nt extent by region or state.
Bohannon (1995) found that substance abuse by the husband and a history of intergenerational violence in the wife's family were the two most common distinguishing features among battered women, compared with non-battered women. Other influential factors among battered women were their own drunkenness, pregnancy, low income, and husband's unemployment. The study revealed that women who abuse alcohol are more likely to be victims of minor marital violence, but it was not a significant factor in severe violence. Although substance abuse is certainly a factor, the conclusion of this and previous studies was that most physical violence occurs in the absence of alcohol or other drugs use by the victim (Bohannon, 1995).
Summary of the Article: The Role of Public Health
The article "The Role of Public Health Nurses in Responding to Abused Women" (Dickson & Tutty, 1996) is summarized and critiqued. The summary and critique of the article consider (1) problem statement, (2) population and sample, (3) instrumentation, (4) data collection procedures, (5) data analysis, and (6) conclusions and implications.
Dickson and Tutty (1996), while noting that the prominence of the societal attention given to domestic violence has caused the nursing profession to be "well aware of the need to increase both the identification and support of abused women à, how easily this transfers into practice remains uncertain" (p. 263). This observation served as the problem statement in the article. Dickson and Tutty (1996) then stated that the study, the results of which were reported in the article, "focused on the thoughts, feelings, and actions of à public health nurses à when working or contemplating working with women who are abused" (p. 263). This focus stat
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