Step 2: Using your research and developing your argument
Written Proposal (4%) + Annotated Bibliography (4%) → due by the end of Week 8
Use the information and insight you have gained to compose a written proposal of at least 300 words for your final presentation and essay. The proposal will be a preview and outline of your argument:
State your position/central claim and outline the shape or structure of your argument;
Briefly explain your reasons and reasoning;
Briefly summarize your supporting evidence and cite the sources of this evidence;
Briefly summarize significant counterarguments/alternative perspectives and how you will deal with them.
Using the following articles, from the annotated bibliography to structure proposal.
Topic: Intimate Partner Violence
Research Question: Why do some women stay in abusive relationships?
Amanor-Boadu, Y., Messing, J. T., Stith, S. M., Anderson, J.R., O’Sullivan, C. S., & Campbell, J. C. (2012). Immigrant and non-immigrant women: Factors that predict leaving an abusive relationship. Violence Against Women, 18(5), 611-633. Retrieved from:
https://doi-org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1177/1077801212453139
This article seeks to explore the varying components that influence both immigrant and non-immigrant women into leaving a relationship of intimate partner violence (IPV). In doing so, it examines a two-part decision-making model by Choice and Lamke (1997) as well as the holistic risk assessment by Hamby (2008), as predictors of women’s decision to leave. The study further informed that women’s decision to leave or stay with an abuser is ultimately determined by two questions, 1) “Will I be better off?” (p. 613) – which is linked to the holistic risk assessment and focuses on predicting factors such as physical harm, financial, social and legal risks while the second question “Can I do it?” (p. 614) is associated with barriers preventing women from leaving, like personal obstacles (emotions, self-esteem, commitment), structural hurdles (discrimination, language, unawareness) and cultural obstructions (beliefs, duties, stigma). By the end of the article, it was found that immigrant women reported a higher level of risks and/or barriers to leaving an abusive relationship as compared to non-immigrant women.
Overall, this article proved to be very useful for my research project, especially since it examines IPV under the lens of two different demographic. It also provides detailed information on the various influencing factors as well as predictors of women’s decision to leave or stay in an abusive relationship. Given that the article is a peer reviewed, journal article obtained from the Sheridan College library database, I concluded that the data contained within is credible and reliable.
Cravens, J. D., Whiting, J. B., & Aamar, R. O. (2015). Why I stayed/left: An analysis of voices
of intimate partner violence on social media. Contemporary Family Therapy, 37(4), 372-385. Retrieved from: https://doi-org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1007/s10591-015-9360-8
This article presents findings from a hashtag survey conducted through Twitter, where women from all walks of life shared the various factors that prompted them to either stay with or leave an abusive partner. From the 676 responses generated in the twitter post, 409 included #whyIstayed while only 276 reflected #whyIleft. In the article, Cravens and company indicated that though leaving an abusive relationship may seem easy to outsiders, the decision to leave is often a more “complex and difficult” process (p. 1). The article further classified the reasons women stay or leave into two categories 1) internal inhibitory factors which encompasses things like fear for life, fear for loss of children, self-doubt, self-blame, embarrassment, and depression and 2) external inhibitory factors which focuses on the elements that are built into the context of the relationship such as limited finances, isolation, unemployment, physical injuries, and denied access to therapy, legal or protective services by the abuser. Apart from this, the article also discusses several empowering factors which serves as motivation for women to eventually leave their abusers.
Overall, this journal article provides credible and useful information which will help me in supporting my argument of “why women stay in abusive relationships” for the research project.
Estrellado, A.F. & Loh, J. (MI). (2016). To stay in or leave an abusive relationship: Losses and gains experienced by battered Filipino women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34(9), 1843-1863. Retrieved from:https://doi-org.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1177/0886260516657912
This article by the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, aims at describing and analysing the losses as well as the gains experienced by women who decided to either leave or stay in an abusive relationship. The study was conducted with sixty Filipino women, thirty of whom were still living with their abusive partner, and thirty whom had already left their abusers. It was mentioned in the article that both sets of women experienced both gains and losses. Those who left their partners gained back their sense of self, freedom, peace of mind and strength, however, they reported having lost amenities such as a complete family, proper housing, love, and partner to help in raising the children. On the other hand, despite the PTSD, depression, lost of self-worth, self-esteem and peace of mind, women who were still with their abusive partners still felt they gained from the relationship because they had a secure housing, less stress from custody fights, and a partner to help raise their children. The article further mentioned that this might be a result of “cognitive motivational deficit” (p. 845) or learned helplessness, which forces women to internalize the abuse, blame themselves and believe they cannot escape the situation, thus they accept their abusive life and partner. Additionally, the article explained that women who left their abusers experienced “multiple losses and life transitions” (p. 847) which lead to vulnerabilities and disrupted their functioning, more so than the women who are still in abusive relationships.
Even though this article focuses mainly on battered Filipino women, much of the information will still be useful in proving that IPV is an issue that affects the lives of women worldwide. This article is also a credible and reliable source, given that it was taken from a journal based on violence against women.
Pugh, B., Li, L., & Sun, I. Y. (2018). Perceptions of why women stay in physically abusive
relationships: A comparative study of Chinese and U.S college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(7-8), 3778-3813. Retrieved from:
https://doiorg.library.sheridanc.on.ca/10.1177/0886260518778264
This article focuses on a study that compared and contrasted various factors that impacted the perception of U.S and Chinese college students towards why women stay in abusive relationships. The data collected from a survey of one thousand college students, found that women stay with their abusers because of two common reasons. First, due to learned helplessness and dependency on their abusive partner and secondly, because of positive beliefs that relationship will become better in the future. The study also indicated that college students from the U.S were more intolerable of intimate partner violence, expressed sympathy for the victims and opted to involve police to control the IPV situations. In contrast, Chinese college students were more lenient to IPV and believed that it was a personal matter to be handled between partners in a relationship. The article further explained that this difference in perception of IPV, is a result of larger sociocultural factors which identify with women on an individual, interpersonal and community level. For example, since China has a patriarchal society, it is common for women to be submissive to their husbands or to be occasionally disciplined through violence, whereas in the U.S, these traditional gender roles are not as prevalent anymore. The article carefully examines and compares, in depth, the attitudes, perceptions, prevalence and response to IPV between the two countries.
This article proved quite useful to my research project because it goes into detail about how the public perception and response to IPV can negatively and positively influence whether women stay or leave an abusive relationship. Being a peer-reviewed journal article, it is also safe to say that the data presented factual and credible.
World Health Organization. (2012). Understanding and addressing violence against women: Intimate partner violence [Report]. 1-12. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77432/who_rhr_12.36_eng.pdf;jsessionid=66C9DE55D017CB09ABBD37113218092B?sequence=1
This publication reviews the evidence obtained from a multi-country study based on women’s health and domestic violence against women, conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). During this study, evidence collected from more than 24,000 women in ten different countries, indicated that intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the most common form of violence against women, with the main perpetrator being either a husband, common-law partner, cohabitant or boyfriend. Although some women do eventually leave their abusive partners, it was found that “fear of retaliation, lack of alternative means of support, concern for children, societal stigma, and hopes that the partner will change” (p. 3) were some of the main reasons women end up staying in a violent relationship. In addition, this report also discusses the causes, consequences and best approached to prevent IPV.
Overall, this information sheet provides a bountiful amount of data on IPV which will be useful in my research project. It is also deemed a credible source since it contains evidence derived from an actual study that was conducted by renowned and reputable organizations, such as WHO and PAHO.
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