An Empirical Examination of a Theory of Women's Use

PROJECT SUMMARY FOR 2001-WT-BX-0502 The proposed study will examine women's use of violence in intimate relationships. The study will recruit 450 women (150 white, 150 black, and 150 Latina) from four primary car health clinics in the New Haven area. Participants will be administered an approximately 2 hour paid interview. A comprehensive model of women's violenc, its correlates, antecedents, and outcomes will be tested. Inaddition to the quantitative portion of the study, nine focus groups - 3 African american, 3 Latina, and 3 White, will be conducted to qualitatively assess the role of culture, ethnicity, race and class on women's motivations for and beliefs about their use of violence in intimate relationships. The focus group data will contribute to understanding the occurrence, meaning, and outcomes of women's within and across racial/ethnic groups and will aid in the interpretation of findings derived from the quantitative analysis. Ca/ncf