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Cycles Within Cycles: Domestic Violence, Welfare, and Low-Wage Work

NCJ Number
202460
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 9 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2003 Pages: 1245-1262
Author(s)
Holly Bell
Date Published
October 2003
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the cyclical nature of women’s relationships with violent partners, and employment.
Abstract
Women in violent relationships often leave their abusers only to cycle back into the relationship several times before leaving permanently. Many low-income women combine or cycle between welfare and low-wage work. This study describes how these cycles intersect in the lives of 17 low-income women that were victims of domestic violence. The research explores the intersection of three areas of research. The first is why some women repeatedly leave and return to abusive relationships. The second documents low-income women’s cycling between welfare and work. The third focuses on the intersection of welfare reform and domestic violence. The study was based on interviews with a subset of 75 women from the San Antonio site of a larger ongoing study. The results show that few women that had children with abusive partners were able to sever their ties because their need for financial and emotional support in caring for their children was great. It appeared easier to separate from a violent man with whom a woman did not have children. Those with children by their abusers had to try to negotiate financial and emotional support in caring for their children as they themselves tried to negotiate work, welfare, or both. This often involved cycling in and out of the relationship as they either continued to try to “make it” with their partners or abandon the idea of a romantic partnership but continued to try to parent their children with them. The women’s economic situations were unstable. The low-wage work available to them had irregular hours, mostly at night and on weekends. It did not fit most child care hours and did not allow time off for sick children or mandatory visits to public assistance agencies. As a result, many women cycled between this type of work and public assistance to make ends meet. Abusers’ harassment of women at the workplace was illustrated by the stories of the women interviewed. 2 notes, 28 references

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