Risk and Resilience of Immigrant Women in Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Violence inflicted against women by their intimate partners presents an especially critical area of inquiry among battered female immigrants following the striking ethnic diversification after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. This article reviews contemporary literature of intimate partner violence; seeks to illustrate the current state of knowledge; and provides a conceptual framework that summarizes the unique experiences of immigrant women confronting the challenges of couple violence. Five underlying cultural and structural mechanisms influencing immigrant women's susceptibility, re-adjustment, and recovery were identified: (1) acculturation, (2) cultural mechanisms, (3) mental health, (4) structural elements, (5) legal contexts, and (6) social support. A synopsis of practice implications in the context of the literature is discussed.

Keywords::

• Intimate partner violence
• immigrant women
• risk and resilience

NOTES

Notes

1. One in eight U.S. residents was an immigrant in 2011 (Garcia, 2013). According to the Pew Hispanic Center, more than half of the foreign-born population came from Mexico and Asian regions (Patten, 2012).