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Battered Women, Children, and Welfare Reform: The Ties That Bind

NCJ Number
185940
Editor(s)
Ruth A. Brandwein
Date Published
1999
Length
197 pages
Annotation
This collection of essays examines issues that arise when women and children who are victims of domestic violence perpetrated by the male partner/parent attempt to break the bond of financial dependence on the abuser by relying on public assistance; issues are discussed in the context of current Federal and State welfare reform legislation.
Abstract
The introductory chapter addresses the links between partner abuse and welfare, followed by two chapters that review the current literature in the field and provide examples of how abuse makes and keeps women poor and financially vulnerable. A chapter explores the issue of how partner abuse creates the need for welfare, as it examines poverty and the economic pressures facing battered women. A third chapter explores how continuing domestic violence keeps women poor and prevents them from leaving welfare. Chapter 4 summarizes the editor's own research, which shows how application for welfare is closely linked in time with domestic violence incidents. Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive review of the child-support features of the new Federal law and how they will affect survivors of domestic violence. Suggestions are offered for how the legislation should be operationalized to minimize potential danger to women and their children. Chapter 6 provides firsthand examples of the links between violence and welfare, as well as suggestions for policy and practice. Chapter 7 is a compilation of firsthand experience by three women who are survivors of family violence and who have also had to use the welfare system. Part III of the book contains three chapters that pertain to child abuse and the use of welfare. The final chapter summarizes what is known in the field, discusses the policy implications of current welfare legislation and the possible effects on survivors of abuse; recommendations for alternative short-term and long-term policies and programs are offered. For individual essays, see NCJ-185941-51. Chapter references and author and subject indexes

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