Top

Published in:

01-02-2009 | Original Article

Perceived Risk for Future Intimate Partner Violence among Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter

Authors: Hilary G. Harding, Marie Helweg-Larsen

Published in: Journal of Family Violence | Issue 2/2009

Abstract

Research investigating women’s risk assessments for intimate partner violence (IPV) shows that women can predict future violence with relative accuracy. Limited research has investigated factors that are associated with perceived risk and the potential behavioral consequences of victim risk perception. Results from a survey of women in a domestic violence shelter (N = 56) indicated that women perceive lower risk of future violence if the abusive relationship were to end and higher risk of violence if it were to continue. Certain abuse experiences were related to elevated perceptions of personal risk for future violence. Further, perceived personal risk predicted the women’s intention to terminate their relationship upon leaving shelter. Results are discussed as they may inform interventions preventing IPV.

The term ‘risk assessment’ is currently the term of choice in intimate partner violence research, while other literatures (e.g. health behavior research) use the term ‘risk perception’. The current study suggests that these two terms address the same fundamental concept; a subjective feeling of being at risk for an event, and thus, the terms will be used interchangeably.

Anderson, D. J. (2003). The impact on subsequent violence of returning to an abusive partner. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 34, 93–112.

Anderson, M. A., Gillig, P. M., Sitaker, M., McCloskey, K., Malloy, K., & Grigsby, N. (2003). “Why doesn’t she just leave?”: A descriptive study of victim reported impediments to her safety. Journal of Family Violence, 18, 151–155. doi:10.1023/A:1023564404773.CrossRef

Archer, J. (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.PubMedCrossRef

Arias, I., & Corso, P. (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.PubMedCrossRef

Bell, M. E., Goodman, L. A., & Dutton, M. 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. doi:10.1007/s10896-007-9096-9.CrossRef

Brewer, N. T., Weinstein, N. D., Cuite, C. L., & Herrington, J. F. (2004). Risk perceptions and their relation to risk behavior. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 27, 125–130. doi:10.1207/s15324796abm2702_7.PubMedCrossRef

Brewer, N. T., Chapman, G. B., Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., McCaul, K. D., & Weinstein, N. D. (2007). Meta-analysis of the relationship between risk perception and health behavior: The example of vaccination. Health Psychology, 26, 136–145. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.26.2.136.PubMedCrossRef

Brown, A. L., Messman-Moore, T. L., Miller, A. G., & Stasser, G. (2005). Sexual victimization in relation to perceptions of risk: Mediation, generalization, and temporal stability. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 963–976. doi:10.1177/0146167204274101.PubMedCrossRef

Campbell, J., Sharps, P., & Glass, N. (2001). Risk assessment for intimate partner homicide. In: G. F. Pinard & L. Pagani (Eds.), Clinical assessment of dangerousness. Cambridge University Press, Cambrige, pp. 136–157.

Campbell, J. C., Webster, D., Koziol-McLain, J., Block, C., Campbell, D., Curry, M. A., et al. (2003). Risk factors for femicide in abusive relationships: Results from a multisite case control study. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1089–1097.PubMedCrossRef

Cattaneo, L. (2007). Contributors to assessments of risk in intimate partner violence: How victims and professionals differ. Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 57–75. doi:10.1002/jcop.20134.CrossRef

Cattaneo, L., & Goodman, L. (2003). Victim-reported risk factors for continued abusive behavior: Assessing the dangerousness of arrested batterers. Journal of Community Psychology, 31, 349–369. doi:10.1002/jcop.10056.CrossRef

Cattaneo, L., & Goodman, L. (2005). Risk factors for re-abuse in intimate partner violence: A cross disciplinary critical review. Trauma, Violence and Abuse: A Review Journal, 6, 141–175.CrossRef

Cattaneo, L., Bell, M. E., Goodman, L. A., & Dutton, M. A. (2007). Intimate partner violence victims’ accuracy in assessing their risk of re-abuse. Journal of Family Violence, 22, 429–440. doi:10.1007/s10896-007-9097-8.CrossRef

Gondolf, E. W., & Heckert, D. A. (2003). Determinants of women’s perceptions of risk in battering relationships. Violence and Victims, 18, 371–386. doi:10.1891/vivi.2003.18.4.371.PubMedCrossRef

Heckert, D. A., & Gondolf, E. W. (2004). Battered women’s perceptions of risk versus risk factors and instruments in predicting repeat assault. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 778–799. doi:10.1177/0886260504265619.PubMedCrossRef

Helweg-Larsen, M. (1999). (The lack of) optimistic biases in response to the 1994 Northridge earthquake: The role of personal experience. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 119–129.

Helweg-Larsen, M., & Shepperd, J. A. (2001). Do moderators of the optimistic bias affect personal or target risk estimates? A review of the literature. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 74–95. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0501_5.CrossRef

Helweg-Larsen, M., Harding, H., & Kleinman, K. (2008). Risk perceptions of dating violence among college women: The role of experience and depressive symptoms. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 600–620. doi:10.1521/jscp.2008.27.6.600.CrossRef

Hendy, H. M., Eggen, D., Gustitus, C., McLeod, K. C., & Ng, P. (2003). Decision to leave scale: Perceived reasons to stay in or leave violent relationships. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27, 162–173. doi:10.1111/1471-6402.00096.CrossRef

Kernsmith, P. (2006). Gender differences in the impact of family of origin violence on perpetrators of domestic violence. Journal of Family Violence, 21, 163–171. doi:10.1007/s10896-005-9014-y.CrossRef

Krause, E. D., Kaltman, S., Goodman, L. A., & Dutton, M. A. (2006). Role of distinct PTSD symptoms in intimate partner reabuse: A prospective study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 507–516. doi:10.1002/jts.20136.PubMedCrossRef

Marshall, A. D., & Holtzworth-Munroe, A. (2002). Varying forms of husband sexual aggression: Predictors and subgroup differences. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 286–296. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.16.3.286.PubMedCrossRef

Martin, A. J., Berenson, K. R., Griffing, S., Sage, R. E., Madry, L., Bingham, L. E., & Primm, B. J. (2000). The process of leaving an abusive relationship: The role of risk assessments and decision-certainty. Journal of Family Violence, 15, 109–121. doi:10.1023/A:1007515514298.CrossRef

Nicolaidis, C., Curry, M., Ulrich, Y., Sharps, P., McFarlane, J., Campbell, D., et al. (2003). Could we have known? A qualitative analysis of data from women who survived an attempted homicide by an intimate partner. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18, 788–794. doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21202.x.PubMedCrossRef

Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scale (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316. doi:10.1177/019251396017003001.CrossRef

Tjaden, P., & Thoennes, N. (2000). Extent, nature, and consequences of intimate partner violence: Findings from the National Violence against Women Survey (Publication No. NCJ 181867). Washington, DC: Department of Justice.

Weinstein, N. D. (1988). The precaution adoption process. Health Psychology, 7, 355–386. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.7.4.355.PubMedCrossRef

Weinstein, N. D. (1989). Effects of personal experience on self-protective behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 31–50. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.105.1.31.PubMedCrossRef

Weinstein, N. D., & Nicholich, M. (1993). Correct and incorrect interpretations between risk perceptions and risk behaviors. Health Psychology, 12, 235–245. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.12.3.235.PubMedCrossRef

Weinstein, N. D., Rothmanm, A. J., & Nicholich, M. (1998). Use of correlational data to examine the effects of risk perceptions on precautionary behavior. Psychology & Health, 13, 479–501. doi:10.1080/08870449808407305.CrossRef

Weinstein, N. D., Kwitel, A., McCaul, K. D., Magnan, R. E., Gerrard, M., & Gibbons, F. X. (2007). Risk perceptions: Assessment and relationship to influenza vaccination. Health Psychology, 26, 146–151. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.26.2.146.PubMedCrossRef

Weisz, A. N., Tolman, R. M., & Saunders, D. G. (2000). Assessing the risk of severe domestic violence: The importance of survivors’ predictions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 75–90. doi:10.1177/088626000015001006.CrossRef

Wilson, M., Daly, M., & Wright, C. (1993). Uxoricide in Canada: Demographic risk patterns. Canadian Journal of Criminology, 35, 263–291.

Title: Perceived Risk for Future Intimate Partner Violence among Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter
Authors: Hilary G. Harding
Marie Helweg-Larsen
Publication date: 01-02-2009
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Family Violence / Issue 2/2009
Print ISSN: 0885-7482
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2851
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-008-9211-6

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Perceived Risk for Future Intimate Partner Violence among Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2009

A Culturally Sensitive Intervention with Domestically Violent Latino Immigrant Men

Perceptions of Same-sex Domestic Violence Among Crisis Center Staff

Problem Drinking, Unemployment, and Intimate Partner Violence among a Sample of Construction Industry Workers and their Partners

Patterns of Risk and Protective Factors in the Intergenerational Cycle of Maltreatment

The Timeline Followback Interview to Assess Children’s Exposure to Partner Violence: Reliability and Validity

On the Lived Experience of Battered Women Residing in Shelters