A Case Study of Community-Based Responses to Rural Woman Battering

Abstract

This case study addresses intimate partner violence against women in a rural Texas county. Employing qualitative data analysis, we examined rural woman battering from the perspectives of battered women, criminal justice officials, and community service providers. The findings reveal that survivors of intimate violence and providers of community-based interventions had conflicting perspectives about the delivery of services for battered women. Regarding criminal justice services, survivors expressed concerns about inadequate protection, discourteous treatment, and insufficient information about their legal options. In contrast, criminal justice providers were reluctant to make arrests, tended to impose lenient sanctions on abusers, questioned victim credibility, and expressed victim-blaming attitudes. The article concludes by discussing political implications of the study for battered women's services and research in rural settings. The authors suggest that the disjuncture between battered women's needs and community interventions is the product of an ideology of rural patriarchy that is largely unchallenged by grassroots political advocacy.