This paper reports on a study that examined the help-seeking strategies of 150 women who experienced intimate partner violence and subsequently sought legal services; it describes the study’s methodology, findings, and implications, noting that the examination of help-seeking patterns provides a comprehensive view of how women cope with violence and can help develop appropriate interventions.
Although the intimate partner violence (IPV) help-seeking literature has expanded, limited research examines help-seeking patterns utilizing a broad range of strategies. The authors examined classes of help-seeking strategies using the Intimate Partner Violence Strategy Index, which includes 39 help-seeking strategies in six categories: formal (e.g., stayed in shelter, called a hotline) and informal networks (e.g., talked to family, friends), legal assistance (e.g., called police, filed charges), safety planning behaviors (e.g., hid money or keys), and resistance (e.g., fought back, ended the relationship) and placating (e.g., tried to keep things quiet, avoided him) tactics. The sample included 150 women who experienced IPV and sought civil legal services. The authors used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify strategy use classes and examined differences in class membership by sociodemographics and IPV experiences. The LCA identified four classes: High Strategy Use (36 percent of the sample), Moderate Strategy Use-Resistance Focused (25 percent), Moderate Strategy Use-Placating Focused (25 percent), and Low Strategy Use (14 percent). Women in the High Strategy Use class used an average of 27.35 strategies across all six categories. Women in each Moderate Use class reported high strategy use in one category (i.e., resistance or placating). Women in the Low Strategy Use class used an average of 11.67 strategies with very few safety planning strategies. Class membership was not associated with sociodemographic variables. Women in the High Use Strategy class reported the most frequent and severe IPV. Examining help-seeking patterns provides comprehensive views of how women cope with violence and can yield tailored interventions. (Published Abstract Provided)