Marshall University Marshall Digital Scholar Theses, Dissertations and Capstones 1-1-2003 Am I My Neighbor's Keeper : Toward a Community-Based Model of Local Violence George F. Bills [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://mds.marshall.edu/etd Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Bills, George F., "Am I My Neighbor's Keeper : Toward a Community-Based Model of Local Violence" (2003). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. Paper 41. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Marshall Digital Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Marshall Digital Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Am I My Neighbor’s Keeper?: Toward a Community-Based Model of Local Violence Thesis submitted to The Graduate College of Marshall University In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Sociology by George F. Bills Karen Li Simpkins, PhD, Committee Chairperson Marshall University April 14, 2003 ABSTRACT By George F. Bills The purpose of this exploratory concurrent mixed methods study is to better understand the community context of domestic batterer intervention systems (Gondolf, 2002) by converging demographic trends in crime and arrest, family income, and marriage and divorce rates with community status indicators and marital conflict themes. In the study, county-level Uniform Crime Reports data, US Census data, and Vital Statistics data will be used to analyze community differences in social context and patterns of domestic violence in Cabell County, WV and Lawrence County, OH. At the same time, the local domestic batterer intervention system in Cabell County, WV, will be explored using ethnographic interviews, qualitative content analysis, and participant observation with individuals and organizations in Cabell County and at the state level in order to begin building a grounded theory of community violence. DEDICATION The author wishes to dedicate this thesis to Sheilla, who put up with his preoccupation with the project, and Denver, his son, who reminds him of how important it is to keep striving to help families and communities better themselves. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to acknowledge the support of his Thesis Commitee: Karen Li Simpkins, PhD, Chairman, Julia Fox, PhD, Richard Garnett, PhD, and Fred Roth, PhD. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE # Chapter 1 1 Statement of Purpose Identifying the Phenomena for Study in Relation to the Current Cultural Context The Minnesota Models Chapter 2 11 Theory and Literature Review Increasing Crime Rates and Concentrated Poverty Appalachian Field Project Results Domestic Violence and Structuring Variables The Grid-Group Paradigm Preferences and The World of Goods (Douglas & Isherwood, 1979) Applying the Douglas & Isherwood Model in Studying Batterer Intervention Programs Applying the Grid-Group Scheme to Risk Perceptions Perceptions of Scarcity, Prosperity, and Threat Theories That Explain Intimate Violence Structuring Variables and Theories That Explain Intimate Violence Ecological and Epidemiological Conflict Chapter Summary Chapter 3 58 A Note on Ethnography and Studying Risk Perceptions “Total Community Context”: Buzzwords or Genuine Commitment Spradley on Participant Observation Secondary Sources Associated Problems Developing the Project Chapter 4 71 Describing Batterer Intervention in Two States in Central Appalachia Differences Between Two Appalachian Counties Developing Programs and Referrals in Two Localities An Aside from One Fresh From the Fray Competitive Cooperation or Cooperative Competition Network Ties and Group Formation in Southern Ohio Individualistic Networks and New Services The West Virginia Experience Summary Chapter 5 108 Who’s Side Anyway? The Effect of Economic Restructuring on WV and the Tristate Region Three Ways Feminists Have Theorized About Social Inequality Some Tentative Connections Between Types of Feminist Thinking About Inequality and the Grid-Group Paradigm Monopoly Capitalism, Women’s Work, and the Grid-Group Paradigm Toward a Community Model Chapter 6 142 Patriarchy, Boundary Formation, and Cosmology: Culture and the Politics of Self, Privacy, and Property Going Deeper Into the Cultural Basis of Community Violence Gayle Rubin, Traffic in Women, and the Politics of the Political Economy of Sex Marginalization and Ecological Pressure Systems and Entrepreneurial Influences on Forms of Knowledge Social Categories, Collective Memory, and Time Types of Power, Metacategorization of Value Classes, and the Evolution of Power The Nineteenth Century Origins of the Current Masculine Epistemology Rubbish Theory and the Modal Logic of Community Boundary Systems Slow Decline in Huntington For Want of a Nail... Chapter 7 184 Trust and Legitimacy in Batterer Intervention Systems Four Problems of Risk, Managerial Modes, and Modes of Resistance More on Creativity and Cultural Bias The “Player” and the “Control Freak” as Ideal Types of Batterers Offender Biases and the Cycle of Violence Summary of Interaction of Offender Biases and Organizational Biases Conclusions Suggestions for Further Research LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2.1 AN ESSENTIAL FAMILY PATTERN IN INCEST DYNAMICS 23 FIGURE 3.1 THE DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH SEQUENCE 66 FIGURE 4.1 LOCAL STRESS DYNAMICS IN SMALL AGENCIES 77 FIGURE 5.1 HUNTINGTON-ASHLAND WV-KY-OH AND CHARLESTON, WV SMAS 112 FIGURE 5.2 POPULATION, PERCENT CHANGE IN WV COUNTIES 118 FIGURE 5.3 MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME IN WV COUNTIES 119 FIGURE 5.4 PERCENT POPULATION BELOW THE POVERTY LINE IN WV COUNTIES 120 FIGURE 5.5 LOCATIONS OF WVCADV LICENSED PROGRAMS 121 FIGURE 6.1 THE HIERARCHY OF THE BODY TRANSCODED THROUGH THE HIERARCHY OF THE CITY 168 FIGURE 7.1 THOMPSON’S RUBBISH THEORY MODEL OF SOCIAL COGNITION 194 FIGURE 7.2 DWORKIN’S MODEL OF CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN 199 FIGURE 7.3 ELEMENTS OF BATTERER THOUGHT AND ACTION IN THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE 207 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 2.1 THRESHOLD EFFECTS IMPACTING NEIGHBORHOOD QUALITY 19 TABLE 2.2 RISK, WEBERIAN ECONOMIC TYPES, AND SOCIAL CONTEXT 40 TABLE 2.3 THEORIES OF INTIMATE VIOLENCE AND MOTIVATIONAL MECHANISMS 46 TABLE 2.4 STRUCTURING VARIABLES AND THEORIES OF INTIMATE VIOLENCE 50 TABLE 5.1A TOTAL POPULATION OF THE CENTRAL CITY OF HUNTINGTON, WV AND SUBURBS IN HUNTINGTON - ASHLAND, WV - KY - OH SMA 114 TABLE 5.1B TOTAL POPULATION OF IMPORTANT COMMUNITIES AND SUBURBS IN HUNTINGTON - ASHLAND, WV - KY - OH SMA 114 TABLE 5.2 CHANGE IN TOTAL POPULATION (PERCENT) 114 TABLE 5.3 MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME IN SEVEN LOCAL COMMUNITIES 116 TABLE 5.4 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN SEVEN LOCAL COMMUNITIES 116 TABLE 5.5A PER CAPITA INCOME IN THE FIVE COUNTY SHELTER REGION 117 TABLE 5.5B TOTAL POPULATION, PER CAPITA INCOME, FAMILY MEDIAN INCOME, AND PERCENT OF POPULATION BELOW POVERTY IN COUNTIES IN THE HUNTINGTON-ASHLAND WV-KY- OH SMA 117 TABLE 5.6 POVERTY RATE IN SEVEN LOCAL COMMUNITIES 122 TABLE 5.7 DV ARRESTS, MARRIAGES, AND DIVORCES IN CABELL COUNTY, 1989-2000 124 TABLE 5.8 KAROLY’S (1993) SUMMARY OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE US 127 TABLE 5.9 FEMINIST THEORIES OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY 130 TABLE 6.1 THE METACATEGORIZATION OF POWER BASED ON ADAMS (1977) 164 TABLE 6.2 LOCAL COMMUNITY AGENCY MEDIATION OF MODAL BOUNDARIES 177 TABLE 7.1 RESISTANCE TO CULTURAL INTRUSION 212 TABLE 7.2 A SUMMARY OF GRID-GROUP RELATIONS IN THE INTIMATE VIOLENCE THEORY IN RELATION TO IDEOLOGIES AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL STYLES 218 Chapter 1. Statement of Purpose The purpose of this exploratory concurrent mixed methods study is to better understand the community context of domestic batterer intervention systems (Gondolf, 2002) by converging demographic trends in crime and arrest , family income, and marriage and divorce rates with community status indicators and marital conflict themes. In the study, county-level Uniform Crime Reports data, US Census data, and Vital Statistics data will be used to analyze community differences in social context and patterns of domestic violence in Cabell County, WV and Lawrence County, OH. At the same time, the local domestic batterer intervention system in Cabell County, WV will be explored using ethnographic interviews, qualitative content analysis, and participant observation with individuals and organizations in Cabell County and at the state level in order to begin building a grounded theory of community violence. Identifying the Phenomena for Study in Relation to the Current Cultural Context According to Gondolf (2002), the major events in the history of batterer intervention programs can be summarized in five periods of five years each, beginning in 1975 to 2000: 1975-1979 Battered-women’s movement emerges and establishes women’s shelters 2. First National Family Violence Survey documents the extent of domestic violence First batterer programs formed as gender-based discussion groups 1980-1984 “Men & Masculinity” conference addresses men’s responsibility in dealing with violence against women (Lansing, MI) Techniques and skill building introduced into batterers programs Special conference about concerns with batterer counseling convened by battered-women’s advocates (Pottstown, PA) First research panel on batterers at National Family Violence Research Conference at University of New Hampshire 1985-1989 First published batterer-program manuals Minneapolis Police Department study helps promote arrests of batterers Expansion of court-referred batterer counseling in response to pro-arrest policies First