Exploring "Dynamic Neighborhood Abuse Contexts": A Multitheoretical Analysis of Chicago Intimate Partner Violence Trajectories

• In Event: Critical Theory and Violence: New Areas and Approaches

Abstract

In 2021, there was a 55% increase in the number of domestic abuse protection orders issued in Chicago. A neighborhood’s capacity to reduce IPV depends on whether structural characteristics hinder social control processes responsible for social integration (i.e., social disorganization theory). Survivors’ access to structural resources can either reduce exposure to (i.e., exposure reduction hypothesis), or increase opportunities for (i.e., retaliation hypothesis), IPV. Group-based trajectory modeling was utilized to uncover heterogeneity across 800 Chicago neighborhoods from 2012-2021 revealing three distinct IPV trajectory groups among a majority Black sample. Public assistance, residential instability, low education, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity findings demonstrate mixed support for social disorganization theory. Unique outcomes specific to buses, daycares, physicians, and IPV resources suggest varying patterns of exposure reduction and retaliation. We utilize a “Dynamic Neighborhood Abuse Context” conceptual framework that incorporates intersectional/structural oppression to contextualize results.

Authors

• Shannon B. Harper, Iowa State University

• Amanda Goodson, The University of Texas at El Paso

• Angela Gover, University of Colorado Denver