Study Tracks Effects Of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence affects more than just those at home. It can also cost companies money if employers aren’t aware of the situation or don’t know how to handle it.

Carol Reeves, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business, along with professors Anne O’Leary-Kelly and Amy Farmer, started a related project two years ago based on data Farmer had been collecting. In late June, the study titled “Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on the Workplace,” finally got off the ground.

“It’s something that has not been explored very much at all,” Reeves said. “We’re trying to do a very large-scale study.”

The research is focused on how much money domestic violence costs companies. The nationwide study will gather ancillary information, but the main focus is “cost,” Reeves said.

Domestic violence can have a huge impact. Some reasons are that health care costs tend to be twice as high for victims and mental health care costs are eight times higher, Reeves said.

The survey also asks if employees are aware of co-workers who are victims of domestic violence, and if they feel afraid.

“Very frequently when it comes to the workplace, it’s not just the victims that get killed, it’s also the co-workers,” Reeves said. “We don’t know if people think about that or not.”

Reeves said even perpetrators can cost a company by stalking the area. One bail bondsmen on the steering committee for the project told Reeves he has seen supervisors bailing out employees.

“What’s amazing is how frequently a supervisor will go bail out, usually a man, who’s been beating his wife and kids,” Reeves said.

Detective Dave Williams with the Fayetteville Police Department is also on the steering committee. He recalled trying to find a perpetrator who hadn’t been to work for three days because he knew Williams was trying to find him.

“It does have a very big impact on the workplace and that’s what we’re trying to find out — how much,” Reeves said.

Web-based surveys, developed by staff at the Walton College, have been sent out to companies that have agreed to let their employers take the survey. There are about 130 to 150 questions on the survey, depending how a person answers it, and the results are totally secure, Reeves said.

Employers who agree to participate in the study also agree to let their employees take the survey while at work. This provides them security to answer the questions honestly, Reeves said. They can choose to use the Web-based form or, if they’re not comfortable with that, they can fill out a paper form.

“It’s a safety issue,” Reeves said. “That’s been our primary concern, is that we do not want to be the cause of some unfortunate event.”

The companies also have a chance to look at their own results, given that there are enough surveys to not make anyone stand out. The results will be free because of a $750,000 grant the project received from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Reeves said the research will likely continue for three years, but preliminary results will be discussed at a conference in Hawaii next month.

Another conference is scheduled for November in Fayetteville. Reeves said that she wants all of the employers in Arkansas to get involved, not just those in Northwest Arkansas. Some of the companies involved in the steering committee are Tyson Foods Inc., J. B. Hunt Transportation Services Inc., Nabholz Construction Corp., the UA, St. Francis House, the Fayetteville Police Department and the Fayetteville prosecutor’s office.