Situational determinants in intimate partner violence

A situational or event perspective examines the connections between unfolding events and their surrounding contexts. This perspective offers great promise for increasing our understanding of violence among intimate partners, yet, has been rarely applied to this problem. Using such an approach, this review summarizes what is known in this area and highlights gaps in our knowledge about the connections between specific event characteristics. Surprisingly, domestic violence researchers rarely examine domestic violence events per se. We suggest ways of doing this: By collecting rich data on the heterogeneity of violent events among intimate partners, we can close outstanding gaps in our knowledge of this problem.     

Interpersonal mood induction: Situational and individual determinants

Several situational and individual aspects of interpersonal mood induction were investigated in an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms by which depressed mood is transmitted from one individual to another. Eighty-four psychology students interacted with confederates previously trained to enact one of three mood states — depressed, neutral, or elated. Participants were randomly assigned to same-sex confederates in one of two roles — helper or stranger, resulting in a 3×2×2 design. Mood and self-esteem were independent variables assessed prior to the interaction. Mood, perceptions, and reactions to the confederate were dependent variables assessed following the interaction. Results indicated induction of depression and anxiety in participants exposed to depressed confederates, and induction of hostility following interaction with elated confederates. Induction of depression and hostility were significantly attenuated in participants in the helper role as opposed to person perception role, while the concept of individual vulnerability to mood induction was not supported in this study. Rejection of depressed persons was only modestly associated with negative mood induction. Thus, role components of the situation affected mood induction more than did individual participant differences. The results and their implications for therapists and family members of depressed individuals are discussed within the framework of Lazarus's cognitive model of emotional arousal.The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions and talents of Bill Dorfman, Mike Harrington, Ginger Johnson, Anita Navarra, and Debbie Illman.     

Situational and personality determinants of a victim's identification with a tormentor

The effects of two situational (tormentor legitimacy and tormentor justification) and two personality (victim's belief in the just world and victim's Machiavellianism) factors on several reactions of a victim to his tormentor were explored. Greater conformity by victims to their tormentor's opinions occurred when the victims believed strongly in the just world and when the tormentor was well justified for his behavior; there was a greater conformity towards the tormentor in these conditions than towards a neutral nontormentor. The tormentor received less positive evaluations from the victim when he acquired his role illegitimately or when the victim was Machiavellian; when the tormentor acquired the role legitimately, he was liked no less than the nontormentor. The experimental variables did not affect behavioral imitation of the tormentor or the interpersonal distance maintained by the victim. The results failed to conform to any simple identification process. Several explanations for these results are explored and directions for additional research are discussed.     

When a bystander becomes an accomplice: Situational determinants of reactions to dishonesty

In a series of experiments, undergraduates (N = 288) performed a task with a confederate who subsequently lied about his or her performance in order to obtain a cash bonus. The probability of bystanders' reporting the dishonesty and refusing to sign a document attesting to the confederate's score was differentially affected by situational factors and sex of the bystander, wrongdoer, and authority figure. Bystanders were most apt to report the misdeed when they were competing against rather than working either independently or cooperatively with the culprit, at least when the bonus was provided by a large corporation. In addition, females were more likely than males to report when the victim was another person rather than either a corporation or the bystander himself, and both sexes were more apt to report a female wrongdoer than a male one. Persons who initially reported the misdeed were less likely to become active accomplices than were those who failed to report it. Furthermore, less written verification of the falsehood occurred when (a) nonreporters were performing independently rather than either competing against or working cooperatively with the culprit for the bonus, and (b) a male was in an immediate position of authority.     

The recurrent self-harm patient

A semistructured interview was used to collect information on a consecutive series of 163 self-harm patients (suicide attempters); 65.8% of the patients had a history of previous self-harm (repeaters). Male repeaters were more likely than men with no self-harm history (first cases) to have left school before ninth grade, to have alcohol abuse problems, and to have family stress. Female repeaters were younger than first cases and reported more difficulties with sexual adjustment and loneliness. Repeaters were more likely to have contacted distress centers and to have had previous mental health contact, including psychiatric hospitalization. A 6-month follow-up indicated four suicides in the repeaters' group and none in the first cases' group. Repeaters appear to be much more dependent than first cases on professional care and to present a high short-term risk for suicide.     

Violent self-harm in schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have a substantial lifetime suicide risk, especially by violent means. Little published work exists on self-harm (SH) in this population. The goal of this study was to examine whether patients with schizophrenia were also more likely to self-harm in a violent manner. A retrospective analysis performed on method, motive, and suicidal intent in patients with schizophrenia (n = 50) and adjustment reaction (n = 138) who presented with SH over a 3-year period found that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of violence of method or suicidal intent. Presence of positive symptoms of schizophrenia was not significantly associated with use of a violent method. This study suggests that the expected pattern of violent SH in schizophrenia is inaccurate and for the majority the acts are of a similar nature to those seen in adjustment reactions.     

The many faces of self-harm

This paper explores why open dialogue on the subject of erotic transference and countertransference is so difficult and attempts to offer an understanding of these phenomena which might enable counsellors to work more confidently with it. It also briefly examines the author's own research on therapists' thoughts and experiences of erotic transference, seeking to differentiate between inappropriate sexual contact between clients and therapists and the experience of erotic transference in the context of therapy as a reworking of the Oedipal relationship. Case examples illustrating the experience of countertransference within the therapeutic situation and how its presence can act as a help or a hindrance are offered. The paper concludes by examining the need to reflect on the erotic transference in therapeutic work and proposes its usefulness as a therapeutic tool. Suggestions about how the erotic transference can be managed to therapeutic effect are also explored.     

Situational countertransference

Situational Countertransference refers to those responses on the part of the therapist that are generated primarily by severe, though temporary, distresses in the therapist's personal life. It has been this writer's experience that many patients are quite attuned to the inner turmoil of their therapist, and that they will react to it in a variety of ways, which will be described. Moreover, a comparison of the level of functioning of two similar therapy groups over the course of nine months found that the group which had inadvertently learned the source of their therapist's distress functioned significantly better than the group which ostensibly knew nothing about it.     

Parental detection of youth's self-harm behavior

The rate and predictors of parental detection of youth self-harm behavior and relationship with help-seeking were examined in 7,036 parent-child dyads from the 1999 and 2004 surveys of Mental Health of Children and Young People in Great Britain. Youth self-harm behavior was reported by 463 (6.6%) children and adolescents but only 190 (2.7%) of the parents (kappa=0.30). Reports were more accurate if parents were from majority White ethnicity, were mothers of girls, experienced psychological distress themselves, or if children were older or had emotional/behavioral problems. Parental detection of youth self-harm was associated with increased likelihood of professional help-seeking.