Effects of Social Support on Victims of Domestic Violence

• NCJ Number: 112917
• Author(s): P A Simko
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 150 pages
• Grant Number(s): 86-IJ-CX-0053
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: University of New York - doctoral dissertation

Annotation

This study of the effects of formal and informal social support on victims of domestic violence was conducted with 841 families reporting domestic violence to various police precincts in New York City.

Abstract

Information and formal support was given a randomly assigned two-thirds of the sample. Informal social support was determined by self-report on a questionnaire administered to a subsample of 89 participants. Independence of social contacts was defined as meeting and socializing with friends independently of the batterer. A major finding was the difficulty in contacting domestic violence victims to provide supportive intervention or to conduct interviews. Perhaps as a result, there was no association between formal support and recidivism, length of time to recidivism, or severity of subsequent violence based on police data. Neither was there an association between formal social support and the victim's self-esteem or distress, the victim's willingness to press charges, or the batterer's willingness to seek help. A hierarchical loglinear model derived from the police data showed that recidivism was greater for female than for male victims and that effects of the support intervention varied by precinct. Regression analyses showed that socializing with friends independently of the batterer was positively associated with self-esteem and negatively associated with distress, although not with recidivism. The amount of informal support was unrelated to well-being. 15 tables, 110-item bibliography, and questionnaire. (Author abstract modified)