Perceptions, Help-Seeking, and High-Risk Domestic Violence in Black Communities

Abstract

One in four women report experiencing intimate partner violence. Yet, nearly 45% of Black women report experiencing this same crime. In addition, while Black women compose 14% of the U.S. population, they represent 31% of domestic violence fatalities and are three times more likely than White women to be killed by an intimate partner. This points to the continued need to better understand how the Black community perceives domestic violence and how their perception influences their help-seeking strategies. This paper reports on a project examining how Black communities perceive domestic violence, high-risk domestic violence, and how these perceptions impact their help-seeking strategies. The study was conducted between April 2020 and October 2020 with 128 participants that participated in focus groups in six geographically diverse U.S. cities including rural, urban, and suburban communities. The findings reaffirmed and presented new information about the perceptions of domestic violence, the impact of inadequate and negative systems’ responses, the lack of cultural responsiveness and poor police interactions, and the calculated decision-making that survivors in the Black community use to determine who to tell, how to tell, and where to go in use of adapted help-seeking strategies. Implications are provided as to how to address these issues.

Black Communities’ Perspectives on High-Risk Domestic Violence

“…While the aforementioned factors have been noted as high-risk domestic violence, there are additional issues and barriers that further exacerbate these red flags for survivors and victims of domestic violence homicide in the Black community (Bent Goodley et al, 2022). Because of the mistrust in the police and the criminal justice system, survivors in the Black community make calculative decisions around if, how, or when they will utilize the systems for support regardless of the level of risk (Bent-Goodley, 2013;St.…”

“…Although intimate partner violence risk assessment tools have been developed, these tools are often not as feasible in practice, among diverse populations or within community settings (Graham et al, 2019). Therefore, there is a need for more risk-informed interventions (Messing, 2019), more culturally specific prevention and intervention strategies to address intimate partner violence risks for diverse communities (Bent-Goodley, 2013;Bent-Goodley et al, 2022;, and more understanding of how systems can better respond to victims at high risk (Messing et al, 2020;Waller & Bent-Goodley, 2022). Being culturally specific includes applying strategies and practices that are informed by knowledge of the "historical experiences of oppression; contemporary realities of discrimination; customs, traditions and practices that can serve as barriers and strengths in the population; and intergenerational exchanges about culture that inform the knowledge, thinking, experiences, and perceived realities of communities of color" (Bent-Goodley, 2012, p. 12).…”

“…The initial questions were based on research done by the principal investigator prior to the demonstration initiative (DI) (Bent-Goodley, 2013). An interview guide was developed and tested during the DI, prior to the special project being conducted (Bent-Goodley et al, 2022). During the DI, five experts in domestic violence and cultural context reviewed and provided feedback to the questions.…”