Battle Cries: Black Women and Intimate Partner Abuse by Hillary Potter. New York University Press. 2008, 275 pp.

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Review by Amanda Gendon, University of Missouri, St. Louis.

Hillary Potter’s Battle Cries: Black Women and Intimate Partner Abuse is an insightful book that examines the struggles and empowerment that Black women experience during and after their involvement in domestic abuse relationships. Potter’s work makes an important contribution to the field which she highlights in both her Introduction and Chapter 2. Potter explains how sociology as well as criminology has often neglected Black women in their examination of intimate partner abuse. While the study of intimate partner abuse has previously utilized a feminist perspective in an attempt to explain the phenomena, traditional feminist criminology has focused primarily on White women while oftentimes neglecting the special circumstances and racial struggles of Black women. Potter addresses this gap in the literature by utilizing a Black feminist criminology theoretical framework. Although this approach has roots in traditional feminist theory, it is sensitive to the lives of Black women by incorporating race, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic status in addition to gender. More specifically, Black feminist criminology addresses the concerns of Black women by looking at the Black woman as an individual, the Black woman’s intimate and family relationships, the culture of the Black community, and the oppressed social structure of Black America.

Potter advocates the use of qualitative narratives to gain insight into these issues. Using both purposive and snowball sampling, she gathered interview data from a total of forty women for her study. For purposive sampling, she placed advertisements in the Denver metropolitan area and in a newspaper read predominantly by a Black audience. This sampling technique provided the majority of the older women for the sample. Snowball sampling was used to gather younger participants. Individuals collected from the purposive sampling measures were asked whether they knew of younger women who had experienced similar types of domestic abuse.

            Chapter 3 describes the self-identification of the women in the study. According to Potter, the women personified the image of Strong Black Woman, an identity that was instilled in them from an early age. This self-concept remained with the women throughout adulthood. This chapter also describes how the women distinguish themselves from their white counterparts. The Black women believed that they exhibit more strength and perseverance, which Potter describes as dynamic resistance, than battered White women. They viewed White women as weak compared to themselves because they presumed that White women remained in abusive relationships for extended periods of time. Further, they felt that White women depended more heavily upon their batterers for financial subsistence and were less likely to resist. These perceptions were interesting in that the women failed to demonstrate any type of camaraderie with domestic abuse victims of other races despite their shared traumatic experiences. It appears then, in the case of Black women, race is a more defining component of their identities than gender.

            Chapter 4 revisits the well-researched connection between childhood abuse and adult abuse. Potter’s findings support those of her predecessors in that those women who experienced intimate partner abuse in adulthood had also been exposed to physical, sexual, or psychological abuse either personally or vicariously as children. The women who came from single-parent households were more likely to have been abused verbally, mentally, and physically (non-sexually) by their mothers. In contrast, the women that resided in two-parent household during childhood were more likely to be abused by their fathers. Even if not directly abused, the vast majority of women had vicarious exposure to abuse via their mother’s husbands or boyfriends. For many of the women, these childhood experiences introduced them to dynamic resistance and the importance of maintaining the Strong Black Woman identity. Many of the women were heavily influenced by their mothers’ ability to fight back against their abusive partners. It is especially notable that several of the women in the study defended their mothers throughout the ordeals. This demonstrates that, even as children, these women knew the behavior was not right. However, they still became involved in violent relationships and remained in these relationships for at least a short amount of time.

Chapters 4 and 5 of Battle Cries describe the lives of the women during the abuse. Like all women, the Black women in the study initially had optimistic outlooks on entering romantic relationships without conflict. They were seeking good providers. However, Potter argues that particular attention needs to be paid when examining intimate partner abuse within the Black community. Many of the women suggested that the nature of abuse by White men differs from abuse by Black men. In their view, abuse among Blacks has been attributed greatly to social structures and racial matters in the Black community. The book also addresses the dual role that Black women are forced to adopt; they must overcome abuse but they still feel the need to protect Black men. In other words, a love-hate relationship exists between these women and their abusers as a result of the shared experience of being Black.

In Chapter 6, Potter describes the process of the women fighting back against their attackers. Potter explains that Black women fight back as a result of the Strong Black Woman identity that is instilled in them. In other words, because of the stereotype placed on them, it is more acceptable to fight back if they are wronged. Potter asserts that with Black women, fighting back, a more masculine behavior, is not viewed as less ladylike. Rather it is a personification of the already pronounced stereotype of Black women being strong and angry. The women’s decision to fight back and resist the abuse was often based on their physical strength and size. 

Many Black women also feel that resistance to their abusers is their only option. They feel that protective services do not serve or understand Black women’s needs and circumstances. This is why they often take measures into their own hands. By engaging in this resistant behavior, the women in Potter’s study did not view themselves as victims. They engaged in their own self-help because agencies failed them.

Many of the women in the study engaged in regular resistance against their abusers. In many instances, their abusers were surprised at their ability to fight back. Resistance also oftentimes ignited more threatening responses from the abusers. Violence sometimes elevated to extreme levels where many of the women thought about killing their abusers and some actually attempted to do so.

The remainder of the book offers a more optimistic outlook that many of the women in this study eventually practice enough dynamic resistance to leave their abusive relationships. However, domestic relationships often pose a plethora of challenges for Black women that impede their ability to leave the relationships. For instance, the same Strong Black Woman stereotype that allows the women to feel empowered also interferes with them wanting to seek out help for the abuse. The women believe that because of their strength as Black Women, they do not want to burden those around them such as family and friends. The stereotype may also influence the amount and type of institutional support that the women receive. The view that Black women are strong and resilient affects the way many social service organizations view, and consequently, treat them. They may be viewed as having less need for services because of their resiliency. Therefore, they do not benefit from such resources in the same way that White women do.

Potter’s work is focused predominantly on the experiences of domestic abuse of Black women. However, throughout the book, comparisons are made between how Black women’s and White women’s experiences differ. These comparisons are made strictly on the basis of Black women’s perceptions of White women as opposed to any actual interviews with White women. Since so much of the book focuses on the comparison, I would have liked to see some interviews with White women as well to serve as a point of comparison. If White women were also included in Potter’s study, it could offer greater insight into the difference in experiences.

Other issues arise from Potter’s sample. All of the women considered themselves to be Black by their own self-definition. However, the sample contained a few multiracial individuals that still confirmed to Potter that both of their birth parents were Black. It could have been that these women have mixed ancestry further back in their lineage. However, because their parents are predominantly Black, they described them as such. It would have been interesting to further investigate biracial women who have Black fathers but White mothers that still define themselves as “Black”. As stated throughout the book, the vast majority of the Black women in the study acquired their Strong Black Women identities from their Black mothers. I would be interested to see how biracial women, who still consider themselves Black, learn how to be “Strong Black Women” without a Black mother role model.

Overall, Hillary Potter’s Battle Cries was an intriguing and insightful book about a largely understudied population. It demonstrates the need to study the intimate partner abuse of Black women as its own phenomena as opposed to simply treating race as a control variable. The nature of Black domestic violence is different and therefore warrants further care and consideration. Black women who have experienced domestic violence often view themselves less as victims and more as survivors. Also, they are more likely to resist the violence by engaging in counter-violence against their attackers.

Overall, Potter’s book makes it evident that Black women have very different circumstances and needs when it comes to intimate partner violence. At the conclusion of the book, Potter offers implications of this study for academia, social service agencies, and the community. She argues that further research needs to be conducted because domestic violence in the Black community is very different than in other communities. There is still plenty to learn. With regard to the systemic response, Potter believes that myths about Black women need to be eliminated especially in social service agencies. These agencies should work towards higher cultural competency and, in doing so, provide instruction and training in how to respond to abuse among diverse populations. Finally, social problems do not only affect those directly involved. Rather they affect the dynamics of the community. Potter recommends that the community get involved in helping victims of domestic abuse through outreach programs, churches, schools and other local and neighborhood organizations.