Correlates of Poverty and Partner Abuse Among Women on Methadone

• NCJ Number: 194592
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2002 Pages: 455-475
• Author(s): Claudia L. Moreno; Nabila El-Bassel; Louisa Gilbert; Takeshi Wada
• Date Published: April 2002
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): 5-28501
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explored the association between poverty and experiences of partner abuse among 204 women recruited from methadone maintenance treatment programs.

Abstract

Based on the findings of pioneering relevant studies, the current study hypothesized that among female patients in methadone maintenance programs, those who lived in extreme poverty and depended on public assistance were more likely than other women to experience partner abuse. Using multiple logistic regression, the study explored the associations between several different indicators of extreme poverty and various types of intimate partner violence, controlling for extreme poverty measures of homelessness, hunger, and economic hardships. The Conflict Tactics Scale was used to measure intimate partner violence. Participants were selected from three clinics that served high proportions of Latina and African-American female methadone patients. One-third of the women in the sample reported a high incidence of severe physical aggression, and more than half of the sample went hungry because they did not have enough money to pay for food. The findings clearly showed that extreme poverty was a risk factor for intimate partner violence. In addition, there was a significant association between all types of partner violence and economic hardships after controlling for potentially confounding sociodemographic variables. The findings suggest that economic hardships in the family, especially if the intimate partner is unemployed, create tension and conflicts in the relationship that may lead to partner violence. Further, the study found significant associations between all types of extreme poverty and sexual coercion. Poor women had less control in resisting their partner's sexual demands; consequently, they were less able to negotiate condom use, putting them at risk for sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection. These findings suggest that counselors and social workers at methadone treatment programs may need to consider incorporating poverty indicators in their assessment tool as prevalence correlates for intimate partner violence. The findings also have policy implications for the impact of welfare reform on women who are experiencing intimate partner violence. 4 tables and 44 references