Head injury and battered women: An initial inquiry

Approximately 2 to 3 million women are battered by their intimate partners each year. Severe injuries requiring emergency medical treatment of battere d women have been noted, yet the prevalence of head injuries and the negati ve consequences emanating from such injuries have been noticeably absent fr om the literature. The descriptive study discussed in this article examined the case records of residents in a domestic violence shelter over a three- month period and found a 35 percent prevalence rate of battered women who h ad experienced head injury during a battering incident with their intimate partner This study calls attention to the long-range difficulties that head -injured battered women may experience as a result of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral difficulties resulting from domestic violence and how socia l workers can intervene with this population.