Relationship Between Violence, Social Support, and Self- Blame in Battered Women

• NCJ Number: 161935
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1996) Pages: 221-233
• Author(s): O W Barnett; T E Martinez; M Keyson
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study tested the hypothesis that battered women compared with nonbattered women use more violence, receive lower levels of social support, and experience higher levels of self- blame.

Abstract

The study also hypothesized that these three variables are interrelated. A sample of 95 women constituted three groups: battered women; nonbattered women in counseling; and nonbattered, noncounseled women. The women completed the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) to measure female-to-male aggression, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support to measure social support, and a 61-item self-blame scale. Results support all of the major hypotheses and show that female-to-male violence in battered women is negatively related to level of perceived social support and positively linked with level of self-blame. The latter correlation rested primarily on the association between nonphysical CTS abuse items and self-blame measures. These findings help provide further specificity about battered women's perceived lack of social support and help to clarify reported inconsistencies about self-blame. 2 tables and 42 references