Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) occurs in 10-69% of the worlds population (World Health Organization, 2002). Women are at much greater risk of experiencing IPV than men. Physical, sexual, and emotional abuse has a psychological impact, not only upon the individual, but family members and future inter-familial generations. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as feelings of helplessness and emotional numbing may impede a womans decision making and help-seeking activities. Additionally, it has been found that about half of women who experience abuse have children, and that children witnessing IPV are at a greater risk for abuse, behavioral problems, and psychological problems. The following study addresses how women consider their children in their decision making processes. Two-hundred semi-structured interviews were analyzed using NVivo8 computer software (2008), inter-rating reliabilities, and grounded theory. Themes regarding the stay-leave decision making process for women with children are presented. Additionally, quantitative analysis was used to examine significant differences between women with children and women without children on the variables of length of time spent in the relationship and on the severity of violence experienced by women. Results indicate that women with children remain in violent relationships longer and endure a higher frequency of severe abuse.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-12132009-200651 |
| Date | 30 December 2009 |
| Creators | Hernandez Armstrong, Geniel Amelia |
| Contributors | Christine Fiore, Nadine Wisniewski, Rosemary Hughes |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-12132009-200651/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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