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Employment Maintenance Among Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence

Borchers, Andrea
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406898903

Abstract Details

2014, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Nursing: Nursing - Doctoral Program.
Intimate partner violence (IPV), is a major public health problem in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence of nearly 1 in 3 women (Black et al., 2011). Negative outcomes of IPV affect women’s ability to attain and maintain stable employment. However, workplace formal and informal supports have been shown to be associated with a significantly reduced risk of negative outcomes for these women (Coker et al., 2002). Although IPV prevalence and its effects on employment and health are well documented, how women who have experienced IPV attain and maintain employment has not been fully explored. The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretical framework that describes and explains the process by which women who have experienced IPV attain and maintain stable employment. Understanding this process is central to determining effective strategies to promote health and safety among this at-risk population. Grounded theory methods based on symbolic interactionism, guided the exploration of this psycho-social process. Thirty four women who had previously experienced IPV, as well as five community members, familiar with IPV and employment, were recruited by posting flyers in community settings throughout west central Ohio, and interviewed regarding this phenomenon. Charmaz’s (2006) approach was used to analyze data gathered through these interviews. Initial, focused, axial and theoretical coding was used to develop a theoretical framework that describes and explains the process of attaining and maintaining employment. Analysis of the transcripts suggests that women who have experienced IPV are able to attain employment; however, they have difficulty maintaining employment. Results suggest that women cannot have true job security and satisfaction while in an abusive relationship. All of the women experienced a period of time when the work itself was used as a source of control by the partner resulting in the intertwining of work and IPV. Initially, women attempted to maintain employment while in the violent relationship. Repeated attempts were made to separate the work and the IPV. Eventually, maintaining work and the relationship became impossible because the work and IPV were not just intertwined, they were entangled. All of the women in the study described ways in which work and IPV were entangled including the perpetrator controlling her appearance, sabotaging work, interfering with work and controlling finances. Some women described ways in which they disentangled work from IPV resulting in work being under her control, affording job security and satisfaction. This unravelling of work from IPV was described as a dynamic process with periods of re-entanglement. The study provides in-depth insight into how women who have experienced IPV attain and attempt to maintain employment which can be used to guide future research and interventions.
Donna Martsolf, Ph.D. R.N. (Committee Chair)
Bonnie Sue Fisher, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Rebecca Lee, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
128 p.
Occupational Safety
Intimate Partner Violence; Women and Employment; Women and Health; Women Maintaining Employment; Women Attaining Employment; Women and Employment Maintenance

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Borchers, A. (2014). Employment Maintenance Among Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406898903

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Borchers, Andrea. Employment Maintenance Among Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence. 2014. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406898903.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Borchers, Andrea. "Employment Maintenance Among Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Violence." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406898903

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1406898903
455
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.