Rural Women's Strategic Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

In this study we explored rural women's (N = 37) perceptions of strategy use and effectiveness in dealing with intimate partner violence (IPV). We used all six categories of the IPV Strategies Index (Goodman, Dutton, Weinfurt, & Cook, 2003) to assess the strategic responses used by women in the sample and the level of helpfulness associated with each strategy. The strategy category used most often was resistance, and the category deemed most helpful was safety planning. Implications include finding ways for practitioners, advocates, and researchers to support and highlight the resourcefulness of rural survivors of IPV residing in the United States.