Broken Hearts and Battered Lives: Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Abuse among Female Offenders

• In Event: Intimate Partner Violence: Diverse Perspectives

Abstract

General Strain Theory (GST) emphasizes that an individual’s coping responses to negative life experiences can contribute to criminal behavior. This paper will test and use a GST theoretical approach to examine the relationships between intimate partner violence (IPV), negative affective responses to stress, and the risk of substance abuse among incarcerated women. The paper will examine three research questions. (1) Does experiencing IPV increase negative emotional responses and the risk of heavy substance abuse among women? (2) Does childhood abuse increase negative emotional responses and the risk of heavy substance abuse among women? (3) Does the combined cumulative effect of both childhood abuse and IPV increase negative emotional responses and the risk of heavy substance abuse more so than IPV alone? The data used in this paper are from the Oklahoma Study of Incarcerated Women and Their Children, 2008 and 2009.

Author

• Melissa Jones, University of Oklahoma