Domestic Violence and the Economy

[julie*mango]

It's the holiday season, and all over Solano County festive decorations are going up - along with unemployment and the number of people losing their homes.
It can be a volatile combination, county mental health experts say.

"Unemployment is 8.3 percent in Fairfield. It's 9 percent in Vallejo and 7.7 percent in the county overall - the highest in the Bay Area," said Solano County Mental Health Director Mike Oprendek. "People tend to want to pretend everything's OK during the holidays, even when it's not."

In September, Cal Works' caseload increased more than 9 percent over last year, Oprendek said. Food stamp use is up nearly 28 percent, and general assistance is up about 35 percent, he said.

Add to the mix the unprecedented number of people losing their homes to the mortgage crisis, and county officials are bracing for an unusually difficult holiday season, he said.

Oprendek said economic troubles can "amp up" the stress already present for many people during the holidays.

"It's a time of reflection for people. Feelings of loss come back up, and the added stress of hard economic times, or any other stressors like having house guests, illness or a job loss, can push people to a place where they need to be able to cope differently," he said.

Suicides often increase during the holidays. So does domestic violence. The experts say that the same is true when there are hard economic times. So, a convergence of a recession and the holidays could be especially

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difficult.
"I imagine domestic violence, child abuse and fiduciary abuse of older adults could rise," Oprendek said. "People put pressure on themselves because they have this Norman Rockwell expectation for the holidays. It pumps up the volume on the stresors. We want people to know we're here to help."

Patrick Duterte, Solano County's director of health and social services agreed.

"Certainly, during the holidays there's a run on our clinics for depression, and there are a number of people turning to mental health services with the economic downturn," he said.

Calling this "a very different year" than normal, Donna Fields, Solano County's deputy director of services for older and disabled adults, said her staff has been told what to watch for and is poised to offer resources to struggling elders and caretakers. "We need to keep our fingers crossed and support each other and we'll get through this," she said.

Dr. Robert Simon of the American Psychiatric Association notes that a sudden catastrophic event, failure or humiliation through foreclosure or economic loss, can leave people feeling desperate, profoundly depressed and unable to see a way out.

Suicides over foreclosures have been reported nationally, and anyone indicating they see suicide as an option, should be taken seriously, Simon said. Such people should be guided to seek prompt professional attention, he added.

"Don't be afraid to ask questions about their plans, and let them know you care and they are not alone," he said. "Encourage them to seek help immediately from a knowledgeable professional. Don't leave them alone."

Most people, even those losing their jobs and/or their homes and experiencing economic stress, will not attempt suicide, Simon notes. Protective factors include strong coping skills, close relationships and feelings of self-worth beyond financial status, he said.

And a caring community can help, said Vallejo Fire Capt. Kurt Henke. Henke said fire and police officials are gearing up for an especially difficult holiday season.

"The holidays are tough for people under normal circumstances, and with the added tough economy, we expect to see more domestic disputes, stress and depression," Henke said. "That's why the fire and police departments and other organizations have been out trying to do what we can for people struggling in these hard times.

"You have people who have lost their jobs, their homes, their families. You're seeing people in line for help that you've never seen before. Many people don't see it, but in the fire and police business, we see it every day. But Americans are tough, and Vallejoans are resilient. We just have to make sure not to forget those less fortunate while we wait for this to pass."

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_11168662

[julie*mango]

Re: Domestic Violence and the Economy

Abuse in US homes rising

08 December 2008
Richard Danielson
Battered US women seeking refuge at the Haven of Religious Community Services in Clearwater, Florida, used to stay an average of 25 days.

These days it’s closer to 45 days – all the shelter allows – but many feel the time limit should be further extended.
“It used to be that people would find jobs and get on their feet and find a place to live,” said Christine Warwick, who directs the haven. “Now we end up keeping people even longer.”
This makes it harder for the haven to take in others.
The depressed economy is swamping Tampa Bay domestic violence shelters with victims of abuse. As the recession pushes more families out of work and into foreclosure, experts worry they are seeing more domestic violence.
At the Spring, in Hillsborough County, the number of women seeking help went from the usual 90 to 95 a month to 196 in October. And the stories they tell are more violent.
“One would assume that one thing driving this is increased stress over the economy,” said Joanne Olvera Lighter, the Spring’s president.
“Because domestic battery is about power, when you’re standing on a shrinking iceberg of what you can control, some people might tend to lash out.”
But while financial stress might play a role, shelter administrators say it no more causes abuse than alcohol or drug abuse does.
“Abusers are abusers before this,” Warwick said. “Plenty of people lose their jobs and don’t abuse their spouses.”
That said, problems with money and housing can exacerbate domestic violence.
Violence can escalate when abusers lose jobs and spend more time at home.
Victims who lose jobs might be blamed and attacked as a result. Conversely, if victims take on more work to support the family their abusers might suspect they are having affairs.
Once in a shelter it’s harder to leave because affordable housing and jobs are scarce.
In October the haven saw 34 victims come in – twice as many as in October 2007. It’s an unhappy statistic that could get worse.

http://www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=900443

[julie*mango]

Re: Domestic Violence and the Economy

Bad economy generates concern in domestic violence community
BY SARA SARGENT
NOV 13, 2008

WASHINGTON – For some battered women in Tennessee, it’s becoming a routine question: “Does your economic situation affect the violence in your relationship?”

Following reports that the financial crisis has caused a spike in domestic violence, counselors at the YWCA in Nashville started asking more questions in interviews with battered women. The inquiries touch on whether a woman’s husband has recently been fired, or whether the couple has been unable to pay rent or has lost a home due to foreclosure.

Even in households without job and mortgage problems, women say that already violent partners become increasingly aggressive after the family’s financial situation worsens, said Tami Walker, director of the YWCA’s Weaver Domestic Violence Center, Tennessee’s largest domestic violence shelter.

The battered women of Tennessee are not alone.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline, which offers 24-hour over-the-phone help, witnessed an 18 percent increase in calls this October over October 2007. That’s a sizeable jump, considering that calls were actually down in October last year, compared with 2006.

“In families where there is already a controlling dynamic, a bad economic situation causes additional stress,” said hotline spokeswoman Retha Fielding.

Based on anecdotal evidence from hotline operators and “what we know about human behavior,” Fielding believes the economic crisis has significantly affected families and will continue to do so. She cited a 2004 study by the National Institute of Justice that found, in households under financial strain, the domestic violence rate was triple that of unstressed families.

Sociologists, counselors and psychiatrists acknowledge that financial stress affects violent behavior in several common ways. Since aggression is a means of exerting power, a man might be violent when frustrated by money matters beyond his control. Moreover, if a husband has lost his job and is around the house more, the probability of violent confrontation with a spouse increases.

Experts are quick to point out, however, that bad finances do not cause non-batterers to become batterers. Too often, they say, men use “economic stress” as a crutch to justify why they get angry and then beat their partners.

“People blame it on that, but it’s interesting that they hold in their anger at work and then choose to do these things at home,” Tami Walker said.

Walker cautioned aid programs can’t be certain how widely and significantly the economic downturn has affected domestic violence rates, until several months have passed.

But if incidences of domestic violence do indeed grow as the financial crisis deepens, shelters and hotlines are likely to see a mounting need for services in the coming year.

Just as hard economic times have affected women marked by violence, they also affect the services that help victims. Previously generous donors are no longer able to contribute thousands of dollars to domestic violence programs, and strapped local governments are forced to cut their funding.

Rebecca Cline, director at the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, worries that domestic violence programs could fail to meet the growing demand.

“Hotlines are going to have more calls to them, more people will be requesting their services and more people will be turned away,” Cline said.

If this proves to be the case, a turnaround in the economy might be the only solution to these troubling problems in some stressed American families.

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=105349

[Suesumba]

Re: Domestic Violence and the Economy

every year around this time there are usually family slayings. there was one here on the weekend. guess it's a way of whittling down the xmas present shopping list.