Coker

A. L.

Derrick

Lumpkin

J. L.

Aldrich

T. E.

Oldendick

(2000). Help-seeking for intimate partner violence and forced sex in South Carolina. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 19, 316-320. doi:10.1016/S0749-3797(00)00239-7

18.

Conwill

W. L.

(2010). Domestic violence among the Black poor: Intersectionality and social justice. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 32, 31-45.

19.

Daoud

Matheson

F. I.

Pedersen

Hamilton-Wright

Minh

Zhang

O’Campo

(2016). Pathways and trajectories linking housing instability and poor health among low-income women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV): Toward a conceptual framework. Women & Health, 56, 208-225. doi:10.1080/03630242.2015.1086465

20.

Douglas

E. M.

Hines

D. A.

(2011). The help-seeking experiences of men who sustain intimate partner violence: An overlooked population and implications for practice. Journal of Family Violence, 26, 473-485. doi:10.1007/s10896-011-9382-4

21.

Duterte

E. E.

Bonomi

A. E.

Kernic

M. A.

Schiff

M. A.

Thompson

R. S.

Rivara

F. P.

(2008). Correlates of medical and legal help seeking among women reporting intimate partner violence. Journal of Women’s Health, 17, 85-95. doi:10.1089/jwh.2007.0460

22.

Ehrensaft

M. K.

Moffitt

T. E.

Caspi

(2006). Is domestic violence followed by an increased risk of psychiatric disorders among women but not among men? A longitudinal cohort study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 885-892.

23.

Evans

M. A.

Feder

G. S.

(2016). Help-seeking amongst women survivors of domestic violence: A qualitative study of pathways towards formal and informal support. Health Expectations, 19, 62-73. doi:10.1111/hex.12330

24.

Fergusson

D. M.

Horwood

L. J.

Ridder

E. M.

(2005). Partner violence and mental health outcomes in a New Zealand birth cohort. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1103-1119. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00202.x

25.

Fleming

C. E.

Resick

(2017). Help-seeking behavior in survivors of intimate partner violence: Toward an Integrated Behavioral Model of individual factors. Violence and Victims, 32, 195-209. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-15-00065

26.

Fleury

R. E.

Sullivan

C. M.

Bybee

D. I.

Davidson

I. I.

William

(1998). “Why don’t they just call the cops?” Reasons for differential police contact among women with abusive partners. Violence and Victims, 13, 333-346.

27.

Fortin

Guay

Lavoie

Boisvert

J.-M.

Beaudry

(2012). Intimate partner violence and psychological distress among young couples: Analysis of the moderating effect of social support. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 63-73. doi:10.1007/s10896-011-9402-4

28.

Frías

S. M.

Agoff

(2015). Between support and vulnerability: Examining family support among women victims of intimate partner violence in Mexico. Journal of Family Violence, 30, 277-291. doi:10.1007/s10896-015-9677-y

29.

Galdas

P. M.

Cheater

Marshall

(2005). Men and health help-seeking behaviour: Literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 49, 616-623.

30.

Gonzalez-Mendez

Santana-Hernandez

J. D.

(2014). Perceived risk and safety-related behaviors after leaving a violent relationship. European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, 6(1), 1-7.

31.

Hamberger

L. K.

(2005). Men’s and women’s use of intimate partner violence in clinical samples: Toward a gender-sensitive analysis. Violence and Victims, 20, 131-151.

32.

Hamberger

L. K.

Larsen

S. E.

(2015). Men’s and women’s experience of intimate partner violence: A review of ten years of comparative studies in clinical samples; Part I. Journal of Family Violence, 30, 699-717. doi:10.1007/s10896-015-9732-8

33.

Harned

M. S.

(2001). Abused women or abused men? An examination of the context and outcomes of dating violence. Violence and Victims, 16, 269-285.

34.

Henning

K. R.

Klesges

L. M.

(2002). Utilization of counseling and supportive services by female victims of domestic abuse. Violence and Victims, 17, 623-636.

35.

Hines

D. A.

Brown

Dunning

(2007). Characteristics of callers to the domestic abuse helpline for men. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 63-72. doi:10.1007/s10896-006-9052-0

36.

Hines

D. A.

Douglas

E. M.

(2009). Women’s use of intimate partner violence against men: Prevalence, implications, and consequences. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 18, 572-586. doi:10.1080/10926770903103099

37.

Hutchison

I. W.

Hirschel

J. D.

(1998). Abused women help-seeking strategies and police utilization. Violence Against Women, 4, 436-456.

38.

Ingram

E. M.

(2007). A comparison of help seeking between Latino and non-Latino victims of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 13, 159-171.

39.

Kar

H. L.

O’Leary

K. D.

(2010). Gender symmetry or asymmetry in intimate partner victimization? Not an either/or answer. Partner Abuse, 1, 152-168. doi:10.1891/1946-6560.1.2.152

40.

Kaukinen

C. E.

Meyer

Akers

(2013). Status compatibility and help-seeking behaviors among female intimate partner violence victims. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 577-601. doi:10.1177/0886260512455516

41.

Liang

Goodman

Tummala-Narra

Weintraub

(2005). A theoretical framework for understanding help-seeking processes among survivors of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(1/2), 71-84.

42.

Macy

R. J.

Nurius

P. S.

Kernic

M. A.

Holt

V. L.

(2005). Battered women’s profiles associated with service help-seeking efforts: Illuminating opportunities for intervention. Social Work Research, 29, 137-150. doi:10.1093/swr/29.3.137

43.

Matlow

R. B.

DePrince

A. P.

(2013). The influence of victimization history on PTSD symptom expression in women exposed to intimate partner violence. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 5, 241-250.

44.

Messing

J. T.

Amanor-Boadu

Cavanaugh

C. E.

Glass

N. E.

Campbell

J. C.

(2013). Culturally competent intimate partner violence risk assessment: Adapting the danger assessment for immigrant women. Social Work Research, 37, 263-275.

45.

Mihorean

(2006). Factors related to reporting spousal violence to the police. In Ogrodnik

(Ed.), Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile 2006 (pp. 19-28). Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

46.

Moffit

Caspi

(1999). Findings about partner violence from the Dunedine multidisciplinary health and development study. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

47.

Morgan

Williamson

Hester

Jones

Feder

(2014). Asking men about domestic violence and abuse in a family medicine context: Help seeking and views on the general practitioner role. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19, 637-642.

48.

Phelan

M. B.

Hamberger

L. K.

Guse

C. E.

Edwards

Walczak

Zosel

(2005). Domestic violence among male and female patients seeking emergency medical services. Violence and Victims, 20, 187-206. doi:10.1891/088667005780905623

49.

Porcerelli

J. H.

Cogan

West

P. P.

Rose

E. A.

Lambrecht

Wilson

K. E.

, et al. (2003). Violent victimization of women and men: Physical and psychiatric symptoms. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 16, 32-39.

50.

Rodríguez

Valentine

J. M.

Son

J. B.

Muhammad

(2009). Intimate partner violence and barriers to mental health care for ethnically diverse populations of women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10, 358-374.

51.

Romito

Grassi

(2007). Does violence affect one gender more than the other? The mental health impact of violence among male and female university students. Social Science & Medicine, 65, 1222-1234. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.05.017

52.

Stets

Straus

(1992). Gender differences in reporting marital violence. In Straus

M. A.

Gelles

R. J.

(Eds.), Physical violence in American families (pp. 151-166). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

53.

Straus

M. A.

Gelles

R. J.

(1986). Societal change and change in family violence from 1975-1985 as revealed by two national surveys. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 465-479.

54.

Sylaska

K. M.

Edwards

K. M.

(2014). Disclosure of intimate partner violence to informal social support network members: A review of the literature. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15, 3-21. doi:10.1177/1524838013496335

55.

Tjaden

Thoennes

(2000, July). Extent, nature and consequences of intimate partner violence: Findings from the national violence against women survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.

56.

Tsui

(2014). Male victims of intimate partner abuse: Use and helpfulness of services. Social Work, 59, 121-130.

57.

Tsui

Cheung

Leung

(2012). Male victims in heterosexual intimate partner violence: A framework explaining help-seeking reluctance. International Journal of Psychology Research, 7(1), 1-21.

58.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, & National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2016). National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): General population survey raw data, 2010. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]. doi:10.3886/ICPSR34305.v1

59.

Vasiliauskaite

(2015). Help-seeking and perceived helpfulness of formal help sources for victims of domestic violence: An exploratory study. European Scientific Journal, 11, 1857-7881.

60.

West

C. M.

Kantor

G. K.

Jasinski

J. L.

(1998). Sociodemographic predictors and cultural barriers to help-seeking behavior by Latina and Anglo American battered women. Violence and Victims, 13, 361-375.

61.

Williamson

Jones

S. K.

Ferrari

Debbonaire

Feder

Hester

(2015). Health professionals responding to men for safety (HERMES): Feasibility of a general practice training intervention to improve the response to male patients who have experienced or perpetrated domestic violence and abuse. Primary Health Care Research & Development, 16, 281-288. doi:10.1017/S1463423614000358

62.

Yoshioka

M. R.

Gilbert

El-Bassel

Baig-Amin

(2003). Social support and disclosure of abuse: Comparing South Asian, African American, and Hispanic battered women. Journal of Family Violence, 18, 171-180.