Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Adriane Bang <>]

Thanks, Jake and Lisa!

Adriane Bang, LMSW
Associate Director, Women's Center
Boise State University
1910 University Drive, Boise, ID, 83725-1335
Phone: (208) 426-4259
Website: womenscenter.boisestate.edu

On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 1:30 PM, Jake Kabrud <> wrote:

Lisa and all,

After doing some digging, I decided sending out some inquiries to those organizations and individuals that are somehow attached to these types of statistics would be better than scanning databases. Good choice. Luckily, I found some individuals that are searching for the same stat and its origin and we have started a thread! Read this string of messages and you will be caught up on what has surfaced so far! Hope this helps! 

Thank you,

Jake Kabrud 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Casey Keene <>
Date: Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 7:47 AM
Subject: Re: Looking for a source...."Women leave...7 times...." Citation
To: Debby Tucker <>, Jacquelyn Campbell <>, Ruth Glenn <>, Jake Kabrud <>, Gretchen Shaw <>
Cc: Jennifer Grove <>, David Lee <>, Sarah Buel <>, Kim Pentico <>, Kirsten Rambo <>, Jackson Katz <>, Andy Klein <>, Barbara Hart <>, Christina Walsh <>, Patty Branco <>

From my wonderful colleague, Patty Branco:

In response to your request for the commonly cited statistic about the number of attempts it takes for a woman to leave an abusive relationship, below is the data that I have with full citation. In "Safety Planning With Battered Women," Jill Davies et al. cite the following on page 79-80: 

“Okun (1986) found that women left their abusive partners an average of five times before leaving permanently. Horton and Johnson (1993) found that it took an average of 8 years for the women who left the relationship to leave permanently, and those who left had suffered worse abuse than those who remained.” 

Here are the references:

• Davies, J., Lyon, E., & Monti-Catania, D. (1998). Safety planning with battered women: Complex lives/difficult choices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Horton, A., & Johnson, B. (1993). Profile and strategies of women who have ended abuse. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Service, 74 (8), 481-492.
• Okun, L. (1986). Woman abuse: Facts replacing myths. Albany: State University of New York Press.

I know the data is pretty old but I haven't seen any newer stats on that. Note, however, that the Shelter Study published in 2008 may be of help. Although this study does not tell you the number of times that women attempt to leave before leaving for good, the findings support the body of research that has shown that women who eventually leave their abusive relationships have often left several times before leaving permanently (see page 9).

Executive Summary - Meeting Survivors’ Needs: A Multi-State Study of Domestic Violence Shelter Experiences by Eleanor Lyon, Shannon Lane, and Anne Menard, National Institute of Justice (October 2008) - http://www.vawnet.org/Assoc_Files_VAWnet/MeetingSurvivorsNeeds-ExSummary.pdf

---

Casey Keene, Online Resources and Education Manager

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence

3605 Vartan Way, Ste. 101 Harrisburg PA 17110

Preferred Contact: 

Voice 800-537-2238 x136   TTY 800-553-2508

www.nrcdv.org| www.vawnet.org

From: Debby Tucker <>
Date: Monday, January 26, 2015 7:04 PM
To: 'Jacquelyn Campbell' <>, 'Ruth Glenn' <>, 'Jake Kabrud' <>, 'Gretchen Shaw' <>
Cc: Jennifer Grove <>, David Lee <>, 'Sarah Buel' <>, 'Kim Pentico' <>, Casey Keene <>, 'Kirsten Rambo' <>, 'Jackson Katz' <>, 'Andy Klein' <>, 'Barbara Hart' <>, Christina Walsh <>

Subject: RE: Looking for a source...."Women leave...7 times...." Citation

Thank you Jackie!!  I knew there would be some guidance. 

 

If anyone else has something to contribute, please let Jake and me know!

 

All the best, Debby

 

 

 

 

____________________________________________________
Debby Tucker|Executive Director    Follow us on Twitter!  Follow us on Facebook!                                                                                                                             

                                                                                          

 

                                  

 

 

 

 

                   

 

 

 

 

From: Jacquelyn Campbell []
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2015 12:58 PM
To: 'Ruth Glenn'; 'Debby Tucker'; 'Jake Kabrud'; 'Gretchen Shaw'
Cc: 'Jennifer Grove'; 'David Lee'; 'Sarah Buel'; 'Kim Pentico'; 'Casey Keene'; 'Kirsten Rambo'; 'Jackson Katz'; 'Andy Klein'; 'Barbara Hart'; 'Christina Walsh'
Subject: RE: Looking for a source...."Women leave...7 times...." Citation

 

Lew Okun’s dissertation “A study of woman abuse: 300 batttered women taking shelter, 119 woman batterers” 1983 – Dissertation Abstracts 44(6). (I think U of M) Showed that the majority of woman leave their abuser and described the process of leaving – two of my early studies – my dissertation follow-up and then a subsequent longitudinal study  - showed a similar majority and process but when i first saw/heard the 7 times i looked for it in Lew’s book dissertation – i think i still have somewhere – but couldn’t find but it might be there and my study didn’t show that – i didn’t count # of times - my articles are

Campbell, J. C., Miller, P., Cardwell, M. M., Belknap, R. A. (1994). Relationship status of battered women over time.  Journal of Family Violence, 9, 99-111.

Campbell, J.C., Rose, L., Kub, J., & Nedd, D. (1998) Voices of strength and resistance: A contextual and longitudinal analysis of women’s responses to battering.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence 13:743-762.

 

Cheers all!! A walk down memory lane!!

 

From: Ruth Glenn []
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2015 10:32 AM
To: 'Debby Tucker'; 'Jake Kabrud'; 'Gretchen Shaw'
Cc: 'Jennifer Grove'; 'David Lee'; 'Sarah Buel'; Jacquelyn Campbell; 'Kim Pentico'; 'Casey Keene'; 'Kirsten Rambo'; 'Jackson Katz'; 'Andy Klein'; 'Barbara Hart'; 'Christina Walsh'
Subject: RE: Looking for a source...."Women leave...7 times...." Citation

 

Thank you Debby and Jake for attempting to explore the origins of this most popular quote/citation. 

 

We will do some research, within our capacity, and will share any information or original source if found.  We will also look for others research results or information. 

 

Ruth M. Glenn, MPA

Executive Director

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)

1 Broadway, Suite B-210

Denver, CO 80203

 / 303-839-1852 x105

 

Follow us on Twitter @NCADV and Facebook.

Looking for a domestic violence program? www.domesticshelters.org

 

 

From: Debby Tucker []
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2015 11:13 PM
To: 'Jake Kabrud'
Cc: Jennifer Grove; David Lee; Ruth M. Glenn; 'Sarah Buel'; 'Jacquelyn Campbell'; Kim Pentico; Casey Keene; Kirsten Rambo; Jackson Katz; 'Andy Klein'; 'Barbara Hart'; 'Christina Walsh'
Subject: RE: Looking for a source...."Women leave...7 times...." Citation

 

Dear Jake,

 

I have noticed over the last week or so on several list-servs inquires about the origins of this particular oft-repeated information and know there are people attempting to locate the source of it. Perhaps you are the one who started the conversation!!

 

Jennifer indicated a couple of days ago that she had ordered an out-of-print book off of Amazon that she hopes may include the original research work for this widely-used statement.  And there are others who seemed to have ideas about where to look....but it could be they will have the same experience you had and not be able to locate a specific study or source.  I hope that won't be the case and we'll be able to ascertain from whence this came......and know that it has some reliability behind it from scholarly work. 

 

I am adding on Jennifer and a number of others I know to be involved in information sharing and research regarding the incidence and nature of domestic violence who may already be involved in what has become a national project to get to the root of this citation.

 

Hopefully we will all know more about it soon.

 

With best wishes, Debby

 

 

____________________________________________________
Debby Tucker|Executive Director    Follow us on Twitter!  Follow us on Facebook!                                                                                                                             

                                                                                          

 

                                  

 

 

 

From: Jake Kabrud []
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2015 6:48 PM
To:
Subject: Looking for a source....

 

Ms. Tucker,

My name is Jacob Kabrud, a graduate research assistant for the Boise State University - Department of Criminal Justice. I am looking for a statistic, which is frequently cited on help sites related to domestic violence and women's centers. The statistic being "on average a domestic violence survivors try to leave seven times before they are successful" OR " a domestic violence victim will return to an abusive relationship seven times before leaving for good." Something of that nature or combination of words...

 

In an article featured by NCDSV (link below), it is stated as "Yet the shocking reality is that a woman suffering domestic violence will attempt to leave her abuser an average of 5 to 7 times before actually doing so."

 

I am looking for an actual peer reviewed or OFFICIAL statistic, which I can reference (none of those sites cite any specific academic article). I have tried just about everything and looked just about everywhere, so I just don't know what to do or where to go next. I sent an info request into NCJRS to see if they had this official statistic logged somewhere, but I have not heard back yet. 

-I hope you can help me or point me in the right direction!! I appreciate your time and help. 

 

http://www.ncdsv.org/images/ShockingNewStatisticsDVUS.pdf

 

--

Thank you,

 

Jake Kabrud 

--

Thank you,

Jake Kabrud 

Attachment: image010.jpg
Description: JPEG image