The scars created by
domestic violence persist long after the bruises have healed, leaving some
adolescent mothers psychologically distressed and increasing their chances of
being unemployed, according to a new study.
The finding comes from University of Washington research examining the
effects of domestic violence on employment and use of the welfare system before
and after the passage of federal welfare reform legislation in 1996.
The study found that domestic violence had no effect on welfare use before or
after the legislation was enacted. It also did not have an effect on employment
before the new law was passed, but afterward the likelihood of being unemployed
increased if there was a history of domestic violence during the transition to
adulthood.
"When you are an adolescent mother and have violence in your relationship it
sets you up for problems down the road," said Taryn Lindhorst, lead author of
the study and a UW associate professor of social work. "Domestic
violence has an accumulative effect over time so that abused women were less
likely to work. After the change in welfare policy, women who were abused were
less likely to be employed compared to teenage mothers who were not abused."
Data for this paper came from an ongoing study of pregnant and parenting
women starting when they were 17 years old. The employment-welfare study
followed 234 women for 13 years, starting in 1988. Fifty-one percent of the
women were white and 28 percent were black. American Indians, Asians, Pacific
Islanders and biracial individuals made up the remaining 21 percent.
The women's welfare and employment status, along with their levels of
psychological distress, were checked before welfare reform in 1994 and after
welfare reform was implemented in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Domestic violence was
measured several times between 1990 and 1993, and included acts ranging from
women being physically threatened by partners to being beaten, choked, burned or
having a gun fired at them. Psychological distress included feelings of
depression and anxiety.
The data showed many adolescent mothers initially experienced high levels of
domestic violence and welfare use, both of which declined in adulthood. Among
the findings were:
Lindhorst said there are a number of reasons why domestic abuse victims have
difficulty being employed.
"The women in this study who had high feelings of psychological distress in
addition to being abused were the ones most likely to be unemployed later. Some
women are able to find the necessary support to deal with the sadness and fear
that are part being abused. But a significant portion of the abused women in
this study continued to have strong feelings of depression and anxiety, and
those who had both abuse and emotional distress were the least likely to be
working," she said
"People need a network to help get a job, and low-income women need to be
connected to a community center or a group of friends. However, domestic
violence socially isolates these women. Some are embarrassed to be seen with
bruises," she said.
There are also other explanations for why abuse might interfere with
employment.
"Low-income women use their network of friends and family to help get a job.
However, one of the aspects of domestic violence is that abusive partners
isolate these women. Some abusers threaten women if they have social contact
with others, and this makes it hard for women to maintain their social networks.
Not having supportive contact with friends and family can make it hard to find
and keep a job," Lindhorst said.
"Domestic violence also may contribute to a disrupted employment history. All
of the personal controls that sometimes are part of domestic violence can make
it difficult to hold a job. If an employer has a resume from a woman who has a
consistent employment history compared to some abused women who may have gaps in
their employment because of the abuse, this also may contribute to differences
in employment."
Lindhorst said the study also highlights the importance of intervening to
assist battered women with multiple symptoms of psychological distress. By
helping women to feel that they are functioning better, they may also be more
capable of finding work and becoming economically self-sufficient.
Co-authors of the study are Monica Oxford, a UW research associate professor
of social work, and Mary Gillmore, a former UW professor of social work who is
now the director of the Arizona State University social work program. The
research was published in the current issue of the Journal of Interpersonal
Violence and was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National
Institute of Mental Health
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