Nursing care of African-American battered women: Afrocentric perspectives.

The focus of this article is on prominent Eurocentric beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that may prevent African-American battered women from receiving effective intervention by health care professionals and other providers. Afrocentric perspectives are presented to provide an alternative context for understanding the traditions, beliefs, and behaviors that should be considered when providing care for African-American battered women. These perspectives are integrated into discussions of suspected contributions to the incidence of violence in the lives of African-American women. They also are incorporated into suggested interventions and a case study exploring nursing considerations that may be unique to providing effective care for African-American battered women.