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The Employment Instability Among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: A Mixed Methods Study

Showalter, Kathryn Kay
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555521186814112

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Social Work.
Women who endure intimate partner violence (IPV) are likely to experience employment instability or loss of paid work time and unemployment as a result of their abuse. When women who experience IPV, particularly those who are mothers, are impacted by employment instability they may become financially dependent on abusive partners. The current convergent mixed-methods dissertation investigated the longitudinal relationship between intimate partner violence, the unique workplace experiences of survivors, and three forms of survivors’ employment instability using a convergent mixed methods design. Using a latent growth curve model, the current study investigated the impact of IPV on mothers’ employment trajectories in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) study over the span of eight years. Three outcomes of employment were selected for the analysis based on their use in previous literature: hours worked per week, annual weeks worked, and employment status. Unconditional growth curve models revealed that all outcomes had significant variation at time one between individuals’ employment as well as a significant increase in employment over time. Conditional growth curve models revealed a significant effect of IPV on time two annual weeks worked as well as employment status, indicating that mothers were most likely to experience employment instability when they had a three-year-old child. The conditional model for employment status also revealed that IPV at time two has a six year lagged effect on employment status. Interviews with individual survivors of IPV were also conducted for this study in a large Midwestern city. Participants receiving services at a partner agency were interviewed about their experiences of employment instability, workplace disruptions (including with technology), and their perceptions of policy and practices that employers use to support employees experiencing abuse. Findings revealed that survivors suffered a range of employment instability forms (e.g. missing hours of work and forced resignation) when they were experiencing IPV. Further, technology (i.e. computers and cell phones) was used to harass nearly every participant interviewed. Survivors had constructive feedback and practical suggestions for employers based on their experiences managing employment with IPV. Findings from FFCW and individual interviews were integrated into a convergent mixed methods portion of the study. Using three forms of employment instability to create parallel (i.e. missing hours of work, losing weeks worked, and unemployment), the study expanded upon current knowledge. While there were differences between findings of missing hours of work, integrated results offer explanation to the inconsistency in related literature on employment instability types as well as duration of abuse’s effect on employment. Insights for practitioners, policy makers, and future researchers are discussed.
Kathryn Maguire Jack (Committee Chair)
Susan Yoon (Committee Member)
Njeri Kagatho (Committee Member)
Sharvari Karandikar (Committee Member)
141 p.
Social Work; Womens Studies
Intimate Partner Violence, Domestic Violence, Employment, Financial abuse, Workplace Support

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Showalter, K. K. (2019). The Employment Instability Among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: A Mixed Methods Study [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555521186814112

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Showalter, Kathryn. The Employment Instability Among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: A Mixed Methods Study . 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555521186814112.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Showalter, Kathryn. "The Employment Instability Among Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: A Mixed Methods Study ." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1555521186814112

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1555521186814112
344
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.