U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Neighborhood Characteristics as Predictors of Male to Female and Female to Male Partner Violence

NCJ Number
235066
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 25 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2010 Pages: 1986-2009
Author(s)
Raul Caetano; Suhasini Ramisetty-Mikler; T. Robert Harris
Date Published
November 2010
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article examines the association between neighborhood characteristics and male-to-female (MFPV) and female-to-male (FMPV) partner violence.
Abstract
This article examines the association between neighborhood characteristics at the census tractlevel, couples' perceived neighborhood social cohesion and informal social control, and male-to-female (MFPV) and female-to-male (FMPV) partner violence in the United States. Data come from a second wave of interviews (2000) with a national sample of couples 18 years of age and older who were first interviewed in 1995. The path analysis shows that poverty is associated with perceived social cohesion and perceived social control as hypothesized. However, there is no significant mediation effect for social control or social cohesion on any type of violence. In the path analysis, Black ethnicity is associated with social cohesion, which is associated with MFPV. Intimate partner violence (IPV), as a form of domestic violence, may not be as concentrated in high-poverty neighborhoods as criminal violence. IPV may be more determined by personal and dyadic characteristics than criminal violence. (Published Abstract)