Intimate Partner Violence and Drug Abuse Among Women (Research Paper Sample)

Intimate Partner violence and Drug Abuse among Women
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Intimate Partner violence and Drug Abuse among Women
1 Research Question Conceptualization
* Research question
How does intimate partner violence predispose women to drug abuse?
2 Brief statement describing the research problem
Violence against women has been the focal point of human rights for the last twenty years. The World Health Organization (WHO) posits that an intimate partner perpetrates violence against women. Women are subjected to four types of intimate partner violence. These include; sexual violence, physical violence, psychological aggression, and stalking. Studies posit that men face 4.4 assaults compared to women who face 6.9 assaults (Stone, R., & Rothman, 2019). There is a direct relationship between intimate partner violence and drug abuse. Intimate partners use different forms of violence to initiate women to drug abuse. Alternatively, women turn to drug abuse as a coping mechanism for the violence they face from their partners. Others are coerced by their intimate partners to engage in drug trafficking or face violent reactions. Studies illustrate that increasing drug consumption has physical, mental, and reproductive impacts on women. It also has severe consequences on public health.
The research questions highlight three primary components of the problem. Firstly, it highlights how violence exists in romantic relationships leading to intimate partner violence. Secondly, it highlights the role of violence in exposing women to drug abuse. Finally, it highlights societal negligence on domestic violence and drug abuse. Intimate partner violence and drug abuse primarily affect women and young girls. LeBlanc's Random Family gives a snippet on how domestic violence exposes women to drug abuse. Lourdes, one of the mothers mentioned in the story, is arrested for prostitution and drug abuse, leaving her pregnant daughter Coco in Jessica's care (LeBlanc, 2003). Similarly, Jessica was a stripper and consequently joined the drug trade through her boyfriend George. The FBI arrested Jessica and George, with the former serving ten years and the latter sentenced for life.
Intimate partner violence and drug abuse primarily affect women. The violence may be perpetrated by a spouse, former spouse, a child, a parent, or a relative. In most cases, women and children become direct and indirect victims of intimate partner violence (Simonelli et al., 2014). Physical violence involves choking, slapping, or using one's body to restrain the victim. Sexual violence against women involves rape, forcing a victim to penetrate another person and unwanted sexual contact. Stalking and cyberstalking of women raises fear about their safety. Psychological aggression against women affects their mental state of mind. Therefore, women may switch to drug abuse as a coping mechanism or a way of earning income and becoming independent of men.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) posits that social work aims at enhancing the well-being of the oppressed, vulnerable, and people living in poverty. Social work is founded on service, social justice, integrity, competence, human relationships, and dignity (Clark, 2013). The research question focuses on social justice and human relationships. It highlights how women are victims of intimate partner violence and the need to speak out against violence. Human relationships play an integral role in promoting a harmonious society. It is the role of social workers to promote healthy relationships between people and the well-being of families (Schultz et al., 2021). As such, the problem addressed by the research question fits well as a social work issue.
3 Literature Review
Over the last thirty years, IPV theories have been developed by researchers, social workers, feminists, and psychologists to explain how the phenomenon occurs. Intrapersonal theories focus on how an individual’s psychological and biological functioning influence the development of interpersonal problems (Figueredo et al., 2012). These theories also highlight how an individual’s experiences in relationships affect them over time. For instance, the social learning theory developed by Bandura explains how a child learns both positive and negative from model adults in one’s life (Figueredo et al., 2012). The child ends up copying the traits shown by the adult. As such, both perpetrators and victims of IPV have been repeatedly exposed to both positive and negative traits from adult role model adults in their life. Studies in clinical populations posit that men who propagate IPV and their victims come from insecure attachment relationships.
The attachment theory attempts to explain how relationships formed during a child’s early years act as a model for future adult relationships. Healthy parent-child relationships secure healthy future adult relationships with stability (Figueredo et al., 2012). Conversely, unhealthy parent-child relationships lead to unstable attachments which are neglectful, unpredictable, or abusive. Such children fail to have the environment to develop a secure base. Disruptions in childhood attachment set the tone for a troubled adulthood. Troubled children are more likely to engage in IPV as adults. Studies further posit that men who violently attack their wives had an unsympathetic and harsh childhood (Figueredo et al., 2012). Similarly, most battered wives were victims of households full of rejection. Such women often leave their abusive fathers and end up marrying men like him.
Studies highlight that the overwhelming victims of IPV are women regardless of their culture, socioeconomic status, and religion. Unlike women, men are more likely to experience violence from acquaintances or strangers than people close to them. Women, in most cases, engage in violent acts as a form of self-defense or when in same-sex partnerships (Abramsky et al., 2012). In heterosexual partnerships, women face violence from ex-partners or intimate partners. Population-based surveys by the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from nine countries reported that cases of physical violence ranged between 18% to 48%, whereas sexual violence was 4% to 17% (World Health Organization, 2012). Notably, physical IPV cases are often accompanied by sexual and emotional IPV.
Despite leaving with violent partners, most women find it hard to leave them. Most women who suffer from IPV develop strategies that maximize their safety and that of their children while remaining in that abusive setup. Women facing IPV fear the retaliation that comes with leaving an abusive partner (World Health Organization, 2012). Most women in violent relationships are not economically empowered and therefore lack alternative means of sustenance. Additionally, women who are not financially empowered fear how they can support their children. Sometimes, most women hope that their partners will change in the long run (World Health Organization, 2012). However, that is not necessarily the case. Women remain in violent relationships due to stigma, lack of support from family, and the possibility of losing child custody.
IPV, like other forms of violence, results from a four-level ecological model. These levels are individual, relationship, community, and societal. Research into these levels provides insight into the variation in prevalence rates. Individual factors that increase a man’s likelihood of engaging in violence include; low education levels, age, personality disorders, history of being a violent person, and drug and alcohol abuse (World Health Organization, 2012). Women who become victims of IPV are likely to have; low education levels, exposure to abuse in the past, and acceptance of violence.
There are common relationship factors that expose both men and women to IPV. These include; male dominance in a family setup, economic stress, conflicts in a relationship, disparity in education levels particularly when the woman is more learned, and a man having multiple partners (World Health Organization, 2012). The final tier is the communal and societal factors. According to multiple studies, there are common societal and communal factors predisposing both men and women to IPV. They include; poverty, women with low SES, societal acceptance of violence, gender norms that favor men, the lack of adequate women civil rights, and weak community approaches to IPV (World Health Organization, 2012). As such, women turn to drug abuse as an economic activity for sustenance and coping mechanism.
4 The importance of the research problem in the context of social work service delivery
The communities affected by intimate partner violence and drug abuse among women are the minorities. Notably, African-Americans communities have historically been victims of systemic racism by being denied access to health resources and education (Snowden, 2018). They were also denied equal learning opportunities as compared to other minorities (Language, n.d). The lack of opportunities made Black men abandon their families and engage in deviant behaviors such as the drug trade to earn income. Latinos too face a similar scenario (Roye et al., 2013). The issue has been addressed in the past. For instance, the Black Medical Movement was founded to address