Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

An Exploratory Investigation: Post-disaster Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Clinical Social Work Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Disaster significantly increases the prevalence and severity of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, with empirical evidence suggesting a decrease in access to social services and social networks available post disaster. This study examines the compounded vulnerability of IPV victims post-disaster by identifying the predictors of IPV and the perceived level of social and emotional support of IPV victims after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Using a sample size of 29,480, data for the study was derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Gulf States Population Survey. A binary logistic regression analysis indicated that: (1) Respondents directly impacted by the oil spill were about twice as likely to experience both physical and emotional IPV; (2) Respondents who experienced both emotional and physical IPV were 5 times more likely to feel they “rarely or never” received the social and emotional support they needed post-disaster. Victims of disaster experiencing IPV exhibit an increased vulnerability and a particular set of needs. There is currently a gap between these unique needs and resources available to IPV victims during and post-disasters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anastario, M., Larrance, R., & Lawry, L. (2008). Using mental health indicators to identify postdisaster gender-based violence among women displaced by hurricane katrina. Journal of Women’s Health, 17(9), 1437–1444.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Arata, C. M., Picou, J. S., Johnson, G. D., & McNally, T. S. (2000). Coping with technological disaster: An application of the conservation of resources model to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 13(1), 23–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ausbrooks, C. Y. B., Barrett, E. J., & Martinez-Cosio, M. (2009). Ethical issues in disaster research: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Population Research and Policy Review, 28(1), 93–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, L. R., & Cormier, L. A. (2015). Disasters and vulnerable populations Evidence-based practice for the helping professions. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bari, F. (1998). Gender, disaster, and empowerment: A case study from Pakistan. California: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., Davis, I., & Wisner, B. (1994). At risk: Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability, and disasters. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolin, R. C. (1994). Household and community recovery after earthquakes. Institute of Behavioral Science: University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolin, R., & Stanford, L. (1998). The northridge earthquake: Community-based approaches to unmet recovery needs. Disasters, 22(1), 21–38.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bragin, M. (2011). Clinical social work in situations of disaster and terrorism. In J. Brandel (Ed.), Theory and practice in clinical social work (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buttell, F. P., & Carney, M. M. (2009). Examining the impact of Hurricane Katrina on police responses to domestic violence. Traumatology: An International Journal, 15(2), 6–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, T. (2000). Vulnerability analysis in disasters. In D. Parker (Ed.), Floods (pp. 43–55). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, T., Rowell, J., & Twigg, J. (2000). Social vulnerability, sustainable livelihoods and disasters. Report to conflict and humanitarian assistance Cape Town. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemens, P., Hietala, J. R., Rytter, M. J., Schmidt, R. A., & Reese, D. J. (1999). Risk of domestic violence after flood impact: Effects of social support, age, and history of domestic violence. Applied Behavioral Science Review, 7(2), 199–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutter, S., Boruff, B., & Shirley, W. L. (2003). Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social Science Quarterly, 84, 242–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devi, S. (2010). Anger and anxiety on the gulf coast. The Lancet, 376(9740), 503–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutton, D. (2007). Female intimate partner violence and developmental trajectories of abusive families. International Journal of Men’s Health, 6, 54–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, A., Zoppou, C., Nielsen, O., Day, S., & Roberts, S. (2004). Quantifying social vulnerability: A methodology for identifying those at risk to natural hazards. Record: Geoscience Australia. 14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enarson, E., & Chakrabarti, P. D. (Eds.). (2009). Women, gender and disaster: Global issues and initiatives. SAGE Publications India.

  • Enarson, E., Fothergill, A., & Peek, L. (2007). Gender and disaster: Foundations and directions. In H. Rodríguez, E. L. Quarantelli, & R. R. Dynes (Eds.), Handbook of disaster research (pp. 130–146). Springer.

  • Enarson, E., & Morrow, B. (1998). The gendered terrain of disaster. New York: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enarson, E., & Scanlon, J. (1999). Gender patterns in flood evacuation: A case study in Canada’s red river valley. Applied Behavioral Science Review, 7(2), 103–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enarson, E. P. (2012). Women confronting natural disaster: From vulnerability to resilience (1st ed.). Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner Pub.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ersing, R. L., & Kost, K. (2011). Surviving disaster: The role of social networks. Chicago, IL: Lyceum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2008). ESF #6—Mass care, emergency assistance, housing, and human services annex. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/nrf/nrf-esf-06.pdf.

  • Flanagan, B. E., Gregory, E. W., Hallisey, E. J., Heitgerd, J. L., & Lewis, B. (2011). A social vulnerability index for disaster management. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. doi:10.2202/1547-7355.1792.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, B. D., Osofsky, H. J., & Lichtveld, M. Y. (2011). The gulf oil spill. New England Journal of Medicine, 364(14), 1334–1348.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harville, E. W., Taylor, C. A., Tesfai, H., Xiong, X., & Buekens, P. (2011). Experience of Hurricane Katrina and reported intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(4), 833–845.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, P., & Phillips, B. (2008a). Battered women, catastrophe, and the context of safety after Hurricane Katrina. NWSA Journal, 20(3), 49–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, P., & Phillips, B. (2008b). Domestic violence and hurricane Katrina. Katrina and the Women of New Orleans, 20(3), 65–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, M. R., & Blanchard, T. C. (2012). Community attachment and negative affective states in the context of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. American Behavioral Scientist56(1), 24–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mechanic, M. B., Weaver, T. L., & Resick, P. A. (2008). Mental health consequences of intimate partner abuse a multidimensional assessment of four different forms of abuse. Violence Against Women14(6), 634–654.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mileti, D. (1999). Disasters by design: A reassessment of natural hazards in the United States. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, B. H. (1999). Identifying and mapping community vulnerability. Disasters, 23(1), 11–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrow, B. H., & Phillips, B. (1999). What’s gender got to do with it? International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 17(1), 5–11.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Myers, D., & Wee, D. F. (2005). Disaster mental health services. New York, NY: Routhledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newman, E., Risch, E., & Kassam-Adams, N. (2006). Ethical issues in trauma-related research: A review. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 1(3), 29–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, F. (2005). Range, magnitude, and duration of the effects of disasters on mental health: Review update 2005. Dartmouth: Dartmouth Medical School and National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

  • Norris, F. H. (2014). Disasters and domestic violence. National Center for PTSD. Retrieved from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/disaster-terrorism/disasters-domestic-violence.asp

  • Norris, F. H., Friedman, M. J., Watson, P. J., Byrne, P. J., Diaz, C. M., & Kaniasty, K. (2002). 60 000 disaster victims speak: Part I. An empirical review of the empirical literature. 1981–2001. Psychiatry, 65, 207–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peacock, W. G., Morrow, B. H., & Gladwin, H. (1997). Hurricane Andrew: Ethnicity, gender, and the sociology of disasters. Hove: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, et al. (2010). Violence and disaster vulnerability. In B. Phillips, D. Thomas, A. Fotherfill, & L. Blinn-Pike (Eds.), Social vulnerability to disasters (pp. 279–306). Boca Raton, FL: DRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pulido, L. (2000). Rethinking environmental racism: White privilege and urban development in Southern California. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 90(1), 12–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, J. A., Coffey, S. F., Norris, F. H., Tracy, M., Clements, K., & Galea, S. (2010). Intimate partner violence and Hurricane Katrina: Predictors and associated mental health outcomes. Violence and Victims, 25(5), 588–603.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • UCLA Center for Public Health and Disasters. (2006). Hazard Risk Assessment Instrument (HRAI).

  • Wilson, J., Phillips, B., & Neal, D. (1998). Domestic violence after disaster. The Gendered Terrain of Disaster, 115–122.

  • Wisner, B., Blaike, P., Cannon, T., & Davis, I. (2004). At risk, natural hazards, people’s vulnerability and disasters (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yun, K., Lurie, N., & Hyde, P. S. (2010). Moving mental health into the disaster-preparedness spotlight. New England Journal of Medicine, 363(13), 1193–1195. doi:10.1056/NEJMp1008304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katie Lauve-Moon.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lauve-Moon, K., Ferreira, R.J. An Exploratory Investigation: Post-disaster Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence. Clin Soc Work J 45, 124–135 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-015-0572-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-015-0572-z

Keywords

Navigation