Research in Brief 

U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Justice Programs 

National Institute of Justice 

When Violence Hits Home: How Economics 

and Neighborhood Play a Role 

SEPT. 04 
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Washington, DC 20531 

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www.ojp.usdoj.gov 
SEPT. 04 

When Violence Hits Home: How Economics 

and Neighborhood Play a Role 

Findings and conclusions of the research reported here are those of the 

authors and do not reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. 

Department of Justice. 

This Research in Brief is based on the authors’ final report submitted to 

the National Institute of Justice, Economic Distress, Community Context 

and Intimate Violence: An Application and Extension of Social Disorganization Theory (NCJ 193434) by Michael L. Benson and Greer Litton Fox. The 

final report is available electronically from the National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service Web site at http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/grants/ 

193434.pdf. 

This research was supported by the National Institute of Justice under 

grant number 98–WT–VX–0011. 

NCJ 205004 
RESEARCH IN BRIEF / SEPT. 04 

ABOUT THIS REPORT 

Does intimate partner violence 

occur more in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods? Are couples 

facing job instability or other 

economic distress more susceptible to intimate violence? 

Is the combination of individual money problems and living 

in a tough neighborhood a catalyst for higher levels of violence? An NIJ-sponsored study 

summarized in this Research 

in Brief answers yes to all 

three questions. By examining 

data from the U.S. Census 

and from the National Survey 

of Families and Households 

(NSFH), researchers explored 

the dynamics among household economics, neighborhood economics, and levels 

of intimate partner violence. 

What did the 

researchers find? 

Intimate violence is more prevalent and more severe in disadvantaged neighborhoods. It 

occurs more in households 

facing economic distress. When 

the economically distressed 

household is located in a disadvantaged neighborhood, 

the prevalence of intimate 

violence jumps dramatically: 

women living in these circumstances are most at risk. Because a higher percentage of 

African-Americans live in disadvantaged neighborhoods 

and face economic distress, 

they experience higher rates 

of intimate violence compared 

with whites. When comparing 

African-Americans and whites 

of similar income levels, the 

levels of intimate violence are 

similar. 

What were the study’s 

limitations? 

The amount of data on minorities other than Hispanics and 

African-Americans was relatively small, limiting further 

analysis of other subgroups. 

Who should read this 

study? 

Victim service providers, researchers, State and local 

housing policymakers, law 

enforcement planners. 

ii 
WHEN VIOLENCE HITS HOME 

by Michael L. Benson and Greer Litton Fox 

When Violence Hits Home: 

How Economics and Neighborhood 

About the Authors 

Michael L. Benson, Ph.D., 

is an associate professor 

of criminal justice at the 

University of Cincinnati. 

Greer Litton Fox, Ph.D., 

is a professor in the 

Department of Child 

and Family Studies at the 

University of Tennessee. 

Play a Role 

Past research has explored 

how personality factors and 

the dynamics of an intimate 

relationship can lead to violence against women. An NIJ 

study takes a broader look at 

the factors at play in intimate 

violence. The study reveals 

that the incidence of violence 

in the home is exacerbated by 

economic factors apart from 

the characteristics of the individuals involved. Researchers 

found that economic problems or distresses such as 

losing one’s job and specific 

circumstances such as the 

length of a relationship interact with the kind of community in which people live to 

influence the offenders and 

victims of intimate violence. 

The study sheds light on the 

connections between intimate 

violence and personal and 

economic well-being and on 

how the type of neighborhood 

in which women live may influence them to stay in or leave 

abusive relationships. Understanding the links between 

these factors should help policymakers and practitioners 

create more targeted prevention and intervention programs 

and better anticipate when 

demand for these programs 

might grow. The findings suggest that service providers 

who help victims of violence 

should give priority to women 

in the most disadvantaged 

neighborhoods and address 

their economic circumstances. 

The study found that— 

■	 Violence against women in 

intimate relationships occurred more often and was 

more severe in economically 

disadvantaged neighborhoods. Women living in disadvantaged neighborhoods 

were more than twice as 

likely to be the victims of 

intimate violence compared 

with women in more advantaged neighborhoods. 

■	 For the individuals involved, 

both objective (being unemployed or not making 

enough money to meet family needs) and subjective 

(worrying about finances) 

forms of economic distress 

1 
RESEARCH IN BRIEF / SEPT. 04 

increase the risk of intimate 

violence against women. 

■	

Women who live in economically disadvantaged 

communities and are struggling with money in their own relationships suffer the 

greatest risk of intimate 

violence. 

■	 African-Americans and 

whites with the same 

economic characteristics 

have similar rates of intimate violence, but AfricanAmericans have a higher 

overall rate of intimate violence due in part to higher 

levels of economic distress 

and location in disadvan­ taged neighborhoods. 

The study also showed that 

even when measures of subjective and objective economic distress were taken into 

account, women living in disadvantaged neighborhoods 

still have higher rates of intimate violence. This may be 

because of the existence of 

many of the same social 

problems that increase the 

risk of street crime in disad­ vantaged neighborhoods; for example, a lower degree of 

social capital to respond to 

criminal behavior that, when 

longstanding, leads to a 

greater tolerance for deviant 

behavior among people living 

in those neighborhoods. 

Effects of economic 

distress 

■	 Male job instability. Women whose male partners experienced two or 

more periods of unemployment over the 5-year study were almost three times as 

likely to be victims of intimate violence as were women whose partners 

were in stable jobs. 

■	 Income levels. 

Women living in households with high 

incomes experienced less 

violence at the hands of 

their intimate partners than 

did women whose households were less financially 

secure. The results showed 

a very consistent pattern: 

As the ratio of household 

income to needs goes up, 

the likelihood of violence 

goes down. 

■	 Financial strain. Couples 

who reported extensive financial strain had a rate of 

violence more than three 

times that of couples with 

low levels of financial 

strain. 

■ Severity of violence. Women in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods were more 

likely to be victimized repeatedly or to be injured by 

their domestic partners than were women who lived in 

2 
WHEN VIOLENCE HITS HOME 

T

the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), which is a nationally representative sample of U.S. households, and the 1990 U.S. 

Census. 

The researchers analyzed self-reported data from the NSFH on conflict 

and violence among couples. They also analyzed data on the economic 

resources and well-being of the couples, the composition of their households, and a number of the couples’ sociodemographic characteristics. 

The researchers abstracted tract-level data from the census on various 

for the census tracts in which the NSFH respondents lived. By merging 

the census and NSFH data, the researchers were able to study both 

the variation in the context in which intimate violence occurs and those 

factors closely associated with intimate violence. They were able to 

track the experiences of women in intimate relationships over time 

and to examine the individual and joint effects of these individual- and 

neighborhood-level factors. 

Because the NSFH data include cases from a relatively limited number 

of households representing racial and ethnic subgroups other than 

and intimate violence is limited to those groups. 

HE INVESTIGATION 

To conduct the study, the researchers merged data from two sources: 

characteristics, such as poverty, unemployment, and residential mobility, 

African-Americans and Hispanics, the study’s discussion of minorities 

more advantaged neighborhoods. For instance, about 

2 percent of women in advantaged neighborhoods 

experienced severe violence, while 6 percent of 

women in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods were the 

victims of severe violence. 

A volatile mix 

Researchers sought to determine whether the combination of individual economic 

distress and a community’s 

economic disadvantage increases a woman’s risk of 

intimate violence. Comparing 

levels of intimate violence 

among couples experiencing 

individual economic distress 

in both advantaged and disadvantaged neighborhoods, 

researchers found much higher rates of violence among 

couples in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods. The rate of intimate violence among financially distressed couples in 

advantaged neighborhoods is 

roughly half that of similarly 

3 
RESEARCH IN BRIEF / SEPT. 04 

distressed couples in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The 

highest rates of intimate violence are found among women who live in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods with men who 

have had high levels of job instability. In comparison, the 

rate of intimate violence is 

lowest among women whose 

intimate partners have stable 

employment and live in advantaged neighborhoods. These 

findings show that individual 

economic distress and an 

economically disadvantaged 

neighborhood work in tandem 

to increase a woman’s risk 

for violence in an intimate 

relationship. 

Socioeconomics, race, 

and violence 

The study found that the rate 

of intimate violence against 

women in African-American 

couples is about twice that 

for white couples. To find out 

why, the study looked at the 

relationship among economic 

distress, living in a disadvantaged community, and race 

and ethnicity. The study found 

that African-Americans are 

more likely than whites to suffer from economic distress 

and to live in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods. The study 

also found that the individual 

economic status of AfricanAmericans and Hispanics 

often does not match the economic status of the neighborhoods in which they live. 

For instance, 36 percent of 

African-American couples 

may be considered economically disadvantaged, but more 

than twice as many AfricanAmericans (77 percent) live in 

disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

Similar patterns are found for 

Hispanics. By contrast, white 

couples are much more likely 

to reside in neighborhoods 

that mirror their economic 

status. 

To investigate this pattern further, researchers calculated 

the rates of intimate violence 

against women among AfricanAmericans and whites while 

controlling separately for community disadvantage and economic distress. They found 

that higher rates of intimate 

violence among AfricanAmericans could be accounted for by their higher levels of 

economic distress and their 

greater likelihood of living in 

disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

What’s more, the rate of violence between intimate partners is virtually identical among 

African-Americans and whites 

with high incomes. However, 

African-Americans with low 

and moderate incomes do 

appear to have a significantly 

higher rate of intimate violence than whites do in those 

same income categories. 

4 
WHEN VIOLENCE HITS HOME 

The study also explored the 

relationship between race and 

intimate violence by controlling for income and type of 

community at the same time. 

Results were mixed, but, in a 

number of cases, the difference in intimate violence between African-Americans and 

whites was reduced substantially. The study found that in 

both advantaged and disadvantaged neighborhoods, 

African-Americans with high 

incomes have rates of intimate 

violence that are close to or 

less than those for whites. 

Generally, when AfricanAmericans are compared to 

whites with similar incomes 

and neighborhood economic 

status, the difference in the 

rate of intimate violence diminishes or is eliminated. 

Implications for 

practice 

For policymakers developing 

effective prevention and intervention strategies, this study 

provides important insights 

into how social changes that 

cause economic distress influence violence against women in different racial and 

socioeconomic groups. The 

stress that accompanies losing a job and seeing personal 

income shrink can result in 

severe consequences for 

individuals, intimate couples, 

and the communities in which 

they live. 

This study suggests to policymakers and intimate violence 

service providers that violence 

against domestic partners 

does not occur solely because 

of an offender’s psychological 

makeup or the inability to resolve conflicts constructively 

in a relationship. Therefore, 

strategies to address intimate 

violence should target a broad 

array of potential areas for intervention and change. At the 

same time, law enforcement 

officials could use this information to deal more effectively 

with intimate violence in the 

community. Because intimate 

violence is more likely to occur in disadvantaged neighborhoods, this study suggests 

that law enforcement officials 

give increased attention to 

these neighborhoods and 

consider employing strategies to prevent and detect 

intimate partner crimes in 

vulnerable neighborhoods. 

This study found a strong link 

between intimate violence 

and the economic well-being 

of couples and the communities in which they live. This 

means that economic practices and employment policies 

may play an important part 

in women’s risk of suffering 

5 
RESEARCH IN BRIEF / SEPT. 04 

from intimate violence. It is 

noteworthy that, in this study, 

job instability and not employment status itself was a major 

risk factor for violence against 

women. The researchers suggest that when policymakers 

consider the problem of transitory labor demand, they could 

help address women’s risk of 

intimate partner violence by 

giving preference to policies 

and practices that provide job 

stability rather than those that 

promote periodic layoffs and 

rehiring. The researchers also 

suggest that service providers 

may want to monitor changes 

in the local job force because 

cutbacks could potentially increase the level of intimate 

violence. 

The study also found that the 

type of community in which 

women lived played a contributing role in their risk for 

intimate violence. Women 

experiencing economic difficulties who live in disadvantaged 

neighborhoods will continue 

to experience a greater risk 

for intimate violence. In light 

of these findings about how 

neighborhood types and economic distress increase the 

risk for intimate violence, 

service providers may want 

to consider how they develop 

interventions. To provide services where women at the 

greatest risk of intimate violence need them most, service providers could target 

women who live in the most 

disadvantaged neighborhoods. 

Because economic distress 

has been shown to increase 

the risk of violence, service 

providers might choose to 

address the economic resources of these women and 

specifically, their need for cash 

assistance. Based on the 

findings of this study, financial assistance to women in 

poverty may lessen their risk 

of violence. 

6 
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research, development, and evaluation 

agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. 

NIJ provides objective, independent, 

evidence-based knowledge and tools 

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NIJ is a component of the Office of Justice 

Programs, which also includes the Bureau 

of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics, the Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention, and the 

Office for Victims of Crime. 
DOJ/NIJ *NCJ~205004* 

SEPT. 04 

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