In addition to race, there are several other so-called risk factors for being or becoming a victim of intimate partner abuse. These include earning low incomes, being divorced or separated, living in rental housing, and living in urban areas.40 However, Michael L. Benson and his co-authors criticized certain investigations,41 asserting that these studies did not consider that Blacks and Whites reside in different types of neighborhoods, which affects the levels of intimate partner abuse.42 Evan Stark and Anne Filtcraft report that unemployment, substance abuse, physical disabilities, unwanted pregnancies, AIDS, suicide, homicide, and the living conditions (including homelessness) of some Black women can be attributed to intimate partner abuse.43 Such findings indicate the importance of the need for intensive research on intimate partner abuse experienced by Black women because of multiple marginalization factors. Essentially, the findings suggest that the stress of being the object of disobliging racial discrimination and residing in distressed neighborhoods negatively impacts Blacks by adding to other life stressors and causing strain and conflict within intimate relationships.
Toward Understanding and Confronting Intimate Partner Abuse Against Black Women
Considering the rates of intimate partner abuse against Black women and seen against the relatively large amount of intimate partner abuse research carried out on White women, little research has been conducted specifically on battered Black women. Studies that include Black women in their samples often do no more than state this occurrence, and, particularly in statistical studies, minimal (if any) effort is made to address the experiences and concerns of Black women. Thus, the outcomes from the carefully planned and executed study detailed in this book provide a means of furthering the understanding of intimate partner abuse generally and the experiences of battered Black women specifically. Throughout this book, I address the major themes in the lives of battered Black women, the theoretical contribution of the current study, policy implications, and recommendations for ways we can respond to the issue so that we can continue to confront intimate partner abuse based on the accounts of all of the women affected by it.
In my study, the way of determining how Black women contend with intimate partner abuse is established from intensive interviews with 40 remarkable individuals who desired to share their stories of abuse, resistance, and triumph. I briefly describe the approach I employed to investigate heterosexual intimate partner abuse against Black women in Chapter 2. An extensive description of the research method and the women’s social backgrounds and demographics can be found in the Appendices.
The life histories gathered for this exploration, including the stories of the often perilous childhoods of many of the women conveyed in Chapter 4, provide a unique and significant window through which to view intimate partner abuse. My analysis establishes similarities and variations in the women’s experiences based on age, socioeconomic or wealth status, and education level of the women. While the women suffered from behaviors that are typically meted out by most batterers, regardless of race and ethnicity, in Chapter 5 I discuss the common abuses the women endured and their perceptions of their abusive male mates in order to provide an ample view into their lives.
Near the start of the process of gathering the women’s stories, a significant pattern emerged that was similar to the outlook depicted in Lola’s44 narrative at the opening of this chapter. Lola’s illustration of her existence as a Black woman in the United States eloquently describes the scope of this book: the acknowledgment of each woman’s multifaceted identity along with her individual experiences with intimate partner abuse. The conceptual model I developed from looking into the women’s lives, which I have called “dynamic resistance,” is evident throughout Lola’s passage and is discussed in Chapter 3, along with the women’s identification with the Strong Black Woman image. Dynamic resistance considers the numerous forms of domination and discrimination that confront battered Black women because of their abusive circumstances and their interwoven identities due to race, gender, and other social, cultural, and individual circumstances. The women’s self-perception as Strong Black Women, and not as victims, is considered to account for their efforts to resist abuse and other life distress. Included in this resistance is the propensity for the women to verbally and physically retaliate against their abusers, an important finding that is the focus of Chapter 6.
My assessment also led to the identification of presumably beneficial social and policy implications, which are implied throughout the book and summarized in the concluding chapter. The effectiveness of the various resources used by the women in my study—including family, friends, religion, spirituality, and social and public services—is examined in Chapter 7. The outcome of this work introduces and draws attention to ways to improve the well-being of battered Black women by providing important information for these women and their family and friends, as well as assisting the workers and volunteers in community organizations, the professionals in mental and physical health fields, the police who respond to intimate partner abuse calls, and the judges and attorneys who process these cases.
Taken as a whole, four overarching conclusions are emphasized in Battle Cries. First, the women’s physical abuse by and resistance against their batterers was often referred by the women as battling (or similar terms). There was a substantial rejection of the victim label, and referring to the abuse in these terms provided the women with a form of agency. Even though there was some level of satisfaction in fighting back, the denunciation of their victimization along with the stereotypical portrayals of “true victims” of intimate partner abuse (for example, defenseless White women) reduced the assistance afforded the women. Consequently, the second conclusion is that the cries of battered Black women often go unheard. Third, the co-occurrence of abuse and disregard of the turmoil resulting from the abuse are a call for action to work toward alleviating the often silent suffering of battered Black women, in part by understanding the devalued position of Black women in U.S. society. These efforts are unquestionably a battle—a prolonged struggle that will take concerted and devoted efforts by various factions, including the Black, activist, academic, and legal communities. Last, the term “battle cry” is usually taken to mean a cry used to rally soldiers into battle, but it has also been used to incite individuals and groups into action for a cause. Accordingly, the accounts, concepts, and implications imparted in this book will serve to rally those who contest the unremitting and overlooked abuse against Black women into an active and advocating stance.
2 Black Feminist Criminology and the Power of Narrative ”I Just Wanted to Tell My Story”
Billie is a 42-year-old who has remained in the same western U.S. city and lived in low-income status her entire life. Although she has completed some formal vocational training, she left high school in her final year and throughout her life has maintained sporadic employment. Billie experienced abuse from a number of family members during her upbringing, including her mother, a brother, an aunt, and her grandmother. During adulthood, she has encountered