Search

In the United States, there are high levels of father absence, female-headed single-parent households, and intimate partner violence (IPV) in the African American community. While the relationship between single motherhood and father absence is yet to be showcased in studies of IPV against African American women, its relevance has been evident in the public sphere through the Maury Show (hereon Maury), a US daytime television talk show on paternity disputes. The paper draws on a sample of episodes of Maury and uses content analysis to showcase paternity disputes as a salient context within which African American single mothers can experience nonphysical IPV (i.e. psychological/emotional and economic). In the paternity disputes shown on Maury, patriarchal ideologies and stereotypes of African American women are reproduced to subject African American single mothers to psychological/emotional and economic abuse. Based on the findings, the paper is a call on stakeholders in IPV to prioritize the education of women, particularly single mothers, on the various sites (private and public), contexts and dynamics of nonphysical IPV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the incidents of intimate partner murders of immigrant Nigerian women in the USA in recent years, a sample of immigrant Nigerian women in Houston were invited in 2013 to engage in focus group discussions of ways to tackle intimate partner violence (IPV) in the immigrant Nigerian community. Findings reveal a fundamental relationship between patriarchal ideologies and the views of immigrant women from Nigeria. Immigrant Nigerian women are likely to interpret IPV and perceive solutions to it in patriarchal ideologies and practices held in their country of origin - an approach that endorses and reinforces IPV. Based on these findings, this article recognizes the need to make patriarchy salient in studies of IPV among immigrant communities from Africa. Further, the article recognizes the absence of adequate knowledge of IPV against immigrant Nigerian women and other immigrant African women, so that IPV risk and preventive factors for these immigrant groups may not be captured sufficiently in policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]