Economic abuse (EA) comprises tactics of intimate partner violence (IPV) which undermine survivors’ economic self-sufficiency and self-efficacy. Evidence is strong that survivors of IPV who have accessed formal services have experienced a wide range of EA tactics. However, there remains a gap in our understanding of EA experiences for survivors who have not sought IPV services. Thus, this article presents the findings of qualitative interviews with a group of women attending community college (n = 20) who screened as having experienced intimate partner violence in their current or most recent relationship but who have never sought formal IPV services. Four themes emerged: (1) economic control, (2) economic exploitation, (3) economic manipulation, and (4) the economics of safety. The voices of these survivors highlight how EA is a critical issue for social workers in IPV service agencies, along with those who interact with IPV survivors in a range of other settings. Empowering social workers to identify the tactics and impacts of EA could lead interventions aimed at supporting survivors and begin undoing the economics of abuse.
AdamsA. E.GreesonM. R.KennedyA. C.TolmanR. M. (2013). The effects of adolescent intimate partner violence on women’s educational attainment and earnings. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 3283–3300. doi:10.1177/0886260513496895
2.
AdamsA. E.SullivanC. M.BybeeD.GreesonM. R. (2008). Development of the scale of economic abuse. Violence Against Women, 14, 563–588.
3.
AntaiD.OkeA.BraithwaiteP.LopezG. (2014). The effect of economic, physical, and psychological abuse on mental health. International Journal of Family Medicine, 2014, Article ID 852317.
4.
ArnoldG. (2009). A battered women’s movement perspective of coercive control. Violence Against Women, 15, 1432–1443. doi:10.1177/1077801209346836
5.
BreidingM. J.ChenJ.BlackM. C. (2014). Intimate partner violence in the United States—2010. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
6.
BrushL. D. (2004). Battering and the poverty trap. Journal of Poverty, 8, 23–43.
7.
CharmazK. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. London, England: Sage.
8.
DuttonM. A.GoodmanL. (2005). Coercion in intimate partner violence: Toward a new conceptualization. Sex Roles, 11, 743–756.
9.
ErikssonM.UlmestigR. (2017). “It’s not all about money”: Toward a more comprehensive understanding of financial abuse in the context of VAW. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. doi:10.1177/0886260517777743547
10.
FlickerS.CerulliC.ZhaoX.TangW.WattsA.XiaY.TalbotN. (2011). Concomitant forms of abuse and help-seeking behavior among White, African American, and Latina women who experience intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 17, 1067–1085. doi:10.1177/1077801211414846
11.
GoodmanL.SmythK. F.BorgesA. M.SingerR. (2009). When crises collide: How intimate partner violence and poverty intersect to shape women’s mental health and coping?Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 10, 306–329. doi:10.1177/1524838009339754
12.
HahnS.PostmusJ. (2014). Economic empowerment of impoverished IPV survivors: A review of best practice literature and implications for policy. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 2, 79–93. doi:10.1177/1524838013511541
13.
LehrnerA.AllenN. (2008). Social change movements and the struggle over meaning-making: A case study of domestic violence narratives. American Journal of Community Psychology, 42, 220–234. doi:10.1007/s10464-008-9199-3
14.
MacMillanH.WathenN.JamiesonE.ShannonH.Ford-GilboeM.WorsterA.…McNuttL. (2009). Screening for intimate partner violence in health care settings. Journal of the American Medical Association, 302, 493–501.
15.
PadgettD. (2010). Qualitative methods in social work research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17.
PostmusJ. L.HogeG.BreckenridgeJ.Sharp-JeffsN.ChungD. (2018). Economic abuse as an invisible form of domestic violence: A multicounty review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Advanced online publication. doi:10.1177/1524838018764160
18.
PostmusJ. L.PlummerS.McMahonS.MurshidN. S.KimM. S. (2012). Understanding economic abuse in the lives of survivors. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27, 411–430. doi:10.1177/0886260511421669
19.
PostmusJ. L.StylianouA.McMahonS. (2016). The abusive behavior inventory-revised. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 17, 2867–2888. doi:10.1177/0886260515581882
20.
SandersC. K. (2013). Financial capability among survivors of domestic violence. In BirkenmaierJ. M.SherradenM.CurleyJ. C. (Eds.), Financial capability and asset development: Research, education, policy, and practice (pp. 85–107). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
21.
SandersC. K. (2014). Savings for survivors: An individual development account program for survivors of intimate partner violence. Journal of Social Service Research, 40, 297–312.
22.
SandersC. K. (2015). Economic abuse in the lives of women abused by an intimate partner. Violence against Women, 21, 3–29. doi:10.1177/1077801214564167
23.
SandersC. K.SchnabelM. (2006). Organizing for economic empowerment of battered women: Women’s Savings Accounts. Journal of Community Practice, 14, 47–68.
24.
SandersC. K.WeaverT.SchnabelM. (2007). Economic education for battered women: An evaluation of outcomes. Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work, 22, 240–254.
25.
StarkE. (2007). Coercive control: How men entrap women in personal life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
26.
StocklH.PenhaleB. (2015). Intimate partner violence and its association with physical and mental health symptoms among older women in Germany. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30, 3089–3111. doi:10.1177/0886260514554427
27.
StylianouA. (2018). Economic abuse experiences and depressive symptoms among victims of intimate partner violence. Journal of Family Violence, 33, 3186–3204. doi:10.1177/0886260513496904
28.
ToewsM.BermeaA. (2017). I was naïve in thinking, ‘I divorced this man, he is out of my life.’ Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32, 2166–2189. doi:10.1177/0886260515591278
Voth SchragR.EdmondT. (2017). School sabotage as a form of intimate partner violence: Provider perspectives. Affilia: The Journal of Women in Social Work, 30, 341–351.
31.
Voth SchragR.EdmondT. (2018). Service use and needs among feamle survivors of intimate partner violence attending community college. Journal of Family Violence, 33, 393–404.
32.
Voth SchragR.EdmondT.TlapekS.AuslanderW. (2017). Exposure to economically abusive tactics among adolescent girls in the child welfare system. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 34, 127–136.
33.
Voth SchragR.RaviK.RobinsonS. (2018). The role of social support in the link between economic abuse and economic hardship. Journal of Family Violence. Advance online publication. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-018-0019-8
34.
Voth SchragR.RobinsonS.RaviK. (2019). Understanding pathways within intimate partner violence: Economic abuse, econmic hardship, and mental health. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, & Trauma, 28, 222–242.
