Saving Bernice: Battered Women, Welfare, and Poverty Jody Raphael (2000) Both domestic violence and welfare policy have long been issues of controversy, due to the extreme variances in social views. But in this story, we learn that perhaps the one view that can genuinely give birth to true understanding, and thus, progress, is that of the individual experience. In this story of struggle, survival and triumph, we meet Bernice, a welfare mother and survivor of domestic violence, dealing with the frustrations of anti-poverty strategies. Raphael puts on the table the need for all (conservatives, liberals, and feminists) to deconstruct and see past the myths related to these issues in order to make way for real progress. Both Raphael’s writing and Bernice’s own personal accounts give the reader poignant, moving sketches of the cracks and leaks in our welfare system. The humanization of Bernice and her story forces the reader to see not only the interconnectedness between the issues of domestic violence and poverty, but also that it cannot be ignored. Through Bernice’s own struggle with birth control access and her personal challenge with finding employment, the reader is presented with a reality that domestic violence and poverty is not a quick fix. “Saving Bernice” illuminates the need for a wide spectrum of assistance needed to effectively change welfare systems rather than just implementing one answer for all cases. Ultimately, this book probes more understanding in the best and most genuine way possible, through the personal story of one inspirational survivor.

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