The object of this study is to analyze the rates of intimate partner violence before and after Hurricane Katrina, and look at the causes for the increases found.
The study addresses the survivors of Katrina fairly soon after the disaster, at a time when they likely do not have much stability. Many were without homes, may have lost family or friends, neighborhoods were torn apart, schools were destroyed, and money was very thin. It was not an easy time, so focusing on this group at such a stressful time was the goal of the study.
The information in this study can be used to offer help to couples after disasters, as it shows that counseling may be needed to help aleviate some of the issues at hand. While counseling may not be readily available with all of the other disaster relief that is going on, it should be reconized as something that may be necessary to help the recovery process and ensure greater safety.
This study has been cited in several other articles and studies that look at disaster and intimate partner violence. Some focus on specific areas such as costal regions, others bring in other factors such as depression.
Many studies look at intimate partner voilence (IPV), but only two previous studies look at it specifically related to a natural disaster, so this research is inventive in that way. It uses data from a larger study of the area that was hit by Katrina. The data was obtained through interviews, and in the period of time 6 months before Katrina to 6 months after, measures of psychological and physical IPV are analyzed. These measures were also compared to a scale of how stressful the individual's life had been in that time frame, which was reached based on answers to questions about how Katrina affected the individual.
It is published in "Violence & Victims", which is a peer-reviewed journal that analyzes all aspects of interpeersonal violence. The journal features contributions from many fields, from medicine to law to social work.
It was partialy funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.