SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEMS OF BATTERED WOMEN: INFLUENCE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL ADAPTATION (NETWORK, ABUSED, VIOLENCE).
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 203
Subjects: Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to describe the structure and perceived supportiveness of the social networks of battered women, and to explore the possible relationship between those network characteristics and the battered women's level of psychological adaptation.

The study, designed as a cross-sectional survey, used a structured interview and questionnaire approach, including a Demographic and Personal Data Questionnaire developed by the author.

The subjects of the study were a heterogeneous group of 112 self-defined battered women aged 18 to 54 who reported at least one physical assault by a cohabiting male.

The subjects described a level and type of violence consistent with the violence experienced by other battered women. While the level of psychological distress was higher than in a nonpatient female normative group where the incidence of battering is unknown, the level of psychological distress was lower than in a female psychiatric outpatient normative group.

Subjects' networks were comparable in size and frequency of contact to the comparison group, but recent loss was nearly five times greater. The pattern of multiplex, reciprocal relationships with network members contrasted with the uniplex, one-way relationships with batterers. Family networks were dense; friendship networks were low in density.

Family and friends were the two major sources of support, although the perceived level of support available was lower than in the comparison group. Nearly 80% of subjects reported the presence of a confidant. Not all network members knew about the abuse, and nearly one-third of those who knew responded in a nonsupportive or inconsistently supportive manner.

Results of canonical correlation analyses indicated that psychological adaptation was related to sociodemographic characteristics of the women (age, number of children; p = .02), to their experience with violence (relationship length, frequency and severity of violence; p = .01), and to the supportiveness of the network (confidant, % of nonsupportive responses; p = .001).

The study documents that battered women do not live in social isolation, that avoidance of some network members is an adaptive behavior, that age and children are not a liability, and that presence of a confidant may be more significant than network size. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-05, Section: A, page: 1895.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1985.

School code: 0034.