Abstract
Research typically compartmentalizes health and justice as separate areas of study. However, the current health literature on inequality suggests the two concepts are overlapping. For victims of partner violence, procedural justice (defined in this article as access to protective orders and enforcement of protective orders) potentially provides a step toward improved health and well-being by improving safety. There has been limited research examining these factors in rural compared with urban areas. This study examines the impact of procedural justice on health and well-being through interviews with rural and urban women 6 months prior to, and 6 months after, obtaining a protective order. Consistent with other literature, rural women who were victims of partner violence reported worse health, higher stress, and higher Stress-Related Consequences Scale scores compared with urban women. Women’s reported health consequences were related to the interaction of perceived ineffectiveness of the protective orders and their rural/urban environment. Thus, the perceived effectiveness of procedural justice may play an important role in alleviating victims’ safety, health, and well-being, all of which are components of contemporary views of justice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 64-82 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Journal of Interpersonal Violence |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:T. K. Logan, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, and the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky. Her research and writings focus on stalking, protective order effectiveness, sexual assault, intimate partner homicide, and health disparities of rural women with partner violence experiences. She has conducted a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of civil protective orders and the costs and cost-benefit of protective orders funded by the National Institute of Justice. She has also conducted 15 different studies on partner stalking and has some of the most extensive information about stalking in the nation. She is an author on more than 120 research articles and serves on the editorial board of two international journals. She is currently the principal investigator on the Kentucky Treatment Outcome Studies, which evaluate a number of publicly funded substance abuse treatment programs. She also conducted a comprehensive outcome evaluation of three Kentucky drug court programs, which included a variety of outcomes and a cost-benefit analysis. Her books include Women and Victimization: Contributing Factors, Interventions, and Implications (American Psychological Association Press) and Partner Stalking: How Women Respond, Cope, and Survive (Springer Publisher). She is also involved with several community boards and national organizations working to prevent violence against women.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016.
Keywords
- cultural contexts
- domestic violence
- legal intervention
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Applied Psychology
