Intimate Partner Abuse within Hispanic Divorcing Parents

Abstract

Little is known about intimate partner abuse (IPA) in divorcing Hispanic parents and how divorcing Hispanic parents utilize legal, social, or community services in regards to their experience of IPA. Research has identified many barriers for Hispanics attempting to access these services, including lack of knowledge of laws and services, lack of access, discrimination, and language barriers. This study aimed to understand the underlying dyadic structures of IPA and how such abuse affects the utilization of civil court processes in addition to social, community, and health services. Data sources included records from the civil court and mediation services, self-reports of intimate partner abuse, and law enforcement records. This paper focused on a subsample from a larger study and included 187 Hispanic couples and 467 non-Hispanic White couples. Results revealed differences between groups in terms of coercive controlling behaviors and their relationship with other forms of IPA. The strength of the relationship between coercive controlling behaviors and IPA victimization was equal for Hispanic husbands and wives, and also equal to White husbands' IPA perpetration, but had a weaker relationship between White wives' IPA perpetration. Overall Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White couples had similar interactions with the civil court system, ranging from time to complete the divorce and interactions with the court after divorce. Within the Hispanic group, couples with at least one partner preferring Spanish were significantly less likely to complete the divorce process, and had fewer contacts with the court after the divorce was finalized. Hispanic couples who were identified as experiencing IPA were significantly less likely to utilize certain helping services, but not others. Possible explanations, limitations, and future directions are explored.