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Abstract
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Domestic violence is a significant social problem in the U.S., with 4.5 million instances of domestic abuse annually and over one in five women experiencing physical assault by an intimate partner at least once in her life.
Past research has established the dual relationship between education, employment, and abuse, whereby low education and poor labor market prospects raise the risk of domestic violence while abuse also undermines educational attainment and employment. Less well understood, however, is whether there are similar ties between health and domestic violence. Poor health and chronic illness may leave an individual more vulnerable to abuse, and violence, by its very nature, poses a risk to health.
In Health, Human Capital and Domestic Violence (NBER Working Paper No. 22887), researchers Nicholas Papageorge, Gwyn Pauley, Mardge Cohen, Tracey Wilson, Barton Hamilton, and Robert Pollak explore the effect of health improvements on domestic violence.
Estimating a causal effect of health on domestic violence is made more challenging by the possibility that abuse may also affect health. Alternatively, omitted third factors could affect both health and violence. To overcome these difficulties, the researchers focus on whether an unexpected change in health due to a medical breakthrough is associated with a change in violence. Specifically, they look at how the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) for women infected with HIV affected their exposure to violence and illicit drug use....
Language: en |