Battered Women As Survivors

During 1988 in the USA, battered women's programmes took 58,000 telephone calls and sheltered 5407 women and children. For every woman sheltered another is turned away. "Battered Women as Survivors" documents the results of an urban field study of nine women who were victims of domestic violence. It reveals why the women stayed with, and eventually left, their violent partners; the response they received from family, friends, and professionals; what happened when they left their partners and entered the shelter. The study follows the women through the problems they face upon leaving the shelter, from homelessness and poverty through to the psychological effects of their situation. The author also addresses the theoretical, methodological, and policy implications of the work, including a follow-up study of the women's lives five years later.