When Love Hurts: Treating Abusive Relationships

This paper describes an integrative approach for treating couples in abusive relationships. Because of the power inequities that often obtain in such cases, the therapist faces special challenges. Both partners must be defined as clients, yet the two are not on equal footing. Sustaining moral clarity in a context of such psychological ambiguity is crucial, and it requires skills beyond those we typically associate with the art and craft of the interview. A mutative factor in any therapy requires bearing witness to injustices large and small—leading the author to raise questions about the place of the moral work of psychotherapy in our therapy-saturated society. She poses an urgent social question: Is it possible to intervene therapeutically in abusive relationships to make love safer for women and less threatening to men?     

The Buffering Role of Social Support Perceptions in Relation to Eating Disturbances among Women in Abusive Dating Relationships

Abuse is often associated with diminished social support networks, which typically serve to buffer individuals against stress-related outcomes, including eating disorders. The goal of the present study was to examine whether eating disturbances among women in abusive dating relationships varied as function of perceived social support. Although both physical and psychological aggression in women's (N=83) dating relationships was associated with symptomatic dieting and bulimic symptoms, only psychological aggression predicted unique variance. Although psychological aggression was directly related to eating symptoms, support from friends diminished the relation to bulimic symptoms, possibly because such support facilitated women's ability to distract themselves from their abusive situations. In contrast, perceived parental support buffered women in physically abusive relationships from disturbed eating patterns. Thus, depending on the nature of abuse women experienced, social support resources were differentially effective in buffering women from eating disturbances.     

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with People in Abusive Relationships

Summary

Psychoanalytic perspectives on violence between partners is describedand forms a foundation for an approach to group and individual psychotherapy of men and women in relationships in which there is physical violence between partners. The empirical results of a study of the outcome of psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy are described. Nineteen men and 16 women completed research measures before beginning psychotherapy and after completing 16 sessions of group psychotherapy. Twelve people who completed group psychotherapy continued in individual psychotherapy and completed measures again after 16 sessions of individual psychotherapy, and nine people completed measures again after the 16 sessions of group and 32 sessions of individual psychotherapy. Statistical analyses addressed outcomes in terms of verbal and physical aggression and dysphoric affects and anger. Both research and clinical outcomes are discussed.     

The Development of Abusive Personality: A Trauma Response

This article contains a review and counseling implications for an article titled “Witnessing Parental Violence as a Traumatic Experience Shaping the Abusive Personality” by Donald Dutton (2000). Dutton contends that the early combination of witnessing or directly experiencing violence, shaming, and insecure attachment contributes to the development of abusive personality in males. These individuals experience great difficulty in modulating aggression toward others. In particular, children who witness interpersonal violence have a greater likelihood of becoming partner abusers than do children who are victims of violence.     

Abusive Supervision in Advising Relationships: Investigating the Role of Social Support

The present study examines the consequences of abusive supervision in an educational setting. The study contrasts the cross-domain stress-buffering hypothesis with the within-domain stress exacerbation hypothesis in examining the moderating role of advisor and team member support on the relationship between abusive supervision and student outcomes in student–advisor relationships. Using a temporal research design, results provided support for both hypotheses. In support of the stress exacerbation hypothesis, in the presence of high advisor support, there was a significant positive relationship between abusive supervision and anxiety, and a significant negative association between abusive supervision and psychological well-being. Consistent with the stress-buffering hypothesis, in the presence of high team member support, there was a negligible association between abusive supervision and satisfaction and anxiety.     

African American Women Survivors of Sexual Assault:

More attention has recently focused on the psychological experiences of women survivors of sexual assault. However, little work has examined the experiences of African American women survivors, particularly with regard to the impact of race and class on survivors' experiences. We address these limitations by presenting a socio-historical analysis of African American women's rape experiences. This analysis considers the relationship between sexual and economic oppression in African American women's lives. Second, we discuss the influences of these socio-historical factors on African American women's post-assault experiences. Finally, recommendations for therapy with African American women survivors are provided.     

Toward A Typology Of Abusive Women: Differences Between Partner-Only And Generally Violent Women In The Use Of Violence

Based on previous typologies of domestically violent men ( Holtzworth-Munroe & Stuart, 1994 ), women who were referred to a treatment agency for abusive behavior  ( N = 52)  were categorized into two groups based on the breadth of their use of violence: Partner-Only (PO) and Generally Violent (GV). PO women were hypothesized to use reactive violence, for example, out of fear or in self-defense, whereas GV women were hypothesized to use instrumental violence, that is, in order to exert control. Self-defense was assessed in three different ways and convergent validity was demonstrated for these three new measures. GV women reported using instrumental violence more than PO women, in a variety of situations. GV women tended to report more traumatic symptoms than PO women, although they did not experience significantly more abuse. GV women were more likely to witness their mothers' physical aggression. Thus, we theorize that GV women have been socialized to believe that it is acceptable for women to use violence to resolve conflict. Trauma history and violent socialization should be addressed clinically.     

Women Surviving an Abusive Relationship: Grief and the Process of Change

The authors briefly survey the literature about women in abusive relationships and discuss key issues about the change process that arise from that work and are consistent with the grieving process. The constructs of depression, guilt, and decision-making difficulty among women abused by an intimate partner are examined and compared with the perspective of the normal grieving of a major loss. Implications for counseling practice are considered.     

Women in Interracial Relationships

No abstract available for this article.     

Hierarchical Relationships in Dependency Grids: Explorations in Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

A methodology for representing the patterns of dependency in a dependency grid using partial order scalogram analysis by coordinates (POSAC) is presented. The technique, devised by Shye (1985) Shye, S. 1985. Multiple scaling: The theory and application of partial order scalogram analysis, Amsterdam: North Holland.  [Google Scholar], shows these patterns as hierarchical relationships that indicate superordinate and subordinate resources. An index of depth of resource support is calculated in addition to an index of breadth of resource (which is shown to correspond to an index of dispersion of dependency). The procedure was applied to data from 54 survivors of child sexual abuse and a similar number of control subjects who all completed both an adult and child dependency grid. There was significantly less breadth of resource in the abuse group, more so for the child version than the adult, but there was significantly more depth of resource in the dependency grids from the child sexual abuse survivors.     

Agency and Virtue: Dimensions Underlying Subgroups of Women

Previous research indicates that the stereotype of women can be considered to have 3 subgroups: housewife, career woman, and sex object. In 2 samples (N = 19 and 35), we found evidence that these subgroups can be reliably distinguished in terms of 2 dimensions: agency and virtue. Participants sorted 27 feminine traits and then rated these traits in terms of their agency and virtue. Cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling with property fitting were used to identify subgroups, to fit virtue and agency dimensions to the subgroups, and to test for differences among the subgroups in terms of virtue and agency. Across both samples, agency and virtue fit the subgroups well (average R ² = .75), produced many significant differences among the subgroups, and are consistent with a system-justification perspective of sexism (Glick & Fiske, 2001) in which a belief in women's virtue and lack of agency reflects and maintains status differences between men and women.     

MMPI Profiles of Women in Codependency Treatment

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of 73 women presenting themselves for treatment of codependency in a 10-day residential setting were examined. Results suggest a significant amount of psychopathology to be present in this population. More than 50% of these individuals produced clinically significant elevations of five or more scales, and 38% produced elevations on six or more scales.     

Safer Sex Among HIV+ Women: The Role of Relationships

Among 230 HIV+ women in New York City, 105 had been heterosexually active in the last 90 days and 54% of these reported unsafe sex. Contrary to our hypotheses based on relational theory, respondents with steady partners were more likely to have unprotected sex than nonpartnered women. However, among respondents with steady partners, the degree of commitment to the relationship was positively associated with condom use. The only other correlate of unprotected sex was current drug use. Almost all steady partners were aware of the woman's HIV status, and, contrary to our hypothesis, respondents were not more likely to have protected sex with HIV– than HIV+ steady partners. The discussion considers self-in-relation theory, culture, power, and contextualistic behaviorism.     

Her Body Speaks: The Experience of Dance Therapy for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse

This qualitative, phenomenological study explores the experiences of dance therapy for 5 women who had been sexually abused as children. Using in‐depth, largely unstructured interviews, the women reflect on their dance therapy experiences and on their perceptions of the role of these experiences in their psychological healing. Analysis of these data revealed 6 common themes related to the women's sense of spontaneity, permission to play, struggle, freedom, intimate connection, and bodily reconnection. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the therapeutic nature of dance therapy and how this therapeutic modality facilitates change and healing in clients' lives.     

Women with Children in Violent Relationships

Summary

Custody issues for battered women means continuing involvement with a violent, abusive, intimidating partner. This article explores the continuing power and control dynamics of the domestic violence relationship after the woman with children leaves, and presents some preliminary findings. The custody of the children, visitation and financial arrangements often become the basis of terrorism as the man attempts to continue to control the woman's behavior with threats against the children. Fear of losing her children may force a woman to stay in a violent relationship, or return in spite of danger to her children and herself. On the other hand, the history of violence may make it difficult for the mother to cooperate with the court orders regarding joint custody or visitation even when safety appears not to be an issue. It is important for professionals working with children of violent families to understand the continuing effects of domestic violence after separation in order to provide assistance to children “caught in the middle” in custody disputes.     

Of Rats and Women: Fetal Sexuality and Hybrid Agency

This paper investigates the way in which the sexuality of women has been posited in relation to rats as experimental subjects, exploring the stakes of a scientific debate that takes the social world of female sexuality as its focus and as a political problem. Studies that purport to understand female sexuality by investigating rat behavior rely on problematic assumptions about sovereign agents motivating sexual behavior. Such studies also aim to do away with so-called deviant sexual behaviors and, as a consequence, gay people. Theories of agential realism and hybridity serve as counterforces to these inherently repressive perspectives by insisting on the multiple determinations of sexuality and subjectivity among women.     

Personality Profiles of Homosexual Men and Women

There has been surprisingly little research on possible differences between homosexual and heterosexual personalities, although the few studies that have been conducted suggest some interesting differences. We devised two hypothesis that may account for these differences. First, differences appear to reflect generalized social nonconformity and alienation due to the social stigmatization of the homosexual. Second, these differences seem to express a more specific tendency to deviation from socially normative sex roles. The two hypotheses imply a number of predictions concerning specific personality traits, which were tested by comparing the 16PF (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970) personality profiles of a group of male (N = 34) and female (N = 31) homosexuals with those obtained from the two large student samples (male, N = 899 and female, N = 912) whose scores are commonly used as norms for the South African version of the 16PF. The findings suggested reasonably good support for the two hypotheses, particularly considering the limitations of the study with respect to the adequacy of the comparison groups used and the relative heterogeneity of the 16PF scale content.     

Adversarial Sexual Attitudes Toward Women: The Relationships with Gender and Traditionalism

This investigation examines gender differences in adversarial attitudes toward women and their relationships with traditionalism and age. The sample participated in an online survey, collected at a large university in the west. The sample consisted of 777 individuals, 342 men and 375 women, with a mean age 22.22. Findings indicate that men significantly endorse rape myth acceptance, adversarial sexual beliefs and acceptance of interpersonal violence more than women. In addition, men are significantly more traditional in their gender role beliefs than women and age is significantly related to rape myth acceptance and acceptance of interpersonal violence. Within gender, men’s acceptance of all criterion variables increased with age whereas women’s acceptance of interpersonal violence increased with age. Findings also indicate more disparate incomes between the genders in lower income brackets, but more alignment in higher brackets. Implications are discussed in the context of theoretical considerations.