J Fam Viol (2010) 25:195204 DOI 10.

1007/s10896-009-9283-y

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

When Does a Battered Woman Seek Help From the Police? The Role of Battered Womens Functionality
Hee Yun Lee & Eonju Park & Elizabeth Lightfoot

Published online: 27 October 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009

Abstract This study explores how womens functional limitations resulting from domestic violence lead to police involvement. Examining functionality is a broader approach to exploring domestic violence outcomes than looking at injuries or impairments, and in this study we look at the social participation aspects of social functioning. One hundred eleven battered women in four metropolitan cities in the U.S. participated in anonymous telephone surveys. Approximately 80% of the battered women in the sample were involved with the police due to their experiences of domestic violence. Womens functionality was significantly associated with battered womens police involvement after controlling for socio-demographic and violence-related covariates. The current study identifies one aspect of womens functioningsocial participationas a critical predictor of their seeking of help from the police, and suggests implications for practice, including the need for police and domestic violence agencies to have awareness of the concept of functional limitations within a broader context of understanding disability. Keywords Domestic violence . Police involvement . Help-seeking . Functionality . Functional limitations . Disability

Introduction Domestic violence (DV) is currently an acute public health concern. A national survey in the United States reported that one-fifth of the women in the study were victims of DV (Tjaden and Thoennes 2000). Of those victims, about 40% were injured and 30% of those injured received medical attention. Although DV is a serious social problem in the United States, it historically received scant public attention and was viewed as a private, family matter (Johnson 1990). DV has only more recently become known as a public problem in the United States, and there are now many services and supports for survivors of DV, particularly for those actively choosing to seek help. In a DV situation, the decision to seek help from the police is often the most critical moment in a battered womans help seeking, and battered women may call the police when they urgently need help for their own safety, as well as for the safety of their family members. In the literature of DV, the understanding of what motivates battered women to seek help from the police is still limited. This study examines the characteristics of battered women who involve the police. In particular, this study explores the role of a battered womans functionality after a DV incident on the womans involvement with the police. Factors that Predict Police Involvement Police involvement in DV incidents are initiated primarily by battered women, while perpetrators are more likely to be males (Coulter et al. 1999; Felson et al. 2002; Jasinski 2003; Fleury-Steiner et al. 2006). The proportions of battered women who call the police vary across the studies. Fleury-Steiner et al. (2006) interviewed 178 women who were currently using DV services and found that 80% of

H. Y. Lee (*) : E. Park : E. Lightfoot School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, 105 Peters Hall, 1404 Gortner Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA e-mail: hylee@umn.edu E. Park e-mail: eonjupark@gmail.com E. Lightfoot e-mail: elightfo@umn.edu

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women in their study called the police themselves or they asked someone else to call the police on their behalf. Jasinski (2003) found that battered women called police in 43% of DV incidents in an analysis of the National Crime Victims Survey. With regard to socio-demographic factors, battered women are more likely to call the police if they are unmarried and non-white, have less education, and have lower incomes (Hutchison 2003; Eitle 2005; Bonomi et al. 2006; Thompson and Kingree 2006; Fantuzzo et al. 2007). Women who are financially dependent on the perpetrator are also less likely to call police (Jasinski 2003; Wolf et al. 2003; Fleury-Steiner et al. 2006; Gillis et al. 2006). Among contextual variables, battered women were more likely to call the police if they felt that their lives were in immediate danger (Felson et al. 2002; Houry et al. 2006; Thompson and Kingree 2006). Police were called more often when women sustained an injury, if the perpetrator used a weapon, and if the perpetrator was under the influence of drugs or alcohol (Jasinski 2003; Bonomi et al. 2006). The more severe and the more frequent the abuse, the more likely women called the police (Bonomi et al. 2006). Findings are mixed regarding how the presence of children affects police involvement. Some studies have found that women were more likely to call the police if children were present (Eitle 2005; Bonomi et al. 2006). Others have found that women with children were more reluctant to call the police or to press charges (Eitle 2005; Wolf et al. 2003), with a fear of retaliation from the perpetrator, potential loss of custody (Dugan 2003), or other negative consequences for the family (Wolf et al. 2003; Gillis et al. 2006). Cultural values that emphasize family intactness over individual well-being also inhibit the calling of police (Wolf et al. 2003; Gillis et al. 2006). Battered womens previous experiences with the police or perceptions of police had a strong effect on the likelihood of police involvement. Some women reported never wanting to use the legal system again after their initial encounter due to their negative experiences with police and the court system (Fleury-Steiner et al. 2006). Women also feared that police would not be able to help them or would not take them seriously (Wolf et al. 2003; Gillis et al. 2006). Women feared more abuse from the offender in the future if police were called in the form of retaliation, or continuation of more severe abuse if the perpetrators were not arrested (Wolf et al. 2003). Functionality and DV The current study examines the influence of womens functionality after a DV incident, among other predictive factors, on her police involvement. Functionality is an important concept in understanding health and disability,

and it differs from the concept of injuries or impairments. In 2001, the World Health Organization released the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) as a means for understanding health and disability (World Health Organization 2002). The ICF identifies impairments as problems of the physiological or psychological functions/structures of the body, such as pain, strength, mental health status or cognition, but also places a great emphasis on how impairments affect an individuals activities, such as walking, eating, bathing or dressing, and an individuals participation in life areas, such as interpersonal interactions, domestic activities, or community life. Impairments, activity limitations and participation limitations can be temporary or permanent, and can range from mild to severe. The ICF also views environmental factors, such as attitudes, laws, relationships or services, and personal factors, such as age, education or lifestyle, as having an additional influence on functioning. The purpose of the ICF model is not an attempt to classify more people as having a disability, but rather to place disability and health on a continuum; the ICF views disability in a broader manner than simply focusing on impairments. In the United States, many social programs in the areas of disability, aging and health now have eligibility criteria that view disability in terms of how well an individual can function, rather than an individuals specific impairment. Functioning is often measured by looking at activities of daily living (ADLs), which are similar to the activities described in the ICF model, or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), which are similar to the participation described in the ICF model. Many health surveys now include ADL and IADL measures, alongside a focus on impairments, for classifying and measuring disability (Wen 2003). While the concept of functioning has a clear relationship to the experiences and outcomes of battered women, most studies of battered women focus on womens physical and psychological impairments resulting from DV from a more narrow view of disability, or speak of functioning outside of the notion of disability. Numerous studies have shown that DV causes women to have significant physical and mental impairments (Brokaw et al. 2002; Golding 1999; Sutherland et al. 2001; Nurius et al. 2003; Bogat et al. 2005). To date, functionality has only been studied in DV literature on a very limited basis, and when it is used, it generally focuses on a womans ability to function in her physical and psychological environments, rather than in her social environment, which generally falls into the ICF models category of impairment, rather than functioning as social participation. According to the ICF, social participation is an important part of functioning. This has particular relevance to women experiencing DV, as they may experience an interplay of impairments, activity limitations and environmental constraints that influence how well they can function socially with family and friends. Indeed,

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Riger et al. (2002) suggested that a battered womans ability to function in her social environment, such as going to work or school, or forming and maintaining relationships, is as important as physical and psychological functioning. A recent study of women in DV shelters found that women did experience much greater levels of social functioning limitations than did women living in the general population (Helfrich et al. 2008). The one area of social functioning that has received some attention has been on the impact of DV on womens parenting (Levondosky and Graham-Berrman 2001), which has shown that DV does have an impact on this area. However, the concept of social functioning has not often been considered to be one of the important effects of womens experience of DV and has not been studied in relation to her likelihood to seek police help for DV. The current study considers battered womens functionality as a critical factor related to police involvement. In studies of battered womens police involvement, there has been some exploration of how a womans impairments caused by domestic violence, such as broken bones or internal injuries, lead to increased police contact (Bonomi et al. 2006; Bachman and Coker 1995). However, there has been no focus on the related concept of a womans functionality. If, according to the ICF, people experience disability in a broader way than simply physical or psychological impairments and if they have functional limitations as well as impairments, it follows that a woman may be more likely to seek help from the police after a DV incident if they have a functional limitation. Functionality is used in this study to examine effects of DV on battered womens social functions, with social functions conceptualized as their perceptions of their ability to carry out their family and social roles. Thus, functionality is defined as the victims ability to parent, conduct daily household chores, and maintain family and friend relationships after experiencing a DV incident. This study seeks to answer the following three research questions: 1. What is the proportion of police involvement among the battered women? 2. What are the characteristics of battered women who involved the police? 3. What is the relationship of functionality with battered womens police involvement?

Methods Data-Gathering Procedure and Participants Community-based DV agencies that provide crisis and support services to adult DV victims and their children in four metropolitan areas assisted in sample recruitment. The four areasDallas, San Jose, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and

Pittsburghwere selected to secure information from diverse populations. The largest proportion of sample participants were from Pittsburgh (35%), followed by San Jose (28%), Dallas (19%) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (18%). The majority of the participants in the Dallas sample (73%) were white, while other states had a relatively balanced mix of racial and ethnic diversity. To recruit study participants, the research team members made presentations to DV agency staff in all four cities. All agencies utilized were large agencies with hundreds of potential clients. Agency staff then distributed flyers about the study to women in their shelters and to women receiving community-based services. Detailed flyers about the study were given to women in one-on-one interactions with staff or in group settings by support or therapy group facilitators. The flyers provided women with information about the study and a toll-free number to call if they were interested in volunteering. Phone lines were staffed with interviewers from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Central Time) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the study period, lasting for seven months. A bilingual (Spanish and English) interviewer was available for 20 hours per week. Five inclusion criteria were used to recruit women of all ages and all races/ethnicities who: 1) experienced adult domestic violence by an intimate partner, 2) had children living with them in their household, 3) were involved in the past or were involved currently with a domestic violence program (e.g. shelter, legal advocacy, counseling, or support group), and 4) should not be in immediate crisis or imminent danger. Qualifying women, who met study criteria and verbally consented to participate in the interview, were given a code number to identify them so that the interview could be interrupted and carried on at a later time without encroaching on anonymity. Once the interview was completed, a second code number was given to each participant. The second code numbers were also faxed to the participating agencies, so that the participants could receive compensation of $20 from the agencies without revealing their identity. Because of the sensitive nature of the topic, the data was gathered through voluntary and anonymous telephone interviews to keep the participants identity secret, and the interviews were focused only on past incidents, at least 12 months prior to the interview date. Each interview lasted approximately 75 minutes. All women were connected to DV services agencies from which support services were available, in case the interview brought up issues research participants needed to discuss. The telephone interviews were completed with 111 battered women, but only 96 were included for the analysis of this study due to missing data in fifteen instances. Information on the womans job status, income and

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education were reported for the time of the interview. Other independent variables such as the womans relationship to her abuser, her experience of physical and emotional abuse and its effects on her and her children were only reported retrospectively for the period during which the abuse was occurring. These differences in reporting periods are a limitation in interpreting the results of the study. We cannot determine, for example, if a womans current economic status at the time of the interview reflected her earlier economic status when the abuse was occurring. Measures Dependent Variables The dependent variable for this study was police involvement. Possible responses to the question, How often were the police involved because of abuse to you? were 1) never, 2) rarely, 3) occasionally, 4) frequently, and 5) very frequently. Independent Variables To examine the correlation between the effects of abuse and womens police involvement, womens physical injury and womens functionality were selected. To measure the physical injury outcomes, six questions were developed based on the Conflict Tactic Scales 2 (CTS2) Injury Scale. The six items scores were summed to create a total score. Appendix A details the six items. According to Straus et al. (1996), the CTS2 Injury Scale has high internal consistency (Cronbachs = .95) and construct validity (correlation with violence by man = .87). This pattern was consistent in this study and the alpha value was .80 on the current studys sample. With regard to the impact on womens functionality, the original study asked a set of six questions. Questions on functionality related to schools and jobs were excluded from the analysis, because only a small portion of the respondents were employed and/or currently enrolled in school. To create a total score of functionality, the scores of the four items were summed. Descriptive analysis of the four items is detailed in Appendix A. Cronbachs alpha of the four questions was .77, which is acceptable to use for the study. Control Variables To control for the influence of demographic characteristics, womens age, race, length of the relationship, and level of education were entered into the analyses. Womens age, level of education, and the length of the relationship with the abuser were measured in years at the time of the interview. Originally, race was categorized into five groups including Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Because of the small sample size of Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders, race was categorized into three

groups: 1) Caucasian, 2) African American, and 3) others. Education was categorized into two groups: 1) less than high school or high school graduates and 2) some college or college graduates. Violence-related variables such as frequency of abuse and abusers weapon use during a violent episode were utilized as control variables, since studies reported these factors to be significantly related to police involvement. Frequency of abuse was measured with a question, During your relationship, how frequently was your partner abusive to you in any way? Response options included: 1) 16 times a year, 2) once a month, 3) 23 times a month, 4) once a week, 5) more than once a week, and 6) daily. Weapon use had originally been measured by asking how often the partner had threatened to use or had used a gun or knife on the woman, with response options ranging from (1) Never to (5) Very Frequently. It was re-coded into a dichotomous variable, 0 for Never and 1 for the others in this study, because this study is more interested in whether a weapon was ever used than the frequency of weapon use.

Data Analysis Using Stata 9.0, univariate, bivariate (Chi-square and ANOVA), and multivariate (multiple regression) analyses were conducted to analyze the data in order to answer the research questions. ANOVA and Chi-square were utilized in order to understand the association of womens demographic characteristics, violence-related variables and the effects of DV outcome variables with the frequency of womens involvement with the police. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the degree to which the four sets of control and independent variables predict the frequency of womens involvement with the police. The four sets of variables include: 1) demographic characteristics, 2) violence-related variables (frequency of abuse and weapon use), 3) physical injury outcome variables, and 4) the battered womans functionality.

Findings Demographic Characteristics The average age of the women in the study was 34 years old at the time of interview. Of the sample, 46.9% (N=45) were Caucasian, 34.4% (N=33) were African American, and 18.8% (N=18) were others. For womens levels of education, 49.0% (N=47) of the sample had a high school or less education, compared to 51.0% (N=49) of women in the sample with some college or higher education. Slightly over one-tenth (13.0%, N=12) of the women had an income

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higher than $30,000, compared to 35.9% (N=33) of women who had incomes between $10,000 and $30,000, and 51.1% (N=47) had an income of less than $10,000. The average age of the womans abuser was 35.8 years old at the time of interview. The most common race of abusers was either Caucasian (39.5%, N=32) or African American (40.7%, N=33). Only 19.8% (N=16) of the abusers belonged to other racial groups. Women in our sample had relationships with the abusers as a spouse (49.4%, N=40), boyfriend (37.0%, N=30), partner (6.2%, N=5), and others (7.4%, N=6). The average length of a womans relationship with the abuser was 8.1 years. Characteristics of Battered Women Who Involved the Police A vast majority of the sample (78%) were involved with the police at least one time related to the abuse they

experienced (see Table 1). About half (54.2%, N=52) reported police involvement rarely to occasionally. About one fourth (24%, N=23) reported police involvement frequently to very frequently. Bivariate analyses were conducted to determine the characteristics of battered women who were involved with the police (see Table 1). Among the demographic variables, only the length of the relationship with the abuser (F=3.6, p=.009) was significantly associated with womens police involvement. A pattern was observed from this finding that a shorter relationship with an abuser seemed to be linked to more frequent police involvement. Regarding violencerelated variables, which include weapon use and frequency of abuse, no variables were significantly related to police involvement (See Table 2). In terms of DV outcome variables, both womens physical injury (F=5.1, p=.001) and functionality (F=2.3, p=.070) showed significant and marginally significant (within 10% for functionality)

Table 1 Demographic characteristics by police involvement

Never % or Meana Police Involvement Woman Age (at the time of interview) Race African American Caucasian Other Education High school/GED or less Some College or Higher Income Less than $10 k $10 k$30 k More than $30 k Abuser Age (at the time of interview) Race African American Caucasian Other Relationship Relationship with Perpetrator Partner Spouse Boyfriend Others Length of Relationship
a b

Rarely to occasionally N 21 21 6 8 7 11 10 8 4 7 21 8 5 5 % or Meana 54.2 34.3 (3.0) 48.5 66.7 33.3 48.9 59.2 59.6 57.6 33.3 36.9 (3.3) 45.5 65.6 50.0 N 52 52 16 30 6 23 29 28 19 4 52 15 21 8

Frequently to very frequently % or Meana 24.0 33.3 (3.0) 33.3 15.6 27.8 27.7 20.4 23.4 30.3 8.3 36.0 (2.8) 30.2 18.8 18.8 N 23 23 11 7 5 13 10 11 10 1 23 10 6 3

Total % or Meana 100.0 34.0 (.8) 34.4 46.9 18.8 49.0 51.0 51.1 35.9 13.0 35.8 (.9) 40.7 39.5 19.8 N 96 96 33 45 18

2 or Fb

21.9 34.8 (2.2) 18.2 17.8 38.9 23.4 20.4 17.0 21.1 58.3 34.6 (2.0) 44.4 27.8 27.8

.3 13.2

.860 .104

1.4 47 49 13.7 47 33 12 96 33 32 16 11.4 20.0 25.0 23.3 0 12 (2.0) 1 10 7 0 21 20.0 57.5 56.7 83.3 7.3 (1.0) 1 23 17 5 52 60.0 17.5 26.7 16.7 5.1 (1.5) 3 7 8 1 23 6.2 49.4 37.0 7.4 8.1 (.7) 5 40 30 6 96 3.6 .6 7.1

.838

.090

.691 .521

.497

.009

Numbers are in percent for categorical variables and in means for continuous variables. Standard Errors (S.E.) are in parentheses Numbers are chi-square values for categorical variables and F values for continuous variables

200 Table 2 Violence-related and DV outcome variables by police involvement

Never Rarely to occasionally N % or Mean (SE)a N Frequently to very frequently % or Mean (SE)a N Total

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2 or Fb

% or Mean (SE)a Weapon use No Yes Frequency of Abuse Womens Physical Injury Womens Functionality
a b

% or Mean (SE)a

N 1.9 .749

25.0 19.6 4.9 (.3) 7.8 (.7) 15.0 (.9)

10 11 21 21 21

57.5 51.8 4.1 (.3) 9.2 (.5) 14.8 (.7)

23 29 52 52 52

17.5 28.6 4.5 (.5) 10.8 (.9) 16.7 (.9)

7 16 23 23 23

41.7 58.3 4.4 (.2) 9.3 (.3) 15.3 (.4)

40 56 96 96 96 1.1 5.1 2.3 .342 .001 .070

Numbers are in percent for categorical variables and in means for continuous variables. Standard Errors (S.E.) are in parentheses Numbers are chi-square values for categorical variables and F values for continuous variables

association with womens police involvement. More frequent physical injury and functional impairment seem to be connected with more frequent police involvement. Factors that Predict Police Involvement Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the degree to which a set of control and independent variables statistically predicts womens police involvement after the abusive incidents (see Table 3). Before the analyses, the possibilities of multicollinearity among independent variables were checked by inspecting Pearsons correlation coefficients (see Appendix B). The highest correlation coefficient was .51 between womans age and the length of relationship, and no pairs of independent variables offered a high correlation that might result in the problem of multicollinearity. In the first step, control variables were entered into the regression, with a dependent variable of frequency of womens police involvement; womens demographic characteristics were entered and these variables explained 16.1% (p<.01) of the variability in womens police involvement. Only length of relationship significantly contributed to the model (p<.001). In the next step, violence-related variables (weapon use and frequency of abuse) were entered, and these variables were not significantly related to the dependent variable. In the third step, the DV outcome womens physical injurywas added, and this variable increased the statistical prediction to 27.2% (p<.01), and it was significantly related to police involvement (p<.01). The more frequently women were physically injured, the more likely women involved the police. In the final step, the addition of womens functionality increased the statistical prediction to 31.5% (p<.05), and it also is significantly associated with police involvement (p<.05). The more frequently womens functionality was impacted, the more likely women involved the police. Length of relationship (p<.01) remained significant in all four steps.

The less time women had been in a relationship with abusers, the more likely women were to involve the police. Bivariate analysis showed a marginally significant relationship between functionality and police involvement, but the relationship was significant at a multivariate level. Interaction terms were fitted into the final model to test if one or more factors of demographic or violence-related variables would moderate the impact of functionality on police involvement. All of the interaction terms tested in the final step were, however, not significant for the outcome variable. Thus, the final model with interaction terms was not reported in Table 3.

Discussion The current study explored the role of DV outcomes, including physical impairment as well as social functioning, in influencing battered womens seeking help from the police. Our findings confirmed that the majority of battered women receiving DV services (80%) had sought help from the police at least one time after a DV incident. Battered women in our study were more likely to involve the police if they experienced a more severe physical injury or impairment. This supports the findings of Thompson and Kingree (2006) as well as Bonomi et al. (2006) that women are more likely to contact the police if they experience severe violence resulting in a physical injury. Our study also indicates that battered women are more likely to seek help from the police if they have greater functional limitations, defined in this study as the ability to participate in social functions, such as child-rearing and maintaining relationships with family and friends. While the significant relationship of physical injury with police involvement is well-documented in DV literature, the influence of womens social functioning on police involvement has received much less attention; social functioning has not been considered to be a factor in

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.370** .254* .274* .111 Beta .149 .042 .006 .178 .187

201

police involvement to the same degree that physical, emotional, or psychological impairments have. This may be because a physical injury or impairment is easily tied to a specific DV incident, whereas a social functioning limitation might be tied to ongoing or repeated incidents. Different from physical impairments, limitations of womens functional abilities may be hidden, so police may not recognize these functional limitations when they arrive at a specific DV incident. There might be a tendency for the police to focus on the more obvious physical impairments, or even the less obvious psychological impairments, rather than the related functional limitations women are experiencinglimitations that perhaps have arisen from ongoing or multiple DV incidents. Likewise, those working in DV services may not be aware of the concept of functional limitations, as most have had little training or experience in the field of disabilities (Chang et al. 2003; Nosek and Howland 1998). As our findings show that functional limitations are a critical factor in a womans decision to seek police help, both police and DV agencies need to have awareness of the concept of functional limitations, within a broader context of understanding disability. In particular, police should consider asking women questions regarding functional limitations as well as physical impairments, recognizing that these functional limitations may have been an important factor that led a woman to seek police help. Further, DV agencies should have training on understanding disability in a broader contextincluding impairments, activity limitations and functional limitationsand collaborate with disability organizations that can help battered women who are experiencing any type of impairment or limitation resulting from abuse. While our research aims do not focus on the role of length of relationship in involving police, it must be pointed out that our findings revealed socio-demographic variables, such as length of relationship, as the strongest predictor for battered womens police involvement. The longer women had been in a relationship with perpetrators, the less likely women were to get the police involved. It is not surprising that a womans longer commitment to a relationship would be related to decreased police involvement in that battered women might want to save their relationship even in a situation of DV. Women may have already invested many years in their relationship and have a history of family events and joint tasks completed together. They might also seek help from somewhere other than from the police because of their general view and attitude toward the police. Research supports that battered women tend to consider police intervention in a DV incident as a risk to maintaining an intimate relationship with the perpetrator (Wolf et al. 2003). Thus, battered women might be reluctant to ask for help from the police,

.043

.018

.247

S.E.

.336

.240

.019

.232

.082

.038 4.400(9,86)***

Step 4

.261

.448

.097

.066

.013

.142

Coef

.366**

.073

.063

Beta

.006

.085

.227

.011

.018

S.E.

.251

.325

.240

.020

.238

.077

.040

.356**

4.063(8,87)***

.435***

.100

Beta

.060

.068

.028

.241

.019

S.E.

.266

.345

.253

.020

.082

.045

.204

2.595(7,88)*

Step 2

.141

.204

.067

.078

.036

Coef.

Table 3 Multiple regression on police involvement (N=96)

Beta

.084

.093

.020

.019

S.E.

.258

.329

.251

.020

.440***

.197

Step 1

.197

.278

.048

.078

3.459(5,90)**

.030

.161

Coef.

Education (Ref. = high school or less)

.115

.525(2,88)

.031

.239

.171

.105

.010

12.062(1,87)**

Step 3

.172

.189

.025

.065

.015

.067

.035

.140

.272

.205

Coef.

.101

5.438(1,86)*

.100

.029

.089

.315

.244

.043

Womens Agea

R2

F (df) for Change in R2

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

Womens Race (Ref. = African American)

Weapon Use (Ref. = no use of weapon)

Womens Physical Injury

Length of Relationship

Frequency of Abuse

Womens Functionality

Change in R2

Adjusted R2

- Caucasian

- Other

F (df)

Age at the time of interview

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J Fam Viol (2010) 25:195204

particularly when they already have a long-lasting relationship with the perpetrator. While this study identifies important findings in battered womens help-seeking, there are some limitations that might influence the results of this study. First, the sample size of this study is relatively small due to the difficulties in reaching battered women through community agencies. Thus, caution should be used when generalizing the findings to all battered women. Further, the sampling method of this study also limits the generalizability. Because the sample was limited to battered women who already sought help from the domestic violence agencies, there is a chance that the sample might be a biased one that only reflects the help-seeking behaviors of those who had experienced severe violence or who were more active help-seekers. This study would have benefitted from studying two dimensions of functionality: physical and social functioning. While the data from this study did not allow us to look at these two forms of functional ability, future studies should consider using IADLs and ADLs, alongside type and severity of impairment, as variables to measure outcomes of DV. The timing of assessment of the variables is another limitation. To avoid ethical dilemmas of avoiding CPS reporting mandates related to child maltreatment, interviews focused on past incidents that happened at least 12 months prior to the interview date. While this was useful for this reason, it might have resulted in inaccuracy in victims assessment of their physical injury, functional impairment, or police involvement, thus limiting the studys reliability and validity. Appendix A

Finally, we do not know the detailed pathways of how battered women choose to involve the police, because the main focus of the current study is to examine factors related to the frequency of battered womens police involvement rather than investigating the actual process of involvement. Further research using qualitative methods would help to explore the trajectories of police involvement by battered women. This approach would provide information regarding in what contexts battered women call or involve the police and what the relative influences of injury outcomes and functionality on battered womens police involvement are. This information would enable helping professionals in law enforcement and DV agencies to conduct more comprehensive and accurate assessments in the process of assisting battered women. Ultimately, with this comprehensive information, helping professionals can better serve battered women through timely referrals to appropriate medical and social services, which will assist women in coping with the physical, psychological and social participation effects of DV.
Acknowledgments The David & Lucile Packard Foundation and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (MIN-55-019) funded this research. The Principal Investigators were Jeffrey L. Edleson and Sandra K. Beeman. The authors wish to thank the staff of the Domestic Abuse Project, Inc. in Minneapolis, La Opportunidad in St. Paul, the Womens Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, the Support Network for Battered Women in Mountain View, CA, and the Family Place in Dallas for their collaboration in this study.

Table 4 Descriptive analysis on womens injury outcome and the impact on womens functionality
Items Frequency (%) Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very frequently

Womens Physical Injury Outcome How often did you have a sprain, bruise, or small cut because of a fight with your partner? How often did you feel physical pain that still hurt the next day because of a fight with your partner? How often did you pass out from being hit on the head by your partner in a fight? How often did you need to see a doctor because of a fight with your partner, but didnt? How often did you go to a doctor because of a fight with your partner? How often did you have a broken bone from a fight with your partner? Impact on Womens Functionality How often did the abuse you experienced affect your ability to be the kind of parent you wanted to be for your children? How often did the abuse you experienced affect your ability to do what you felt was needed around the house? How often did the abuse you experienced affect your ability to maintain other family relationships? How often did the abuse you experienced affect your friendships with others outside your family? 4 (3.6) 8 (7.3) 8 (7.3) 7 (6.4) 11 (10.0) 18 (16.4) 11 (10.0) 30 (27.3) 3 (2.8) 4 (3.6) 25 (22.9) 15 (13.6) 43 (39.1) 28 (25.5) 35 (32.1) 36 (32.7) 34 (30.9) 33 (30.0) 38 (34.9) 48 (43.6) 14 (12.6) 25 (22.5) 33 (29.7) 9 (8.1) 18 (16.2) 27 (24.3) 26 (23.4) 41 (36.9) 1 (0.9) 15 (13.5) 7 (6.3) 2 (1.8) 13 (11.7) 16 (14.4) 2 (1.8) 7 (6.3) 2 (1.8) 0 (0.0)

63 (56.8) 35 (31.5) 10 (9.0) 34 (30.6) 36 (32.4) 19 (17.1) 47 (42.3) 43 (38.7) 12 (10.8) 77 (69.4) 25 (22.5) 7 (6.3)

J Fam Viol (2010) 25:195204

203

Appendix B

Table 5 Correlation table

Police involvement Womens age Education Length of relationship Weapon use Frequency of abuse Physical injury Functionality Police Involvement Womens Age Education Weapon Use Frequency of Abuse Physical Injury Functionality .032 .027 .126 .057 .386*** .233* .408*** .514*** .100 .107 .244* .074 .190 .018 .027 .162 .171 .101 .018 .275** .029 .164 .337** .138 .168 .454*** .354***

Length of Relationship .350**

*p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001

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