Still in an Abusive Relationship

This chapter looks at the annual conference called the Battered Mothers Custody Conference, which aims to inform, support, and advocate for survivors of domestic violence. It explains that the annual event, which started in 2006, allows survivors to network with each other and with the professionals and advocates who come to present at the conference. It also mentions the publication A Judge's Guide: Making Child-Centered Decisions in Custody Cases, which urges judges to count domestic violence as a serious factor in the determination of child custody, arguing that an abuser acts de facto against the best interests of the child by virtue of their abuse. The chapter mentions recommendations in the guide for training all parties engaged in custody disputes in a domestic violence context. It points out American states that have some consideration of domestic violence built into its state custody laws.

The Relationship Between Mothers’ Social Networks and Severe Domestic Violence: A Test of the Social Isolation Hypothesis

To understand the relationship between characteristics of mothers’ social networks and domestic violence, battered mothers who were severely assaulted were compared to battered mothers who were not severely assaulted and mothers who were not assaulted. The results showed that all three groups of mothers had several family members in their social networks with whom they had frequent contact during the past month. No differences were found between the groups on the number of family members who gave emotional support. However, the mothers who were severely assaulted had fewer friends, fewer contacts with their friends, fewer long-term friendships, and fewer friends who really listened to them than did the nonbattered mothers and the battered mothers who were not severely assaulted. Batterers may be more successful in disrupting friendship ties than family ties.