- Title
- The relationship between economic dependency and the reporting behaviours of victims of intimate partner violence: a case study of Bothaville in the Free State Province
- Creator
- Mwatsiya, Innocent https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2845-5512
- Subject
- Wife abuse
- Subject
- Abused women
- Date Issued
- 2015-06
- Date
- 2015-06
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24761
- Identifier
- vital:63549
- Description
- This research study explored the relationship between economic dependency and the reporting behaviours of victims of intimate partner violence. The study was conducted using qualitative methods. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion. Data analysis was done using thematic analysis where themes were allowed to emerge from the raw data findings. The study intended to explore the experiences; reporting behaviours; coping strategies and available sources of support for victims of intimate partner violence. The study drew mainly from literature and the tenets of the Resource Theory as well as the Learned Helplessness Theory. The study established that economic dependency supported the existence of intimate partner violence owing to the fact that victims of intimate partner violence feared financial vulnerability should they report the perpetrator resulting in his arrest. It was also established that the relationship between economic dependency and the reporting behaviours of victims of intimate partner violence was compounded by the number of children the victim had including the number of family members dependent on the victims besides her own children. More dependents were linked to a lesser likelihood of reporting intimate partner violence. This was due to the fact that more dependents translated into a greater financial burden in the absence of the source of income; the perpetrator. On the other hand, the study also established that even those victims who were employed, though earning lesser money than their partners (the perpetrators), did not leave abusive relationships. This was linked to the possibility of learned helplessness as well as the possibility of their individual incomes being too little to afford them a life away from the perpetrator. The study also established that victims of intimate partner violence experienced physical violence more than all other forms of violence. Availability of support, frequency and severity of abuse were identified as determinants of the timing for reporting. The study established that families were the most active sources of social support for victims of intimate partner violence whilst all professional networks of support were discovered to be functional. The study made several following recommendations including awareness raising, introduction of policy amendments and the inclusion of victims of intimate partner violence in income generating projects. Lastly the study concluded that little has been done and much needs to be done regarding the alleviation of the conditions of victims of intimate partner violence across the divide.
- Description
- Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2015
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (195 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
UFH Department of Social Work & Social Development
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | INNOCENT MWATSIYA 200909649.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |