Skip to main content
Log in

Racial differences among shelter residents: A comparison of anglo, black, and hispanic battered

  • Published:
Journal of Family Violence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The implications of racial differences for shelter services has become an increasing concern with the expansion and development of shelters for battered women. This study employs bivariate cross-tabulations and discriminant analysis of shelter intake and exit interviews to determine the most influential variables in differentiating anglo, black, and hispanic women. The groups appear to be differentiated most by income and marital related variables, and very little by abuse and help-seeking variables. The findings suggest that the greatest differences overall are between anglo and hispanic women, and that additional economic and educational supports need to be directed to the hispanic group.

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.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aschenbrenner, J. (1975).Lifelines: Black Families in Chicago, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, C. (1981). Black Americans and the cross-cultural counselling and psychotherapy experience. In Marsella, J., Pedersen, P. (eds.),Cross-Cultural Counselling and Psychotherapy, Pergamon, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowker, L. (1983).Beating Wife Beating, Lexington Books, Lexington, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cannon, M., and Locke, B. (1977). Being Black is detrimental to one's mental health: Myth or reality?Phylon 38: 408–428.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cazenave, N. A., and Straus, M. A. (1979). Race, class, network embeddedness and family violence: A search for potent support sytems.J. Comp. Fam. Studies 10(3): 281–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuellar, I., Harries, L. C., and Jasso, R. (1980). An acculturation scale for Mexican normal and clinical populations.Hisp. J. Behav. Sci. 3: 199–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, L., Acosta, F., Yamamoto, J. Hurwicz, M. (1986). Patient requests: Correlates and therapeutic implications for Hispanic, Black and Caucasian patients.J. Clin. Psychol. 42: 1: 213–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, J. (1969). Negroes and Whites and rates of mental illness: Reconsideration of a myth.Psychiatry 32: 428–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisbie, W. P. (1986). Variation in patterns of marital instability among Hispanics.J. Marr. Fam. 48: 99–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelfand, D., and Fandetti, D. (1986). The emergent nature of ethnicity: Dilemmas in assessment.Social Casework 66: 4: 542–550.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gondolf, E., (in press). Social services and shelter outcome: The overriding influence of batterer counseling.J. Interper. Viol.

  • Keefe, S. (1982). Help-seeking behavior among foreign-born and native-born Mexian Americans.Social Sci. Med. 16: 1467–1472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kravits, J., and Schneider, J. (1975). Health care need and actual use by age, race, and income. In Anderson, R., Kravits, J., and Anderson, O. (eds.),Equity in Health Services, Ballinger, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazare, A., Eisenthal, S., Wasserman, L., and Harford, T. (1975). Patient requests in a walkin clinic.Comp. Psychiat. 16: 467–477.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdoo, H. (1978). Factors related to stability in upward mobility Black families.J. Marr. Fam. 40: 762–778.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinlay, J. (1975). The help seeking behavior of the poor. In Kosa, J. and Zola, I. (eds.),Poverty and Health: A Sociological Analysis (second edition), Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neighbors, H., and Jackson, J. (1984). The use of informal and formal help: Four patterns of illness behavior in the Black community.Am. J. Commun. Psychol. 12: 6: 629–644.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neighbors, H. (1984). Professional help use among Black Americans: Implications for unmet need.Am. J. Comm. Psychol. 12: 5: 551–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen, R. (1980). Social class, social learning, and wife abuse.Social Service Rev. 53: 390–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schechter, S. (1982).Women and Male Violence: The Visions and Struggles of the Battered Women's Movement, South End Press, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stack, C. (1974).All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in the Black Community, Harper and Row, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, R. (1986). Receipt of support from family among Black Americans: Demographic and familial differences.J. Marr. Fam. 48: 67–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres, S. (in press). A comparative analysis of wife abuse among Anglo-American and Mexican-American battered women: Attitudes, nature and extent, and response to the abuse.Victimology.

  • Walker, L. (1984).The Battered Woman Syndrome, Springer, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, D. (1981).Helping Networks: How People Cope with Problems in the Urban Community, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Ind.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, E. C. (1985).Chain, Chain, Change, Seal Press, Seattle, Wash.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, W., and Sherrets, S. (1984). Requests for outpatient mental health services: A comparison of Whites and Blacks.Comprehen. Psychiatry 25: 3: 329–334.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gondolf, E.W., Fisher, E. & McFerron, J.R. Racial differences among shelter residents: A comparison of anglo, black, and hispanic battered. J Fam Viol 3, 39–51 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00994665

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00994665

Key words

Navigation