Publication year
2017
Citation Title
Systemic barriers faced by women attempting to leave abusive military marriages.
Journal Name
Journal of Counseling and Development
Journal Volume
95
Issue Number
3
Page Numbers
354-364
DOI
10.1002/jcad.12149
Summary
Little is known about the experience of women in military families who seek to leave an abusive marriage, a process that may be complicated by unique features of military life (i.e., ideals about loyalty, frequent relocation, financial dependence). This study qualitatively investigated the systemic barriers women face when trying to leave an abusive military marriage. Findings indicate that issues of power and cultural ideals of loyalty may keep military wives in abusive marriages. Also, findings underscore the importance of practitioners advocating for and connecting their clients to helpful resources.
Key Findings
Military wives shared a strong sense that their husbands were protected by the military system, and reported often feeling pressure from those they reached out to within the military system to drop charges, stay silent, or change their own behavior.
Military wives discussed how the ideals of the strength and loyalty of military wives made it even more difficult to ask for help.
Military wives expressed feeling as though the referrals within the military system (e.g., couples counseling through the Family Advocacy Program) were inadequate in addressing their needs and designed to protect the Service member.
Implications for Program Leaders
Confer with military wives and husbands about what kind of support the military could provide that would be helpful when dealing with an abusive marriage
Facilitate support groups for military wives and husbands who have dealt with domestic violence to increase kinship and support among spouses
Enhance education, activities, and curriculum related to domestic violence
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend professional development courses focused on advocacy for military wives and husbands experiencing domestic violence, including how to connect women and men to the appropriate military or civilian resources
Encourage the training of military professionals to highlight the unique challenges faced by military wives and husbands who are trying to leave an abusive marriage
Recommend partnerships among military-based and community-based programs to help military husbands and wives leaving abusive marriages to feel more comfortable sharing about their experiences
Methods
Participants were recruited through military-affiliated key informants, as well as through the distribution of flyers to various organizations and clinics throughout the southwestern U.S.
Women were eligible if they had left a marriage to an Active Duty Service member who deployed in service of OEF/OIF in which they self-reported physical or emotional abuse.
Each woman participated in a one to two hour initial interview, which followed a semi-structured interview guide, as well as a 15-30 minute follow-up interview for clarification.
Various themes emerged from the qualitative analyses, including: power and control, protection of the Service member, and cultural ideals of loyalty.
Participants
Participants included eight civilian women, ranging in age from 21 to 45 years old.
Women reported being previously married to enlisted men who served with the Army (n=4), Air Force (n=2), Marines (n=1), and Navy (n=1).
Marriages varied in length from nine months to 12 years (M = 5.59, SD = 4.14).
Six participants identified as White, and two as Latina.
Limitations
The use of convenience sampling and small sample size makes it difficult to generalize to a wider population.
Because all of the participants were previously married to enlisted Service members, no conclusions can be drawn about the effect of rank on the experience of military wives leaving an abusive marriage.
Relying on only one source of information (wives' self-report via interviews) may have introduced bias, decreasing the study's reliability.
Avenues for Future Research
Recruit a larger and randomly selected sample of military wives
Ensure the recruitment of a sample that reflects both enlisted Service members as well as officers
Incorporate multiple modes of data (i.e., interview and questionnaires) to increase the study's reliability
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
This narrative study features 8 women who shared their stories of systemic barriers faced in the process of leaving an abusive military marriage. The themes of power and control, protection of the service member, entitlement, infallibility, safe places are not safe, and cultural ideals of loyalty are presented and emphasized with excerpts from the women’s narratives. Implications are identified for counselors in the roles of practitioner and advocate, along with suggestions of future directions for research.
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