Internalized Homophobia and Intimate Partner Violence in Young Adult Women’s Same-Sex Relationships

This study examined the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV), internalized homophobia, and psychological maladjustment in a convenience sample of young adult women. Rates of psychological and physical abuse in women’s same-sex relationships were shown to be commensurate to previously reported rates of violence in the IPV literature; rates of sexual coercion were also ascertained. A relationship was found between Moral and Religious Attitudes Toward Lesbianism (MRATL), a dimension of internalized homophobia, and the perpetration of sexual coercion. As expected, internalized homophobia was connected to psychological maladjustment. In addition, both the perpetration of psychological aggression and physical violence were associated with emotional instability. The study findings are discussed within the current body of literature on IPV.     

How Can We Improve Preventive and Educational Interventions for Intimate Relationships?

Improving intimate relationships with preventive and educational interventions has proven to be more difficult than originally conceived, and earlier models and approaches may be reaching their limits. Basic concerns remain about the long-term effectiveness of these interventions, whether they are reaching and benefiting couples most likely to need them, and how they might be exerting their effects. We identify six problems that we believe are hindering progress in the field, and for each we outline research findings that point to new ways forward. These problems include (a) the incomplete understanding of couple communication and unwarranted translation of communication findings into interventions; (b) the surprising stability of relationship satisfaction; (c) the powerful roles that personal histories, personalities, and stress play in determining relationship outcomes; (d) the difficulties involved in recruiting and retaining high-risk couples in intervention programs; (e) the lack of attention given to specific stages of relationship development in interventions; and (f) the tendency to deliver preventive and educational interventions in the same format as therapies for distressed couples. We conclude by noting that a large body of basic research about intimate relationships, and large-scale outcome research with diverse populations, hold great promise for advancing the field.     

Langhinrichsen-Rolling’s Confirmation of the Feminist Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence: Comment on “Controversies Involving Gender and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States”

This article makes four major points in response to Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rolling’s (2010) review of the intimate partner violence literature. First, the evidence is clear that there is more than one type of intimate partner violence. Second, the feminists are right. Gender is central to the analysis of intimate partner violence, and the coercive controlling violence that most people associate with the term “domestic violence” is perpetrated primarily by men against their female partners. Third, different types of intimate partner violence have different causes, different developmental trajectories, and different consequences. They require different models to understand them. Finally, we need more qualitative research focused on the least understood types of intimate partner violence: violent resistance and situational couple violence.     

Safety in Online Research With Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: What About the Children?

The significant co-occurrence between men’s violence against female partners and child abuse and neglect is well documented. It is less clear how child safety should be managed in family violence research with their mothers. This issue is salient to isafe, a New Zealand–based Internet intervention study testing improvement in safety decisions and mental health outcomes for women experiencing intimate partner violence. This article discusses the legislative, professional, and ethical considerations that contribute to the development of the child safety protocols and discusses the development of the isafe protocol. Hypothetical scenarios of the application of the isafe protocol are used to illuminate the issues and provide a basis for future discussion.     

Does Criminal Propensity Moderate the Effects of Social Learning Theory Variables on Intimate Partner Violence?

Akers’ Social Learning Theory (SLT) is one of the predominant general theories of criminal behavior; it has been widely tested and is typically supported. Despite being a validated general theory, it is possible there are other factors such as criminal propensity that influence the effects of social learning constructs. This study examines the extent, if any, to which crime-specific operationalizations of SLT exert equivalent effects on a specific type of offense—intimate partner violence (IPV) (both perpetration and victimization)—across level of criminal propensity. Using self-report data on intimate partner violence among university students and specifically designed to test SLT, the results indicate that (1) the effects of differential associations and differential reinforcements exerted consistent effects across the various measures of IPV, (2) the effects of definitions and imitation are much less consistent, and, most importantly (3) the effects of SLT constructs on IPV were moderated by criminal propensity. These results suggest that SLT may be less general than claimed; that is, the effects of SLT vary both across measures of IPV and across levels of criminal propensity.     

What Do Medical Providers Need to Successfully Intervene with Intimate Partner Violence?

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, medical providers (physicians and mid-level providers) rely on research evidence to inform their medical practice. In order for medical providers to accept their role in diagnosing and intervening with IPV, they need clinical tools and institutional support. This paper explores the tools (prevalence rates, screening questions, intervention strategies) and support (educational, institutional, professional, research) needed to assist medical providers in successfully intervening with IPV. It also looks at the importance of guidelines and expert consensus panel statements to help establish best clinical practices when direct research evidence is lacking or conflicting.     

Aggression,Psychopathology, and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration: Does Gender Matter?

The majority of intimate partner violence (IPV) research explores partner violence without considering the influence of contextual and psychosocial factors, such as trait aggression, psychopathology, gender, and provocation. Disparities in the general aggression literature further underscore the need to develop a better understanding of contextual and psychosocial factors. The present study sampled 720 (male = 365, female = 355) college students who completed measures of IPV perpetration and victimization, trait aggression, and psychopathology. Participants then completed a learning task, during which half were randomly selected to be provoked. The interactive effects of condition, gender, and perpetrator status on mood and aggressive responding were explored. Results indicated that perpetrators of both genders had similar emotional responses to provocation, but behavioral responses to provocation varied. Results were discussed in terms of their implication for future research and batterer intervention.     

Adult Male Perpetrators’ Perspectives on What Prevention Approaches Work Best for Young Boys at Risk of Future Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration

As part of a 2-year ethnographic study, 49 adult men who had been convicted of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration were interviewed on what they thought would have prevented them from engaging in perpetration behaviors, or rather what they believed prevention with young boys needed to include in order to prevent future IPV perpetration. The authors’ open-ended interviews yielded five main themes: (a) messages about healthy relationship behaviors, (b) the need to promote respect for women, (c) teaching effective skills for communicating and managing anger, (d) programs that provide role models and are school-based, and (e) addressing the impact of experiencing violence as a child. The authors conclude that prevention efforts focused on changing both attitudes regarding IPV and behaviors might be most effective for reducing perpetration, and that greater attention needs to be paid towards prevention among youth most at risk of IPV perpetration, those experiencing violence in their homes.     

Are Half of All IPV Perpetrators Women? Putting Context Back into the Intimate Partner Violence Research Field

For our field to truly understand women's use of IPV, it is crucial that the following three steps be taken by researchers to put context back into the equation: (a) incorporate the effects of multiple oppressions women face within the context of predominantly male offending across different types of violent criminal categories (top level); (b) integrate findings from both objective and subjective IPV research methods that will require elevating subjective approaches to the same status as objective (middle level); and (c) centralize the issue of ongoing patterns of coercion, power, and control within our definitions of IPV (individual level). Without such an embedded approach, our field will continue to divert much-needed resources toward the so-called gender symmetry debate and run the risk of helping to perpetuate further injustices against women.     

Are We Prepared? Recommendations for Couple and Family Therapists Engaging with Young Generations on Social Media

Social media is a salient aspect of most people’s lives in the United States. Younger generations (e.g., Gen Z) are among some of the most likely to engage with social media and have mental health concerns. Mental health providers are beginning to use social media to engage with prospective clients. However, there is a lack of guidance on how to maximize the utility of social media engagement for couple and family therapists (CFTs). This paper reviews the current literature on therapists’ professional presence on social media and younger generations’ expectations around social media competency. Recommendations for how CFTs can effectively engage with younger generations through social media are provided. A discussion of professionalism, accessibility, demonstrating aligned values, branding CFT, and gaining a reputation of cost effectiveness are emphasized. Future directions for studying the phenomenon of therapists using social media to engage with an online audience are included.

     

How Can We Love Our Enemies When We Kill Our Friends? Shifting the Theological Debate Over Violence

Violence is often thought of in terms of intentional, discrete actions, and in the debate between so-called “neo-Anabaptists” and “neo-Augustinians” this has often been the focus, especially around actions like policing and war. However, this idea of violence is insufficient and, intentionally or not, obfuscates forms of violence like the “slow violence” of destructive economic arrangements that harm not only enemies but friends as well. Through an investigation of the apparel industry this article addresses the too-narrow understandings of violence that implicate theologians themselves in the “systemic” and “slow” violence inflicted through exploitative economic arrangements and systematic environmental degradation. The violence of the contemporary political economy compounds exponentially when one considers not only the human costs of global industry but also the toll it takes on the planet, which in turn affects the world’s poorest people no matter their geographic location or type of work. How might various sides of the more traditional argument find common ground for doing justice around these forms of violence in which they already daily participate, rather than giving the majority of attention to actions taking place periodically (or speculating about violence that may not even happen)? In short, violence is not just the realm of militaries, it is the reality of our global political economy, and this must be addressed by theologians of all types and traditions.     

Does Number of Children Moderate the Link between Intimate Partner Violence and Marital Instability among Chinese Female Migrant Workers?

Sex Roles - Intimate partner violence is a serious issue affecting migrant workers in China. The present study investigated the prevalence of intimate partner violence in a sample of Chinese female...     

Examining Partner and Child Abuse: Are We Ready for a More Integrated Approach to Family Violence?

Research and treatment for partner abuse and child abuse are relatively distinct enterprises, yet when the theoretical and research literatures related to these two forms of family violence are examined together, the likelihood of meaningful associations is strikingly apparent. Partner abuse and child abuse co-occur more often than one might expect by chance, and in the context of overlapping theories and risk factors, this suggests that a more integrated conceptualization might be fruitful. We summarize and provide a framework for describing the large number of similar predictors of partner and child abuse, identify some potentially interesting dyadic differences, comment on how our research methodologies could address an integrated area of family violence, and suggest some directions for future research and treatment.     

‘Acting in the Children’s Best Interest?’: Examining Victims’ Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

Victims’ responses to violent experiences within intimate relationships are highly diverse and can range from remaining silent, at least temporarily, to disclosing the abuse to informal and formal sources of support. Decisions to remain silent or to reach out for support are influenced by a complex range of factors, including situational circumstances, such as the presence of children. Using data from in-depth interviews with victims of IPV (N = 29) in Southeast Queensland, Australia, I examined victims’ responses to IPV when children are present in the abusive household. Victims, who accessed general formal support sources, including the criminal justice systems and Child Protection Services (CPS), frequently faced stereotypical and victim-blaming attitudes along with a lack of understanding of the dynamics of IPV and the circumstances surrounding victims’ help-seeking decisions. The presence of children in abuse relationships complicated victims’ help-seeking decisions because fear of harm and loss of custody often delayed or hindered the disclosure of IPV to formal support sources. Once disclosing the abuse victims often found themselves trapped between CPS expectations to protect their children by leaving the abusive partner and a reluctance on behalf of judges and magistrates to offer the necessary protection by including children on granted Domestic Violence Orders (DVO). These findings highlight the ongoing need for specialized training of CPS personnel, judges and magistrates along with an ongoing collaboration with the women’s sector to ensure the safety of victims and their children throughout the help-seeking process and to improve victims’ confidence in disclosing IPV.     

Testing the Extent of the Gender Trap: College Students’ Perceptions of and Reactions to Intimate Partner Violence

Prior research has explored perceptions of intimate partner violence (IPV), and how these perceptions differ based on gender of the participant, victim, and perpetrator. In the current study, 178 undergraduate students (n?=?88 males; n?=?90 females) attending a university in the Southwestern United States read a hypothetical IPV scenario, experimentally crossed by victim gender and perpetrator gender, and completed measures exploring gender (i.e., participant gender, victim gender, and perpetrator gender) and situational perceptions on participants’ intended responses to an IPV scenario. Results indicated that perceptions of the IPV situation and responses varied by genders of the participant, victim, and perpetrator. Specifically, males were more likely than females to hold the victim responsible for the violence, and ignore the situation; females were more likely than males to encourage the victim to seek professional help and seek help from another person regarding the IPV scenario as presented in the vignette. When the victim was a male, participants viewed the situation as less serious, the victim as more responsible, and were more likely to ignore the situation, than when the victim was female. Overall, results indicated that gender factors (especially participant gender) had a stronger and more consistent influence on responses to the IPV scenario than perceptions of the situation. The findings of the current study are discussed in light of implications for future research to expand an understanding of the role of gender and perceptions influencing anticipated helping behavior for victims of IPV, which will inform intervention.     

What about the Male Victims? Exploring the Impact of Gender Stereotyping on Implicit Attitudes and Behavioural Intentions Associated with Intimate Partner Violence

Sex Roles - Past research has indicated that women who work in male-dominated fields, such as politics, face discrimination due to a stereotypically perceived poor fit between their gender and...     

Intimate Partner Violence in African Immigrant Communities in the United States: Reflections from the IDVAAC African Women’s Round Table on Domestic Violence

African women face many challenges when they come to the United States due to the immigration experience, acculturation, and leaving family members in countries of origin. Intimate partner violence (IPV) complicates African women’s experience within their home countries as well as in the United States. There is little literature on IPV in African ethnic groups. This information is even sparser regarding IPV among African immigrant and refugee communities in the United States. To better address the needs of these communities, the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community brought together service providers and survivors representing 16 different African countries to attend a roundtable and explore issues of IPV. This article highlights the unique challenges they identified.     

Validity Concerns in the Measurement of Women’s and Men’s Report of Intimate Partner Violence

The measurement of intimate partner violence (IPV) has proven to be more complex than originally anticipated and content and construct validity need to be greatly improved for IPV assessment. For measurement of IPV in the United States, these validity issues range from providing the most accurate wording for the content domain to controversies as to when violent actions are counted (e.g., self-defense) or whether to include mild aggression (e.g., psychological conflict tactics) that may be more normative and not harmful. The three major forms of IPV (i.e., physical, sexual, and psychological abuse) have distinct validity issues and may require different modalities for assessment. Gender needs to be considered when establishing construct validity due to differences in the meaning of aggression, impacts of abuse, and even patterns of violence for women and men. External threats to validity include potential bias of self-report and motivations when reporting on a partner, discrepancies in couples’ reports, the influence of response styles, and design issues affecting reporting. Traditional methods used to establish validity for IPV scales are reviewed and critiqued. Recommendations for enhancing validity in IPV assessment are provided.