Running Head: CEFS 515 1
CEFS 515 Research & Program Evaluation
Keyantae L. Westbrook
Research and Program Evaluation
Dr. Kirk
September 6, 2020
CEFS 515 2
Objective
Leading a healthy lifestyle involves the inclusion of health protective behaviors
particularly in an environment with known cases of domestic violence. African American
women from lower social economic statuses (SES) are generally prone to be victims of domestic
violence and as such, they are usually expected to show signs of health protective behaviors that
are essential for their perception of safety and security. The goal of this article is to observe the
likelihood of the defensive response from African American women living in conditions of lower
SES and compare them to their African American women counterparts living in conditions that
are perceived to be of higher SES. The article also examines some of the instruments used today
in helping determine the differences in the responses. Finally, special consideration will be made
to consider the incarcerated population of African American women because while their
incarcerations possibly relate to their socio-economic status, any current self-protective
behaviors have specific trauma-based factors that are not necessarily found in the general
population of African American women.
Gap Statement
The article entitled The effects of self-protective behaviors on injury for African
American women in domestic violence situations by Wyckoff & Simpson (2008), explored how
African American women are more likely to fight back in domestic violence situations compared
to their white counterparts and the subsequent injury of that fight back against intimate partners.
The study concluded that without temporal sequencing forceful behaviors, there is an increased
risk of injury. However, with temporal sequencing, forceful behaviors significantly decrease that
risk of injury compared to no injury.
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Further review of Wyckoff & Simpson (2008) makes clear that the results of that study
suggests that African American women are utilizing forceful resistance strategies within
domestic violence situations in which the likelihood of sustaining injury may be reduced.
However, considering that this sample consists of incarcerated women with a high risk of
violence and drug abuse, the self-report accuracy of this sample may be called into question.
Further study is required with methods developed to consider this variable.
Health Protective Behaviors among African American Women against Domestic Violence
African American women in the United States are generally more prone to domestic
violence than any other group of women. Therefore, they tend to exhibit certain behaviors that
appear to protect them from such kinds of violence against them. The situation is mostly
influenced by the SES in which they live. It is evident that African American women from the
lower SES tend to exhibit defensive behaviors that also lead to injuries among other
consequences amongst the populations of African American women from the lower socio-
economic status (Kaslow et al., 2010).
The worst form of violence against African American women is sexual assault. Sexual
assault is considered the most common form of violence faced by African American women
living in lower socio-economic statuses. The case is not the same as that of African American
women living in higher socioeconomic statuses. One thing that is of great importance which
should be noted is that besides sexual victimization, the sociohistorical context within which
black women have faced includes social discrimination. This institutional rape was established
during the colonial days of slavery. African women were raped by crew members and
consequently impregnated. Their value was determined by their ability to produce healthy
offspring. They were stripped naked and put up for auction in public where the slave masters
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would choose them based on how healthy they looked and the possibilities of their reproductive
health were assumed at the time (Wilson et al., 2012).
Slavery and socioeconomic status are tied together. African American women continue to
be subjected to different forms of violence based on this historical data. Their recovery from the
effects of slavery has not been fully achieved, translating to a good number of African American
women living in abject poverty conditions that are loosely translated to lower socioeconomic
status. It is acknowledgeable that there are African American women living in better
socioeconomic statuses (Wilson et al., 2012).
African American women of lower socio-economic not only face discrimination and
violence from their African American counterparts but from all the other population groups. The
incarceration systems are not forgotten when it comes to meting out violence against African
American women. The African American women in detention facilities happen to experience
violence more often than those detainees who are white or African American women who are not
incarcerated. It is also important to understand the correlation between incarceration and lower
social class status. African American women in detention facilities mostly originate from areas
of lower socioeconomic statuses. Upon incarceration, they are not able to rise through the social
ranks with relative ease. Therefore, they end up in lower socioeconomic status conditions
(Wyckoff & Simpson, 2008).
All these conditions to which African American women are subjected are likely to elicit
certain forms of reactional behaviors especially self-defensive acts. In most cases, these
behaviors are usually violent behaviors aimed at protecting the self from the different forms of
violence and discrimination. In some cases, they appear to be ways through which these women
seek identity and recognition. They also tend to incorporate such behavior as a way of escaping
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from the different forms of violence that they face. Historically, African American women
employed the use of combative strategies to help them either escape from immediate violence or
alternatively, fight back. As a result, African American women are generally regarded as being
violent in nature. The notion is common among this group of women coming from lower
socioeconomic status conditions (Wyckoff & Simpson, 2008).
Methods and Variables
This study examines the application of the Health Protective Behavior Scale (HPBS) as a
known scientific instrument essential in measuring self-protective behaviors. The results
gathered are from different literature which were written regarding the application of said
instrument (Danaei et al., 2005).
To develop the scale, it would be important to first identify the literature that contains
information regarding the targeted study group. The literature will be collected from databases
such as Medline and WHO among other peer-reviewed articles. The study will also include the
use of open-ended surveys which would be used to get information from the subjects recruited
for the study. The study will begin by conducting a screening program conducted on a random
sample identified from within a given group of people living within the same community. The
study will also involve a control group selected from the same community. The next step will be
the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Health Protective Behavior Scale (HPBS) to
ascertain its validity. Finally, the data will be analyzed and the results discussed further to
explain the findings (Morley, 2017).
The dependent variable to be measured will be the extent of injury sustained by both the
use and nonuse of self-protective behaviors determined by the exposure to and nature of the
domestic violence reported (De Vaus, 2001). The independent variable will be the use of self-
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protective barriers, including type and sustainability. Considerations will be made for the age,
household incomes, marital status, property ownerships, and the localities (whether urban, rural
or incarcerated residences) to determine the different defensive behaviors that the subjects will
exhibit under different circumstances of domestic violence as well as their purported
effectiveness or ineffectiveness.
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References
Danaei, G., Vander Hoorn, S., Lopez, A. D., Murray, C. J., Ezzati, M., & Comparative Risk
Assessment collaborating group (Cancers. (2005). Causes of cancer in the world:
comparative risk assessment of nine behavioural and environmental risk factors. The
Lancet, 366(9499), 1784-1793.
De Vaus, D. (2001). Research design in social research. Sage.
Kaslow, N. J., Leiner, A. S., Reviere, S., Jackson, E., Bethea, K., Bhaju, J. & Thompson, M. P.
(2010). Suicidal, abused African American women's response to a culturally informed
intervention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78(4), 449.
Morley, S. (2017). Single case methods in clinical psychology: A practical guide. Routledge.
Wilson, H. W., Woods, B. A., Emerson, E., & Donenberg, G. R. (2012). Patterns of violence
exposure and sexual risk in low-income, urban African American girls. Psychology of
violence, 2(2), 194.
Wyckoff, R., & Simpson, S. S. (2008). The effects of self-protective behaviors on injury for
African American women in domestic violence situations. Crime, Law and Social
Change, 49(4), 271-288. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1007/s10611-
0089109-
