Investigating the Complex Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Perpetration Among System-Involved Women: An Exploratory Analysis

Background and Purpose: Increasingly female intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors with children are mandated to services by child protection services (CPS) and/or the courts. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of research regarding promising practices to help CPS- and/or court-mandated IPV survivors and their children. Further, there is limited research on the IPV experiences of these survivors to help guide service development and delivery.  

To provide helpful services for mandated-IPV survivors, it is critical to understand how certain factors such as IPV victimization are associated with survivors’ IPV perpetration. Prior research stresses the importance of understanding survivors’ IPV perpetration in the context of their victimization (e.g., Blair-Merritt et al., 2010). Although prior research has found that there is an association between IPV victimization and IPV perpetration, little research has investigated the unique contributions of different forms of IPV victimization (e.g., psychological, physical, sexual) on survivors’ IPV perpetration.

Methods: Two agencies in the southeastern U.S. partnered to develop a program for CPS- and/or court-mandated survivors with children – Mothers’ Overcoming Violence through Education and Empowerment (MOVE). All MOVE program participants were recruited into the study. Those who consented were assessed using standardized instruments at three time points: program entry, program completion, and three-month follow-up. IPV information was collected using the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus et al.,1996) and the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory (Tolman, 1999). Program entry data were used to assess survivors’ IPV victimization and perpetration over the past year, and to explore associations between IPV victimization and perpetration. We employed multivariate regressions (including linear and ordered logistic regressions) to examine factors (i.e., demographic characteristics, different forms of IPV victimization, interaction between physical and psychological victimization) associated with survivors’ psychological and physical IPV perpetration.

Results: Seventy-three of the 89 women who began MOVE (82%) consented to research participation. Of these women, 94.5% reported psychological victimization (M= 65.0, SD=40.7), 89% reported physical victimization (M=43.4, SD=55.2), and 37% reported sexual victimization (M=8.5, SD=18.8). Regarding perpetration, 94.5% reported psychological perpetration (M= 13.7, SD=25.0), 80% reported physical perpetration (M=37.4, SD=28.9), and 9.6% reported sexual perpetration (M=1.1, SD=5.4). Survivors’ psychological IPV perpetration was significantly related to their physical IPV victimization (p<.05), and psychological IPV victimization (p<.001). In addition, survivors’ psychological perpetration was significantly related to the interaction between their physical and psychological victimization (p<.01). Survivors’ physical perpetration was significantly associated with their psychological victimization (p<.01). All regression analyses controlled for demographic factors including: age, race, education, employment, and the number of children the survivor had living with them under age 5.

Conclusions and Implications: This exploratory study highlights the importance of understanding IPV perpetration by CPS- and/or court-mandated female survivors in light of their victimization. Both physical and psychological perpetration were associated with psychological victimization. Study findings suggest that CPS- and/or court-mandated female survivors should receive services that address their past physical and psychological victimization. We will offer practical and research recommendations based on study results including recommended services for IPV survivors, and study replication with larger samples.