The link between childhood and adult abuse among long-term welfare recipients

Abstract

This article examines the links between childhood and adult abuse among long-term welfare recipients. In-depth interviews were conducted with 280 women who had been on public financial assistance for at least 3 years. High rates of childhood and adult abuse were reported among these long-term welfare recipients. Two-thirds (67%) indicated they were physically, sexually, and/or emotionally abused during childhood and 81% lived in a physically violent relationship as an adult. Most of the women (59%) were abused both as a child and an adult, and almost all of the women (90%) were abused as either a child or adult. There was a strong relationship between childhood and adult abuse among these long-term welfare recipients. There was also a connection between past abuse and a Child Protective Services investigation as a parent. Overall, more attention needs to be paid to family violence among long-term welfare recipients.

Introduction

The Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 has been successful in reducing the number of families receiving cash assistance. However, as caseloads have decreased, an unintended effect of welfare reform has been an increase in the percentage of families on assistance who have serious barriers to becoming self-sufficient. These barriers include health problems, individual and family mental health, limited education and work history, learning disabilities, and domestic abuse (Diefenbach, 1996, Olson and Pavetti, 1996, Giovengo, 1997, Pavetti, 1997). The purpose of this article is to report a study of family violence among long-term welfare recipients who have difficulties moving into employment. Specifically, this study focuses on childhood trauma, violent relationships in adulthood, and examines the relationship between domestic violence relationships and past childhood abuse among hard-to-serve welfare recipients.

The primary aim of welfare reform is to move families into employment and off government support. So far, states have been successful at decreasing the number of families on assistance. Every state has seen a rapid reduction in welfare caseloads. Some states such as Idaho has seen as much as an 80% drop in families on assistance. Nationally, there has been a 30% decline in caseloads since 1997 (Administration for Children and Families, 2003). This change can be attributed to several factors such as a healthy economy, more stringent work requirements, and grant sanctioning policies. The drastic reduction in welfare caseload has left a greater proportion of ‘hard-to-serve’ clients or long-term families with multiple barriers to employment. For example, in Utah the welfare caseload in January 1996 was 13 082 families. The percentage of long-term welfare recipients¹ was 23%. By September 1997, the caseload was approximately 8748, however, the percentage of long-term clients jumped to 35%. And in January 1998, the percentage of long-term families climbed again to 43% of the 8519 families on assistance (Taylor, Derr & Abu-Bader, 1998). Utah's experience with caseload changes reflecting a greater concentration of hard-to-serve is not uncommon. Nationwide, states are reporting similar results. Employable parents on assistance have already left the welfare rolls. The remaining clients are difficult to move into employment.

Recently, researchers have documented high rates of domestic violence among single-parent mothers on welfare. Raphael and Tolman (1997) concluded that between 57 and 65% of women receiving welfare had ever been exposed to domestic violence and between 15 and 32% are current victims. In a Massachusetts study of welfare clients, researchers uncovered similar rates of domestic violence (Allard, Albelda, Colten & Cosenza, 1997). They found two-thirds of welfare recipients had ever been abused and one-fifth had been abused in the past year. More than half called the police on an abusive partner and about the same amount got a restraining order.

Women in domestic violence relationships face serious obstacles in their ability to become self-sufficient. Economic, emotional, and physical dependence on the abusive partner is the foundation of a violent relationship. As a result, women who are abused report higher levels of depression, and lower levels of self-esteem and self-efficacy (Orava, McCleod & Sharpe, 1996). In addition, the violence relationship frequently interferes with employment. Almost half of domestic violence victims reported that their ex-partner had prevented them from working (Riger, Ahrens, Blickenstaff and Camacho, 1997, Pearson, Thoennes & Griswold, 1998). Approximately 24–30% of abused women who were employed said they lost their jobs as a result of their relationship (Shepard and Pence, 1988, Stanley, 1992). Riger et al. (1997) discovered 52% of those in a violent relationship who worked were fired or had to quit because of the abuse. Several researchers documented that a domestic violence relationship was a major barrier to self-sufficiency for welfare recipients (Davis and Kraham, 1995, Lloyd, 1995, Raphael, 1995).

Past history with domestic violence is only one component of family violence among welfare recipients. Trauma from their abuse as a child is another family violence issue. Many studies focus on the concurrence of domestic violence and child abuse (Layzer, 1986, Jackson, 1996, Aron and Olson, 1997). However, few studies address the relationship between child victimization and later domestic violence. One study of African–American and Hispanic women in New York methadone clinics revealed that women who were physically abused in childhood were almost nine times more likely to report having been abused by a spouse or boyfriend (Gilbert, El-Bassel & Schilling, 1997). In another study of 436 very low-income mothers in Massachusetts, researchers learned that during childhood, 63% were severely assaulted by adult caretakers and 42% were sexually molested by age 12. In adulthood, 61% of these women had experienced severe physical violence by a spouse or partner. More than half (53%) of the group had been threatened with death by an abusive partner. High rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicide attempts were revealed among this group of very low-income single-parent mothers (Brown & Bassuk, 1997). More research is needed looking at the relationship between past child abuse and domestic violence among the hard-to-serve.

Family violence is a major barrier to employment for many long-term welfare recipients, and trauma from childhood abuse and domestic violence in adulthood can have detrimental effects on everyday functioning including employment. Knowledge about past trauma and abuse may shed some light onto why these groups of parents are long-term welfare consumers. Furthermore, hard-to-serve families are most affected by some of the punitive welfare measures such as grant sanctioning and welfare lifetime limits (Derr, 1998). Children from these long-term welfare families are already at risk for abuse and neglect. Without government support, families will not have the monetary resources to provide for their children. In addition to neglect, children may be victims of physical abuse as a result of parental stress from lack of money. Understanding past trauma among welfare families is critical to both welfare and child welfare policy makers.