Economic Abuse

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Economic Abuse

• Dr. Judy L. Postmus, Ph.D., ACSW

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Goal of Workshop

• This workshop will provide concrete suggestions
  on how to understand and assess economic abuse
  with survivors of violence

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Objectives

• Participants will
• Acquire a basic knowledge of economic abuse
• Learn how to assess economic abuse when working
  with survivors of domestic violence.
• Learn how to increase their clients awareness of
  the impact of economic abuse

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What is Economic Abuse?

• What are financially healthy relationships?
• Economic abuse - A tactic used to control
  relationships by preventing access to money or
  other financial resources
• Has always been one of many tactics abusers use
  to control their partners
• Key to determining centers on the lack of
  cooperation and discussion around financial
  decisions in a relationship

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Effects of Economic Abuse

• Poverty
• Stressful home environment
• Greater economic dependence on abuser
• Greater uncertain economic future
• Greater risk for depression, anxiety, or physical
  health problems
• Vulnerable to poor educational employment
  success
• Damaged self-esteem and self-efficacy
• Forces women to choose between staying in abusive
  relationship or face poverty and/or homelessness

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Rationale for Identifying Economic Abuse

• Economic models predict that domestic violence
  will decline as remedies outside of the immediate
  relationship improve
• By addressing economic abuse strengthening
  economic status, more women will
• Reach economic self-sufficiency and economic
  self-efficacy
• More likely to leave
• If stay, have more power in relationship

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Types of Economic Abuse

• Employment sabotage strategies
• Economic exploitation strategies
• Economic controlling strategies

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Employment Sabotage Strategies

• What are some employment sabotage strategies you
  have learned from working with survivors?
• Do things to keep you from going to your job
• Beat you up if you said you needed to go to work
• Threaten to make you leave work
• Demand that you quit your job

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Economic Exploitation Strategies

• What are some exploitation strategies you have
  seen?
• How do abusers financially exploit their
  partners?
• Pay bills late or not pay bills that were in your
  name or in both of your names
• Spend the money you needed for rent or other
  bills
• Build up debt under your name by doing things
  like use your credit card or run up the phone
  bill

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Economic Control Strategies

• How do abusers economically control their
  partners?
• Demand to know how money was spent
• Make important financial decisions without
  talking with you about it first
• Keep financial information from you
• Make you ask him for money
• Demand that you give him receipts and/or change
  when you spent money

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Prevalence of Economic Abuse

• Employment sabotage strategies
• 68 had partners do things to keep them from
  going to work
• 59 had partners demanding that they quit their
  job
• Exploitation strategies
• 71 had partner pay bills late or not at all
• 69 had partner spend money needed for rent or
  other bills
• Controlling strategies
• 88 had partners who demanded to know how the
  money was spent
• 83 had partners making important financial
  decisions without talking to tem first

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Why use with battered women?

• Financial insecurity and economic abuse puts
  women in a position of choosing to stay in an
  abusive relationship or face poverty and
  homelessness
• Once they do leave they face economic barriers
• Many women do not recognize they are being
  financially abused
• Service providers have only recently begun to
  focus on economic abuse and have just begun to
  make economic concerns central to a victims well
  being, self sufficiency and empowerment

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How to assess?

• Can use the modified Scale of Economic Abuse
• Has 12 questions covering the 3 types of economic
  abuse
• Answers based on scale of 1-5
• Lets practice!

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Application

• How do you plan on including content on economic
  abuse into your work with survivors?
• Use the Revised Scale of Economic Abuse?
• Change your policies at your agency to use this
  tool?
• Make it part of your routine assessment?

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Summary

• Review Objectives
• Acquire a basic knowledge of economic abuse
• Learn how to assess economic abuse when working
  with survivors of domestic violence.
• Learn how to increase their clients awareness of
  the impact of economic abuse
• Questions? Comments?

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Websites

• NNEDV
• Financial Tips for Survivors - http//www.nnedv.or
  g/projects/allstatefoundtion/financialtips.html
• The Allstate Foundation http//www.allstate.com/
  foundation/main.aspx
• o   Financial Literacy Information
  http//www.clicktoempower.org  

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Websites

• Financial Empowerment Curriculum -
  http//www.clicktoempower.org/resources/financial-
  empowerment-curriculum.aspx
• National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
  (NCADV) http//www.ncadv.org
• Financial Education Project - http//www.ncadv.org
  /programs/FinancialEducation.php

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Selected Bibliography

• Adams, A. E., Sullivan, C. M., Bybee, D.,
  Greeson, M. R. (2008). Development of the Scale
  of Economic Abuse. Violence Against Women, 14(5),
  563-588.
• Anthes, W. L., Most, B.W. (2000). Frozen in the
  headlights The dynamics of women and money.
  Journal of Financial Planning, 13(9), 10.
• Farmer, A., Tiefenthaler, J. (2003). Explaining
  the recent decline in domestic violence.
  Contemporary Economic Policy, 21(2), 158.
• Fawole, O. I. (2008). Economic Violence To Women
  and Girls Is It Receiving the Necessary
  Attention? Trauma Violence Abuse, 9(3), 167-177.
• Gowdy, E. A., Pearlmutter, S. (1993). Economic
  self-sufficiency It's not just money. Affilia,
  8(4), 368-387.
• Postmus, J. L., Plummer, S., McMahon, S.,
  Murshid, N. Kim, M. (in press). Understanding
  economic abuse in the lives of survivors. Journal
  of Interpersonal Violence.
• Postmus, J. L. (2010, October). Economic
  Empowerment of Domestic Violence Survivors.
  Harrisburg, PA VAWnet, a project of the National
  Resource Center on Domestic Violence/Pennsylvania
  Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
  (www.vawnet.org).

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• Postmus, J. L., Plummer, S. B.,
  Mathisen-Stylianou, A. (under review). An
  exploratory factor analysis of the Scale of
  Economic Abuse. Violence Against Women.
• Sanders, C. K., Weaver, T. L., Schnabel, M.
  (2007). Economic education for battered women An
  evaluation of outcomes. Affilia, 22(3), 240-254.
• VonDeLinde, K. C., Correia, Amy. (2005).
  Economic education programs for battered women
  Lessons learned from two settings. Building
  Comprehensive Solutions to Domestic Violence
  retrieved from www.vawnet.org, 18, 1-25.
• Vyas, S. W., C. (2008). How does economic
  empowerment affect women's risk of intimate
  partner violence in low and middle income
  countries? A systematic review of published
  evidence. Journal of International Development,
  21(5), 25.
• Weaver, T. L., Sanders, C. K., Campbell, C. L.,
  Schnabel, C. (2009). Development and preliminary
  psychometric evaluation of the Domestic
  Violence--Related Financial Issues Scale (DV-FI).
  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(4).

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Contact Information

• Center on Violence Against Women Children
• Rutgers, School of Social Work
• 536 George Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901
• 732-932-7520 x163 http//vawc.rutgers.edu
• Judy L. Postmus, Ph.D., ACSW postmus_at_ssw.rutgers.e
  du

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