Postseparation Domestic Violence in Affluent Families: The Role of the Court System

• In Event: System Responses to Domestic and Family Violence: Critical Perspectives

Abstract

Domestic violence (DV) continues for some women postseparation, as leaving is a direct threat to male control and dominance. Mothers are particularly at risk since they often must maintain contact with abusive former partners. Despite the scarcity of research on DV in upper-middle/upper socioeconomic statuses (hereafter referred to as affluent), affluent women might be at increased risk for postseparation DV given the abusers’ financial ability to engage in prolonged divorce and custody disputes. To address these gaps in the literature, the present study qualitatively examined mothers’ postseparation DV experiences with the court system from the perspective of ten mothers and seventeen service providers from one Midwestern community. Affluent mothers, previously married to high status husbands, experienced a tremendous amount of ongoing DV, including physical violence and coercive control tactics, such as financial and legal abuse (e.g., hiding money, filing false motions, hiring and firing expensive custody evaluators) and manipulating children (e.g., bribing children with material goods) and court professionals (e.g., threats of slander) to side with them. These mothers’ experiences operated within raced White, gendered, and class-ordered power relations that created an intersection of privilege and disadvantage.

Authors

• Megan Haselschwerdt, Auburn University

• Jennifer Hardesty, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign