Domestic Violence, Homelessness, and Women in LA
This paper examines the social problem of intimate partner violence and its direct link to female homelessness in Los Angeles, drawing on a 2021 LAist article by Paskin. The paper describes the challenges women face when escaping abusive partners — leaving with nothing, losing social support networks, and struggling to access shelter services. It then applies Agnew's strain theory to explain why many women remain in abusive households, citing economic dependence, fear for their children, and the absence of adequate institutional support. The paper argues that a deeper focus on structural barriers and targeted organizational resources could strengthen understanding of this crisis.
- Introduction: Intimate Partner Violence and Homelessness: Article overview: domestic violence leads to female homelessness
- Sociological Dimensions of Leaving Abusive Relationships: Conflict between leaving abuse and accessing shelter
- Applying Strain Theory to Intimate Partner Violence: Strain theory explains barriers to leaving abusers
- Strain Theory and the Decision to Leave: Economic and emotional pressures keep women trapped
- Conclusion and Recommendations: Calls for organizational support for escaping women
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What makes this paper effective
- Clearly grounds its analysis in a real-world news article, keeping the sociological argument tied to concrete evidence and lived experience.
- Consistently applies a named theoretical framework — Agnew's strain theory — to interpret both the causes of prolonged abuse and the barriers to escape, demonstrating disciplined use of a single lens.
- Moves logically from describing the social problem, to identifying sociological conflict, to applying theory, and finally to offering constructive recommendations.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates theory application: it takes an established sociological framework (strain theory) and uses it to explain a real-world social issue rather than simply describing the problem. By linking economic strain, lack of income, and institutional barriers to women's inability to leave abusive relationships, the writer shows how abstract theory can generate concrete analytical insight.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by summarizing the source article's central social problem. It then identifies the sociological conflict present in the article — the tension between leaving and staying. The next two sections introduce and develop strain theory as an explanatory tool, and the paper closes with a recommendation for expanded organizational support. The structure follows a classic problem–theory–application–recommendation pattern suited to social science analysis.
Introduction: Intimate Partner Violence and Homelessness
The main social problem examined here is intimate partner violence and its direct connection to female homelessness in Los Angeles. Drawing on a 2021 LAist article, this paper discusses women's struggles when they decide to leave an abusive partner (Paskin, June 28, 2021). Most women find themselves homeless without anyone to assist them and must survive on the streets while seeking help from the relevant agencies. They quickly discover how difficult it is to receive support or even shelter, forcing many to remain on the streets.
When a woman finally decides to leave an abusive relationship, she typically leaves with nothing. She cannot carry clothing or belongings without alerting the abuser to her intentions. The exit is an escape — rushed, with only a small window of opportunity — and she cannot manage to take the items she most needs (Paskin, June 28, 2021).
Sociological Dimensions of Leaving Abusive Relationships
A significant sociological dimension is present in this issue: leaving an abusive relationship is not only emotionally difficult but also structurally constrained. A central conflict exists in which women are torn between leaving to start life anew or staying and enduring continuous abuse. When a woman chooses to leave, she must abandon everything — extended family, employment, housing, and possessions — and finds herself without any social support network.
Further conflict arises when these women seek shelter. Many are denied access because they have not registered with a government agency to establish their homeless status. In other cases, the shelters available are not equipped to serve women fleeing domestic violence. Shelters also enforce strict rules intended to ensure residents' safety; however, these controls can function as emotional trauma triggers, causing women to relive past abuse rather than recover from it.
Applying Strain Theory to Intimate Partner Violence
Strain theory, defined as the pressure exerted by social factors such as lack of income or limited access to quality education that can drive a person toward deviant behavior or crime, offers a useful framework for understanding intimate partner violence (Agnew, 2020). In the context of this issue, strain theory helps explain why so many women endure prolonged abuse before choosing to leave. In most cases, these women are unemployed and have no independent source of income, making the prospect of leaving without financial means extremely difficult.
The broader social structure of the American dream, which discriminates between those who have resources and those who do not, compounds this difficulty (Agnew, 2020). Improvements to the analysis can be made by focusing more directly on why women choose to stay rather than leave. Strain theory provides strong reasoning: surviving on the streets with children is an overwhelming prospect, and many women remain with an abusive partner out of concern for their children's welfare.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Given the choice and adequate support, most women would readily leave an abusive partner. However, structural and economic barriers mean that support rarely materializes at the moment it is most needed. The abuser uses children to instill fear, and economic dependence further limits women's options. The analysis should place greater emphasis on how women in these situations can access organizations willing to shelter both women and their children when they escape. Expanding and improving such support resources is essential to breaking the cycle in which intimate partner violence becomes a direct driver of homelessness.
References
Agnew, R. (2020). The contribution of social-psychological strain theory to the explanation of crime and delinquency. In The legacy of anomie theory (pp. 113–137). Routledge.
Paskin, J. (June 28, 2021). How domestic violence became the no. 1 cause of homelessness for women in LA. LAist, Southern California Public Radio. https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/how-domestic-violence-became-the-no-1-cause-of-homelessness-for-women-in-los-angeles
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