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Employment, Unemployment, and Rates of Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from the National Crime Victim Surveys

Economic Crisis and Crime

ISBN: 978-0-85724-801-5, eISBN: 978-0-85724-802-2

Publication date: 24 June 2011

Abstract

Although the news media have speculated that the current recession has increased rates of intimate partner violence, there is no reliable evidence supporting that claim. Moreover, no well-designed studies have examined the impact of prior recessions. This chapter considers whether rising employment during a period of economic growth reduces intimate partner violence. The findings on the effect of economic growth are used to assess the likely impact of economic decline on rates of intimate partner violence. Using data from the National Crime Victim Surveys, the analyses examine both macro-level trends and individual-level effects. At the macro-level, men's and women's unemployment rates were only weakly related to rates of intimate partner violence. The individual-level results show that rising rates of employment during a period of economic growth were not responsible for producing declines in intimate partner violence. Taken together, these findings suggest that the current recession will not increase rates of intimate partner violence against women.

Citation

Peterson, R.R. (2011), "Employment, Unemployment, and Rates of Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from the National Crime Victim Surveys", Deflem, M. (Ed.) Economic Crisis and Crime (Sociology of Crime, Law and Deviance, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 171-193. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-6136(2011)0000016012

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited