ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the experiences of the two subgroups of battered women. By comparing these subgroups, the emotional, cultural, and social factors that distinguish the African American battered women's experiences as gender entrapment are illuminated. The circumstantial and emotional factors that characterized the white battered women's adult households were different. They entered their intimate relationships with lower self-esteem and fewer expectations. The women's increased vulnerability to violence from their intimate partners and the consequence of the abuse affected their practical responses, influencing a distinct pattern of concrete behavior from the two groups of battered women. The African American battered women's stories show how they attempted to conceal the abuse and avoided use of public services, while the white women tended to reach out to more individuals and to social-service programs. This finding is particularly noteworthy in terms of use of the criminal justice system for crisis-intervention services given that the women were, indeed, victims of a crime.
