Urban Young Women’s Experiences of Discrimination and Community Violence and Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This paper examines the interrelationships between urban young adult women's experiences of discrimination and community violence and their reports of involvement in intimate partner violence (IPV). We explore whether such experiences are independent risk factors for IPV victimization and perpetration, even when accounting for aggressive behaviors and related risk taking, including drinking and sexual initiation, during early adolescence. We use data from the Reach for Health study, in which a sample of 550 urban African American and Latina women was followed from recruitment in economically distressed middle schools into young adulthood, over approximately 7 years. At the last wave, respondents were 19-20 years old; 28% were raising children. More than 40% reported experiencing at least one form of racial/ethnic discrimination sometimes or often over the past year. About 75% heard guns being shot, saw someone being arrested, or witnessed drug deals within this time period; 66% had seen someone beaten up, 26% had seen someone get killed, and 40% knew someone who was killed. Concurrent reports of lifetime IPV were also high: about a third reported being a victim of physical violence; a similar proportion reported perpetration. Results of multivariate regression analyses indicate that discrimination is significantly associated with physical and emotional IPV victimization and perpetration, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, including ethnic identity formation, and early adolescent risk behaviors. Community violence is correlated with victimization, but the relationship remains significant only for emotional IPV victimization once early behaviors are controlled. Implications for violence prevention are discussed, including the importance of addressing community health, as well as individual patterns of behavior, associated with multiple forms of violence victimization and perpetration.

Interpersonal- and Community-Level Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration among African American Men

“…The finding that exposure to neighborhood violence was associated with an increase in recent male perpetration of IPV is consistent with previous studies 34,46,47 and supports the notion that "the environmental context influences what goes on in the privacy of homes." 46 , p. 396 One study 34 argued that the effect of community violence on male violence toward a female partner could be explicated by a lack of strong connections between community residents and hence, little collective efficacy to control the level of violence in their disordered neighborhoods.…”

“…46 , p. 396 One study 34 argued that the effect of community violence on male violence toward a female partner could be explicated by a lack of strong connections between community residents and hence, little collective efficacy to control the level of violence in their disordered neighborhoods. A higher threshold for violence in a community can also normalize the use of violence and provide opportunities to consort with others that support the use of violence, thereby producing violent male networks that increase individual risk for perpetration.…”

“…However, the facilitation of behavior change requires that men and women also learn skills for effective communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, and anger management through modeling, role playing, and rehearsal of skills. 22,27,46 In addition to skill building and couples-level interventions, Gelles' 38 social structural theory, which focuses on social stressors and poor social conditions, indicates that attention is needed towards structural factors that promote IPV. Structural interventions offer an opportunity to target social determinants of health in multiple capacities.…”

The Structure of Witnessed Community Violence amongst Urban African American Mothers: Latent Class Analysis of a Community Sample

“…Witnessed violence is widely experienced by urban, minority youth [2,3] and urban women of low socioeconomic status [4][5][6]. Witnessing community violence is potentially harmful to a person's quality of life and psychological health [7][8][9][10].…”

“…For mothers, the effects of witnessing community violence may be more far reaching as their overall mental health and well-being affects their parenting and children's development. While in general, studies show that women of color have a high prevalence of witnessed violence [4][5][6][7], it is uncertain who is at most risk and for what kinds of violence. Thus, the present study examines patterns of witnessed community violence (WCV) in a sample of African American mothers drawn from a metropolitan area.…”