Detangling Individual-, Partner-, and Community-Level Correlates of Partner Violence

• NCJ Number: 201172
• Author(s): Judy A. Van Wyk, Michael L. Benson, Greer Litton Fox, Alfred DeMaris
• Date Published: July 2003
• Length: 27 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This study investigated neighborhood and individual level correlates of partner violence, specifically on the effects of neighborhood characteristics and individual social support. The study also investigated whether the likelihood of partner violence varied with the level of neighborhood social disorganization.

Abstract

The purpose and intent of this study supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice was to detangle the individual, partner, and community-level correlations of partner violence. The primary interest of the study was in the effects of social disorganization and social support. Two important sets of questions were addressed in this study: (1) was partner violence against women more common in neighborhoods that are more socially disorganized and (2) were the measures of social support related to partner violence, did social support decrease the likelihood of victimization, was the influence of various types of social support on partner violence equally significant, and do various measures of social support interact with neighborhood conditions to increase the possibility of partner violence? The data came from Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households completed in 1994 and from the 1990 census. Results confirmed that partner violence was more than twice as likely to occur in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods. In addition, neighborhood effects interacted with partner and individual level characteristics for a more complete explanation for male-to-female partner violence. References