Article Characteristics and Risk Factors of Chinese Immigrant Intimate Partner Violence Victims in New York City and the Role of Supportive Social Networks Chunrye Kim 1 and Hung-En Sung 1 Abstract This study identified the characteristics and risk factors of Chinese immigrant intimate partner violence (IPV) victims and their offenders through a case study of 189 IPV victims who sought help from a Chinese community organization in Queens, New York City called ‘‘Garden of Hope.’’ A descriptive analysis was conducted on socioeconomic status (SES), support network as well as history of substance abuse problems and childhood abuse. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to understand the role of different types of social support networks on the level of abuse. Overall, the risk factors which were identified by other researchers could be found in Chinese immigrant populations. However, higher SES—in particular employment status and educational level—does not help victims escape from IPV, and not all types of social networks played a positive role in preventing further victimization among Chinese immigrant populations. Keywords risk factors, intimate partner violence, Chinese immigrants Scholars and practitioners have only recently begun to pay attention to intimate partner violence (IPV) in Chinese immi- grant communities (Liao, 2008). Chinese immigrants from the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan makeup the second largest immigrant group in the United States. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2013). Despite the increased number of Chinese immi- grants, facts about the incidence of IPV among them are largely unknown due to underreporting problems (Hicks, 2006). The ‘‘model minority myth’’ has also led to the underestimation of the risk of violence among Chinese immigrants and the underinvestment of research and service resources toward this population (Yick, 2007). The problem of violence among Chinese immigrants is further complicated by the potential exacerbating effects of cultural and patriarchal values from the home society (Park & Bernstein, 2008) and acculturation stress encountered in the host society (Jin & Keat, 2010). A better understanding of IPV that is specific to Chinese immigrants is needed as IPV is a potential public health and criminal justice crisis that has not been sufficiently explored and clinically addressed with respect to this vulnerable population. Studies indicate that there are certain characteristics that can be identified among IPV victims and offenders across gender and culture. However, not all risk factors play an equally important role in the occurrence of IPV among different sets of populations (Lauritsen & Carbone-Lopez, 2011). In particu- lar, immigrants experience different kinds of risk factors that can lead to or intensify IPV because of their unique challenged circumstances, such as language barriers and discrimination (Caetano, Ramisetty-Mikler, Vaeth, & Harris, 2007). To pre- vent further victimization, it is important to acknowledge what kinds of risk factors are present among immigrants IPV vic- tims, whether these are different from or similar to the general or other population, and what factors play an important role in explaining the occurrence of IPV among them. This study aims to identify the risk factors of IPV among Chinese immigrant victims and offenders and their characteris- tics through a case study of 189 IPV victims who sought help from the Chinese community organization in Queens, New York City called ‘‘Garden of Hope’’ (GOH). By focusing on the sample of Chinese immigrant women who have been in abusive intimate relationships and their offenders, this study intends to reveal the hidden profiles of Chinese immigrant IPV victims and their offenders and related risk factors that might be particularly relevant and unique to this population. The descriptive analysis was conducted on socioeconomic status, 1 John Jay College of Criminal Justice: CUNY, New York, NY, USA Corresponding Author: Chunrye Kim, Department of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice: CUNY, New York, NY, 10019, USA. Email: ckim@jjay.cuny.edu The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families 2016, Vol. 24(1) 60-69 ª The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1066480715615632 tfj.sagepub.com at JOHN JAY COLLEGE on November 27, 2015 tfj.sagepub.com Downloaded from