Poverty, Battering, Race, and Welfare Reform

Abstract

Poverty and battering trap women. Poor battered women find it especially difficult to move quickly from welfare to work and therefore to comply with the requirements of welfare reform. Interviews with the population of Black and White women enrolled at six sites of a short-term job readiness program (N = 122) revealed a significant association between battering and welfare-to-work transition. Women threatened or battered severely enough to have sought a protective order had three times the drop out rate of other enrollees. Black-White differences in program participation outcomes and in patterns of battering and its consequences were few but striking. White women dropped out more frequently than did Black women. There were no significant Black-White differences in reported violence and injury. However, White women reported significantly higher rates of some nonviolent abuse, specifically threats enforcing their conformity to traditional notions of maternity, domesticity, and economic dependence on men. According to colorblind models of battering, Black-White differences are either artifacts of reporting or are unpredicted and inexplicable. I interpret Black-White differences in the context of structural and institutional factors rather than individualistic racial stereotypes. Both White and Black battered women may need help with safety planning and should not be sanctioned if battering derails their compliance with welfare reform timetables. However, Black women will benefit even more from structural changes that make waged work a more viable route to safety and solvency.

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