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Does Separation or Divorce Make any Difference? An Interactional Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence with Focus on Marital Status

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Abstract

This article reports a study of the impact of marital status on interactional aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV) among help-seeking women. Are there differences among marital status groups concerning (a) other sociodemographic variables, (b) IPV categories, (c) interactional IPV variables, and (d) perception and interpretation of IPV? A representative sample of 157 women recruited from family counseling, the police, and shelters were interviewed. There was no significant sociodemographic difference among the marital status groups. There were no significant differences pertaining to IPV categories, neither for IPV severity, injury, duration, frequency, mortal danger, and regularity, nor for physical, psychological, or sexual IPV. However, multivariate logistic regression showed that post-separation women were significantly more likely to have (a) had longer duration since the last psychological and sexual IPV episode, (2) reported the physical IPV to be more predictable, and (3) used more active coping strategies against physical IPV. However, our research was not able to determine if perception and interpretation predict actual leaving behavior, or vice versa, or how the victim’s subjective perception and interpretation of the IPV changes over time.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement is due to all the women who, at a difficult time in their lives, volunteered to participate in this study; representatives of shelters, the police, and family counseling agencies who asked women to participate in the study; and Tron Anders Moger and Petter Laake for statistical advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, UllevĂĄl, Gaustad, Building 7, N-0407, Oslo, Norway

    Solveig Karin Bø Vatnar & Stål Bjørkly

  2. Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Molde University College, Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Oslo University Hospital, UllevĂĄl, Oslo, Norway

    Stål Bjørkly

Authors
  1. Solveig Karin Bø Vatnar
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  2. Stål Bjørkly
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Correspondence to Solveig Karin Bø Vatnar.

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Vatnar, S.K.B., Bjørkly, S. Does Separation or Divorce Make any Difference? An Interactional Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence with Focus on Marital Status. J Fam Viol 27, 45–54 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-011-9400-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-011-9400-6

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