NCJ Number
55746
Journal
ROYAL SOCIETY OF HEALTH JOURNAL Volume: 95 Issue: 6 Dated: (DECEMBER 1975) Pages: 290-294
Date Published
1975
Length
4 pages
Annotation
WIVES, CHILDREN, HUSBANDS, AND OVERALL FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS ARE EXAMINED IN CASES OF BATTERED WIVES HANDLED IN A GENERAL PRACTICE OF FIVE DOCTORS IN ENGLAND.
Abstract
IN THIS STUDY, CASES IN WHICH ONE MARITAL PARTNER OR COHABITER BATTERED THE OTHER WERE IDENTIFIED WITHIN A GROUP PRACTICE (FIVE GENERAL PRACTITIONERS AND ANCILLARY STAFF) IN A MODESTLY PROSPEROUS MIDDLE-CLASS SUBURB OF A MIDLAND (ENGLAND) CITY WITH A POPULATION OF 13,000. THE RESULTS REPORTED WERE DERIVED FROM A SURVEY OF THE PATIENTS' RECORDS AND PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUBJECTS. NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO AMPLIFY OR VALIDATE DATA, AND SINCE DATA WERE DERIVED FROM A LIMITED POPULATION, ANY GENERALIZATIONS MUST BE SPECULATIVE. FIFTEEN BATTERED WIVES WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE PRACTICE OVER A YEAR, AN INCIDENCE OF 1.15 PER 1,000. PERSONS WERE DEFINED AS BATTERED WHEN THEY HAD BEEN SUBJECTED TO REPEATED DELIBERATE PHYSCIAL ASSAULT, INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE EXPERIENCE OF MODERATE INJURY. DATA ON THE WIVES INVOLVED ARE REPORTED IN TABLES AND NARRATIVE SUMMARY IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS: (1) PSYCHIATRIC STATUS, WITH A THIRD SHOWING GROSS PERSONALITY DISORDERS FROM SCARS OF AN ADVERSE UPBRINGING AND ANOTHER THIRD SHOWING NEUROTIC REACTIONS; (2) MENTAL HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS, WHICH WERE FREQUENT IN THE SAMPLE; (3) DRUG ABUSE, WITH TWO HAVING BAD PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE OF HEROIN; (4) ABORTION, WITH FOUR TERMINATIONS OF PREGNANCY AND PROBABLY TWO CRIMINAL ABORTIONS IN THE SAMPLE; AND (5) SEPARATION, CHARACTERIZED BY FREQUENT ATTEMPTS BUT SUBSEQUENT REUNION DUE TO ANXIETY. IN DISCUSSING THE CHILDREN OF THE SUBJECT FAMILIES, IT IS NOTED THAT 2 CHILDREN WERE BATTERED AND 12 HAD BEEN AT SOME TIME REMOVED FROM THE HOME TO THE CARE OF OTHERS. ALTHOUGH DATA ON THE HUSBANDS WERE LIMITED, A PROFILE OF PERSONALITY DIFFICULTIES, OFTEN AGGRAVATED BY PHYSICAL CAUSES, ESPECIALLY ALCOHOL, EMERGED. THERE WAS AN EXAGGERATED INCIDENCE OF CASES FROM CULTURES FOREIGN TO THE MIDLANDS. THIS IS BELIEVED DUE TO THE ALIENATION SUFFERED IN THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT AGGRAVATING THE 'PAIR BOND DILUTION' EXPERIENCED BY SUBJECTS AS CHILDREN IN THE LARGE FAMILIES GENERALLY CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CULTURES OF ORIGIN REPRESENTED. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)