Domestic violence can happen to anyone, right?

It’s a mantra that shelters, health care workers and the media repeat often. Police officers, friends, family and even professionals in well-to-do communities frequently ignore or trivialize domestic violence.

These findings come from the only empirical study conducted on domestic violence in affluent communities (Or, the only empirical study I have found in my extensive searching).

Susan Weitzman (2000), of The Weitzman Center in Chicago, is the author of the book Not to people like us: Hidden Abuse in Upscale Marriages, published by Basic Books. As a graduate student immersed in the domestic violence literature, I am still shocked that Weitzman's study is the only one of its kind in what seems to be a sea of studies on this topic. 

Before I delve into how I am working to change this, I think it is important to point out some possible reasons as to why domestic violence in affluent communities has been ignored by researchers to date.

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Domestic violence aside, there are very few empirical studies, on affluent individuals, families or communities published in the past two decades.

Suniya Luthar and her colleagues at Columbia University have recently theorized and written about this gap in the research world. She traces the dearth of research on affluent individuals back to research that historically, only focused on the experiences of white, middle-class individuals and families (Luthar, 2003). Around the middle of the 20th century, researchers started to acknowledge the absence of research on low-income families and youth, especially those living in poverty. They began exploring the experiences of this population, but similar efforts were not made to examine the experiences of upper-middle class or affluent individuals and families (Luthar, 2003). 

The lack of research on affluent individuals and families is hypothesized to be driven by a few misconceptions:

1. The experiences of affluent individuals and families are relatively benign given their financial fortunes, and therefore do not merit the use of research time and money
2. Affluent individuals and families are not substantially unique from middle class individuals (Luthar, 2003). Indeed, affluent individuals have the wherewithal to keep their "family secrets," just that: secret (Weitzman, 2000).

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While research to date shows that occurrences of domestic violence are higher in lower income populations, it is likely that this data is skewed given the overreliance on sampling from agencies, such as shelters, hospitals, and police records—which are much less frequented by affluent women who experience domestic violence for a variety of reasons (Johnson, 2008; Weitzman, 2001). Indeed, affluent individuals may also take extreme measures to keep their family lives and experiences secretive (Weitzman, 2000).

This brings me to my point in writing this post, aside from raising awareness: I seek to help fill this research gap. I am conducting a research study on mothers' and professionals' experiences in the North Shore (Families and Communities Together: The Fact Project), and I could really use your help in spreading the word about my study to friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors.

Or, by participating if you answer yes to the following questions:

Questions for moms:

• Are you a mom who resides in the North Shore?
• Has your current or former husband ever physically hurt you?

Questions for professionals:

• Are you a professional (e.g., therapist, GAL, attorney, religious leader) who has worked with mothers or families from the North Shore who experienced violence by their current or former husband (or youth exposed to violence against their mother by their father)?

So, you answered yes to the moms and/or professionals questions. What next?

Participation in this study would entail a one-time meeting that would last approximately 1 to 2 hours. We could meet wherever and whenever is most convenient for you.

***All information I collect will be kept private and confidential. I have gone to extensive lengths to ensure confidentiality, including obtaining a National Institute of Health Certificate of Confidentiality, which prevents any of my records from getting subpoenaed. ***

If you’re interested in participating, or if you work in a center or office space where recruitment flyers could be posted, please contact me for more information:

217-333-6924 (leave a confidential voicemail in the FACT study voicemail); mhasels2@illinois.edu

This research is being supervised by Jennifer Hardesty, Ph.D. at the University of Illinois.

If you are currently experiencing violence by an intimate partner, suspect a loved one may be experiencing violence, want to volunteer for this cause, or just want to learn more, here are some local resources:

• SHALVA
• The Weitzman Center
• Jewish Community Abuse Resources, Education and Solutions: JCARES
• Womencare Counseling Center
• YWCA Evanston/North Shore

Here are the references I used in this post:

• Luthar, S. L. (2003). The culture of affluence: Psychological costs of material wealth. Child Development, 74(6), 1581 -1593. doi:10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00625.x
• Johnson, M. P. (2008). A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence. Boston: Northeastern University.
• Weitzman, S. (2000). Not to people like us: Hidden Abuse in Upscale Marriages. New York, NY: Basic Books.

*The photo comes from PostSecret, which was created in 2005 by Frank Warren as a community mail art project, in which people mail in anonymous post-cards with a secret. The postcard displayed nicely displays the common assumptions around "who are abused women."