Money problems and violence are related

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-04/uoi-amp042516.php

Public Release: 25-Apr-2016
Are money problems and violence related?
University of Iowa researchers find that the cause and effect of domestic abuse is more complicated
University of Iowa

Researchers at the University of Iowa have found an association between financial stress and severe domestic abuse, which is an important step in the effort to develop effective interventions. Their findings don't prove that one leads to the other, but they do affirm the complexity of domestic violence.

"What we don't know yet is whether financial stress makes a violent couple more violent, or is financial stress enough of a disruption in a relationship that violence begins?" says Corinne Peek-Asa, a corresponding author and director of the Injury Prevention Research Center at the UI College of Health. "Both are plausible."

What researchers did discover is more women than men report experiencing financial stressors; more women than men also report lashing out verbally and physically at their partners. But that doesn't necessarily mean women are more likely than men to respond to financial stressors with violence.

Like relationships themselves, teasing out cause and effect is complicated.

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Researchers found that more women (27.7 percent) than men (22.9 percent) experienced at least one financial stressor. A higher percentage of women than men reported experiencing three of the six types of financial stressors. Plus, a higher percent of women than men were unable to pay their utilities (17.6 percent vs. 12.7 percent), reported food insecurity (14 percent vs. 9.9 percent), and experienced disconnected phone service (10.4 percent vs. 7.8 percent).

According to the data, men and women experienced housing nonpayment, having utilities turned off, and eviction in about the same proportions.

Also, a higher number of women than men reported perpetrating threats/minor physical abuse (11.4 percent vs. 6.7 percent) and severe physical abuse (8.8 percent vs. 3.4 percent). But more men who perpetrated violence reported causing injury to their partner (32 percent vs. 21 percent). Overall, 92.9 percent of men and 86.7 percent of women reported they had committed no form of violence to their partner in the prior year.

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