Friends in Need: Bystander Intervention for Intimate Partner Violence in Beijing and Seoul

How and why friends respond to control intimate partner violence has seldom been studied in survey data, in cross-cultural comparisons, or outside the United States. Moreover, the study of such responses has been siloed in two different research streams. The concept of bystander intervention has been mainly studied in psychology, whereas informal social control has been used in sociology. We use comparative data from two East Asian cultures (China and South Korea) to hypothesize and test for relationships among totalitarian-style partner control, Confucian gender role norms, secrecy regarding intimate partner violence (IPV), and two types of bystander intervention. The data consist of random probability samples of married/partnered women from Beijing (n?=?301) and Seoul (n?=?459). Multilevel models with the combined data indicate that protective intervention is negatively associated with Confucian gender role norms. Punitive intervention is associated with IPV secrecy and totalitarian-style partner control. There were important differences between Beijing and Seoul. Although not significant in the combined Seoul and Beijing data, totalitarian-style partner control and neighborhood informal social control were associated with more protective intervention in the Beijing model, but not in the Seoul model. Totalitarian-style partner control and IPV secrecy were associated with punitive intervention in Seoul, but not in Beijing. Interestingly, punitive intervention was positively associated with neighborhood socioeconomic status. Lower social cohesion in Beijing may explain differences in perceived bystander intervention between the two cities. Interventions for IPV must be thoroughly grounded in a deep understanding of sociocultural factors influencing bystander intervention.

     

Rural Young Adults’ Lay Theories of Intimate Partner Violence: A Qualitative Examination

This study qualitatively examined rural emerging adults’ ways of thinking (i.e., lay theories) about the causes of intimate partner violence (IPV) and ideas on how to prevent IPV most effectively. Participants were 74 individuals (majority Caucasian, heterosexual, low income) between the ages of 18 and 24 who resided in one of 16 rural communities. Participants’ perceptions of the causes of IPV included (a) individual‐level pathology, stress, and lack of education; (b) intergenerational transmission of violence and early‐life factors; (c) relationship stressors and challenges; and (d) community factors. Furthermore, participants felt that IPV could most effectively be prevented through (a) education and awareness; (b) victim‐focused efforts (e.g., teaching self‐esteem); and (c) job creation. Overall, participants identified a number of established risk factors for IPV perpetration across the social ecological model, although a number were never or rarely mentioned (e.g., peer group norms, positive bystander action, and collective efficacy). Future research should examine if and how perceptions of the causes of IPV impact IPV prevention engagement and impact. Further, prevention initiatives that take into account understandings of lay theories about IPV may be more impactful in reducing IPV than prevention initiatives that do not.     

Community Matters: Intimate Partner Violence Among Rural Young Adults

Drawing on social disorganization theory, the current study examined the extent to which community-level poverty rates and collective efficacy influenced individual reports of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, victimization, and bystander intervention among a sample of 178 young adults (18–24; 67.4 % women) from 16 rural counties across the eastern US who completed an online survey that assessed demographic information, IPV perpetration, victimization, bystander intervention, and collective efficacy. We computed each county’s poverty rate from the 2007–2011 American Community Survey. Generalized estimating equations demonstrated that after controlling for individual-level income status, community-level poverty positively predicted IPV victimization and perpetration for both men and women. Collective efficacy was inversely related to IPV victimization and perpetration for men; however, collective efficacy was unrelated to IPV victimization and perpetration for women. Whereas IPV bystander intervention was positively related to collective efficacy and inversely related to individual-level income status for both men and women, community-level poverty was unrelated to IPV bystander intervention for both men and women. Overall, these findings provide some support for social disorganization theory in explaining IPV among rural young adults, and underscore the importance of multi-level IPV prevention and intervention efforts focused around community-capacity building and enhancement of collective efficacy.     

Preventing Intimate Partner Violence: Towards a Framework for Supporting Effective Community Mobilisation

Community mobilisation is a promising new strategy for preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in low‐income settings. However, little is known about the contextual factors (e.g. socio‐economic, cultural, historical and political conditions) that enable the effective mobilisation of communities for IPV prevention. This paper draws from the theoretical work of Campbell and Cornish (2010) on the relationship between context and community action in addressing HIV/AIDS to propose a framework for situating community mobilisation for IPV prevention in its surrounding symbolic, material and relational contexts. The framework is refined using empirical data from a case study of a gender‐based violence (GBV) prevention intervention in Rwanda, including interviews with members of government‐mandated GBV Committees and focus group discussions with members of two village communities (n = 35). A thematic analysis identifies various contextual factors needed to support community mobilisation for IPV prevention, including: broad symbolic understandings of what constitutes IPV; capacity to economically support women who choose to leave violent relationships; mechanisms for addressing the silence that often surrounds IPV; support from policy and government authorities; and opportunities to effectively challenge inequitable policy and legal frameworks. This framework is useful for policy‐makers and programme planners interested in IPV prevention in and by communities. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Couples with Intimate Partner Violence Seeking Relationship Help: Associations and Implications for Self‐Help and Online Interventions

In‐person conjoint treatments for relationship distress are effective at increasing relationship satisfaction, and newly developed online programs are showing promising results. However, couples reporting even low levels intimate partner violence (IPV) are traditionally excluded from these interventions. To improve the availability of couple‐based treatment for couples with IPV, the present study sought to determine whether associations with IPV found in community samples generalized to couples seeking help for their relationship and whether web‐based interventions for relationship distressed worked equally well for couples with IPV. In the first aim, in a sample of 2,797 individuals who were seeking online help for their relationship, the levels and correlates of both low‐intensity and clinically significant IPV largely matched what is found in community samples. In the second aim, in a sample of 300 couples who were randomly assigned to a web‐based intervention or a waitlist control group, low‐impact IPV did not moderate the effects of the intervention for relationship distress. Therefore, web‐based interventions may be an effective (and easily accessible) intervention for relationship distress for couples with low‐intensity IPV.     

The Relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and Suicidal Ideation among Young Chinese,Korean, and Vietnamese American Women

ABSTRACT

High depression and suicide rates are critical problems that have a significant impact on the lives of young Asian American women. Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been identified as a predictor of suicidality in general female samples, but no research study has examined the relationship between IPV and suicidality in a sample of 1.5 and second-generation Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese American women. We used data collected from 173 women (aged 18-35 years) who were screened for eligibility to participate in the development and efficacy study of Asian American Women’s Action for Resilience and Empowerment (AWARE). We measured the prevalence of (a) IPV, (b) lifetime suicidal ideation/intent, and (c) childhood abuse and tested the association between IPV and lifetime suicidal ideation/intent among study participants who completed the clinical screening assessments. The results indicated that seven out of 10 women in our sample experienced lifetime suicidal ideation/intent, psychological aggression was the most commonly reported form of IPV during the last six months, followed by sexual coercion, and history of physical and/or sexual partner violence had the most robust association with lifetime suicidal ideation/intent after controlling for demographic factors and childhood abuse. Our study suggests that suicide prevention and intervention programs for young 1.5 and second-generation Asian American women should not only address experiences of childhood abuse, but also incorporate culturally adapted behavioral health approaches to identify and target physical and sexual partner violence. Furthermore, any such programs need to integrate a systemic approach in addressing IPV within the context of various marginalized experiences of Asian American women.     

Moving Toward Comprehensiveness and Sustainability in a Social Ecological Approach to Youth Violence Prevention: Lessons from the Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center

Youth violence is a serious public health problem affecting communities across the United States. The use of a social ecological approach has helped reduce its prevalence. However, those who have put the approach into practice often face challenges to effective implementation. Addressing social ecology in all its complexity presents one obstacle; the ability of private non-profit and public agencies to sustain such comprehensive efforts presents another. Here, we provide an example of our efforts to prevent youth violence. We worked with the Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center (APIYVPC) and two communities on O`ahu. We provide a case example from the Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center (APIYVPC) of our work, in collaboration with two communities on O`ahu, to develop and implement a youth violence prevention initiative that is becoming both comprehensive and sustainable. We illustrate the incremental nature of what it means to be comprehensive and we underscore the importance of reaching sustainability as the project unfolds.     

Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Men Who Sustain Intimate Partner Violence

Extensive work has documented an association between sustaining intimate partner violence (IPV) and alcohol/drug abuse among women, yet little research has documented the same association in men, even though men comprise 25–50% of all IPV victims in a given year. This study investigates the associations among sustaining IPV and alcohol/drug abuse among both a clinical and community sample of men. The clinical sample is comprised of 302 men who sustained intimate terrorism—a form of IPV that is characterized by much violence and controlling behavior—from their female partners and sought help. The community sample is composed of 520 men, 16% of whom sustained common couple violence, a lower level of more minor reciprocal IPV. Analyses showed that among both groups of men who sustained IPV, the prevalence and frequency of alcohol/drug abuse was significantly higher than in men who did not sustain IPV. However, a dose–response relationship between sustaining IPV and alcohol/drug abuse was found only among men in the community sample. Path modeling showed that, for the community sample, the best fitting models were ones that showed that the alcohol/drug abuse predicted IPV victimization, an association that was fully mediated by their use of IPV. Aggr. Behav. 38:31‐46, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bystander training for faculty: A promising approach to tackling microaggressions in the academy

Microaggressions present significant barriers to entry and advancement for faculty from traditionally marginalized groups, yet workplace interventions to stymy them remain undocumented in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of bystander training to deal with subtle expressions of bias in the academic workplace. We developed a 2-h interactive bystander training workshop that specifically addressed intervening in microaggressions university faculty experience; approximately 21% of the full-time faculty participated in the training. Results indicate that post workshop, participants endorsed higher levels of likelihood of bystander intervention and higher levels of bystander efficacy to deal with microaggressive events (compared to pre-test 4 days before the workshop); scores on these measures remained significantly greater than pre-test at both 6-week and 12-week follow-up. Furthermore, preliminary evidence suggests that both likelihood of bystander intervention and bystander efficacy scores predicted self-reported bystander behavior at both 6 and 12 week follow up. These findings suggest that bystander training may be a promising approach to tackling microaggressions faculty experience in higher education.     

Conceptualizing ‘social capital’ for health promotion in small local communities: a micro‐qualitative study

This paper reports on a micro‐qualitative case study of peoples' experiences of local community life in a south‐east English town. This material is used as the basis for a critical discussion of the suitability of Putnam's notion of social capital as a conceptual tool for the design and evaluation of ‘community strengthening’ policies and interventions. The study was motivated by a concern that too much debate about social capital has been conducted by academics and policy‐makers in a top‐down manner, with inadequate attention to the realities of life in the local communities that they refer to. Three‐hour semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 37 residents in two less affluent wards in our town of interest. Informants—half men and half women, and spread across the 15–75 age group—were encouraged to talk about their personal experiences of local community life. Interview findings are presented within the ‘norm’ categories of trust, neighbourliness and reciprocal help and support, and the ‘network’ categories of participation in informal networks, voluntary groupings and community activist groupings. Our case study points to a number of ways in which Putnam's concept needs to be refined if it is to inform ‘community strengthening’ policies and interventions in England. Far more notice needs to be taken of the role played by informal networks of friends and neighbours in the construction of local community life. Attention also needs to be given to the complex and shifting geographical spread of peoples' significant social networks. Putnam's conceptualization of cohesive local communities and his unitary notions of trust and local identity may also be unduly essentialist. In our particular communities of interest, they failed to capture the fluidity of local community norms and networks in a rapidly changing society. They also failed to do justice to the extent to which social distinctions—such as age, gender, ethnicity and housing tenure—shape and constrain the way in which people create, sustain and access social capital. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Types of Projects Implemented by Volunteer Lay Health Educators in Their Congregations

This study focused on the association between type of community health interventions and lay health educator variables. Lay health educators are volunteers from local faith communities who complete a healthcare training program, taught by physicians in-training. Lay health educators are instructed to implement health-related initiatives in their respective communities after graduation. Of the 72 graduates since 2011, we surveyed 55 lay health educators to gain insight into their involvement with their congregation and the type of health projects they have implemented. We dichotomized the health projects into “raising awareness” and “teaching new health skills.” Using adjusted logistic regression models, variables associated with implementing health projects aimed at teaching health skills included length of time as a member of their congregation, current employment, and age. These results may help future programs prepare lay health community educators for the type of health interventions they intend to implement in their respective communities.     

Overcoming the “Holy Hush”: A Qualitative Examination of Protestant Christian Leaders’ Responses to Intimate Partner Violence

Described as a “holy hush,” past research has noted a general silence about and reluctance to address intimate partner violence (IPV) in religious congregations. To explore this, we interviewed 20 Protestant Christian religious leaders about how they understood and responded to IPV. Based on a thematic content analysis, our study revealed some of the challenges, tensions, and complexities that may be barriers to leaders speaking about and responding to IPV, and also the ways religious leaders in our sample attempted to overcome these challenges. For example, results revealed religious leaders understood violence on a gradation from less to more severe, and linked a need for and type of response to the level of violence. Throughout, religious leaders expressed a tension between their leadership role and responding to IPV. Furthermore, religious leaders acknowledged their need for greater training and connections to service providers, however, they reported not currently being connected to other IPV resources or organizations in the community. We discuss how the findings illuminate challenges and tensions for religious leaders in responding to IPV and how some leaders in this study were navigating these tensions to respond. We also discuss how findings may inform future research and the development of trainings and protocols for religious leaders and congregations on responding to IPV, promoting survivor safety, and fostering a greater understanding of IPV. Implications for collaboration with other community‐based IPV organizations are also discussed.     

Bystanders’ reactions to intimate partner violence: an experimental approach

ABSTRACT

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a widespread phenomenon. Despite the prevalence of IPV in Western societies, most cases remain unnoticed or at least unreported to authorities. Social psychologists have been investigating bystanders’ reactions to IPV, to understand which factors may influence the willingness to intervene in support of a female victim of violence. We review a research programme that directly investigated personal and situational factors that make potential bystanders believe a woman victim of IPV deserves and needs (their) help and support, and what, on the contrary, makes them deny any such willingness to help. We present evidence about the situational antecedents of bystander’s reaction, the underlying mechanisms of this intervention, and an extension of such evidence to non-prototypical cases, i.e., to an IPV episode occurring within a same-sex couple. We conclude by discussing future directions, and by highlighting the theoretical and practical contributions of this programme of research to the understanding of IPV for both researchers and practitioners.     

Applying Community-Based Participatory Approaches to Addressing Health Disparities and Promoting Health Equity

This special issue highlights work that contributes to our understanding of health disparities and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches to promoting health equity across diverse populations and issues that matter to communities. We take on a global perspective, and thus, various efforts across international contexts are illustrated. Articles elucidate a variety of CBPR approaches designed to empower and build capacity among individuals and communities in order to seek changes at the level of community practices, programs, and systems. These articles span across diverse populations—children, youth, and families; adults and older adults; immigrants; refugees; Black people; Latinx people; Native Americans/Indigenous people, the Roma community; Muslim women, and women with disabilities—experiencing inequities of interest to community psychologists and other researchers and practitioners.     

Connectedness to the criminal community and the community at large predicts 1‐year post‐release outcomes among felony offenders

Connectedness to one's community relates to positive psychological and behavioral outcomes. But what implications do connectedness to distinct communities—the criminal community and the community at large—have for inmates about to be released from jail? This study (N = 383) prospectively examined connectedness to the criminal community and community at large prior to release from jail and functioning at 1‐year post‐release. Connectedness to the community at large positively predicted community adjustment, whereas connectedness to the criminal community positively predicted recidivism. Targeting both types of community connectedness may enhance interventions intended to undermine recidivism and increase positive outcomes for inmates.     

Culture in Asian American Community Psychology: Beyond the East�CWest Binary

In response to a call to better integrate culture in community psychology (O'Donnell in American Journal of Community Psychology 37:1-7 2006), we offer a cultural-community framework to facilitate a collaborative engagement between community psychologists and ethnic minority communities, focusing on Asian American communities as illustrations. Extending Hays' (Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, 2008) ADDRESSING framework for considering cultural influences on a counseling relationship, the proposed framework provides a broad but systematic guidepost for considering three major cultural-ecological influences on Asian American communities: Race and Ethnicity (R), Culture (C), and Immigration and Transnational Ties (I). We provide a sequence of steps that incorporate the ADDRESSING and the RCI frameworks to facilitate the collaborative community-based research or social action.     

Community, Culture and Sustainability in Multilevel Dynamic Systems Intervention Science

This paper addresses intertwined issues in the conceptualization, implementation and evaluation of multilevel dynamic systems intervention science (MDSIS). Interventions are systematically planned, conducted and evaluated social science-based cultural products intercepting the lives of people and institutions in the context of multiple additional events and processes (which also may be referred to as interventions) that may speed, slow or reduce change towards a desired outcome. Multilevel interventions address change efforts at multiple social levels in the hope that effects at each level will forge synergistic links, facilitating movement toward desired change. This paper utilizes an ecological framework that identifies macro (policy and regulatory institutions), meso (organizations and agencies with resources, and power) and micro (individuals, families and friends living in communities) interacting directly and indirectly. An MDSIS approach hypothesizes that change toward a goal will occur faster and more effectively when synchronized and supported across levels in a social system. MDSIS approaches by definition involve “whole” communities and cannot be implemented without the establishments of working community partnerships This paper takes a dynamic systems approach to science as conducted in communities, and discusses four concepts that are central to MDSIS—science, community, culture, and sustainability. These concepts are important in community based participatory research and to the targeting, refinement, and adaptation of enduring interventions. Consistency in their meaning and use can promote forward movement in the field of MDSIS, and in community-based prevention science.     

The Association between Attachment Styles and Physical Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization: A Meta‐Analysis

In this meta‐analysis, we examine attachment styles—something commonly incorporated into couples therapy—and their association with physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization among men and women. This meta‐analysis incorporated 33 studies that looked at the association between four different attachment styles and IPV. This study examined the strength of the correlation among different attachment styles and IPV perpetration and victimization, examined gender differences in the strength of the association among attachment styles and IPV, and compared the strength of the association with IPV among different attachment styles. We found that anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment styles were all significantly associated with physical IPV perpetration and victimization. Secure attachment was significantly negatively related to IPV perpetration and victimization. There was a significantly stronger association between avoidant attachment and IPV victimization for women compared to men. Clinical implications related to the importance of fostering secure attachments when working with couples or individuals who have experienced IPV are addressed.     

Ethnic Minority Women’s Experiences with Intimate Partner Violence: Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Ask the Right Questions

Current definitions, instruments, and processes for measuring intimate partner violence, including sexual assault, are insufficient to detect the nature and scope of violence against all women. To remedy this problem, we recommend the use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles to develop culturally informed quantitative instruments that measure ethnic minority women’s experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV). CBPR requires community members and researchers to work equitably together throughout the research process, sharing decision-making and ownership. This paper identifies problems with current measurement approaches and describes the strengths and challenges of the CBPR approach. We argue that this research orientation offers the potential for “flexible standardization” that can provide better estimates of the extent of IPV and sexual assault, and provide communities with the knowledge they need to address these problems in a culturally sensitive manner.     

Community Readiness for Change and Youth Violence Prevention: a Tale of Two Cities

This case study identifies a situation in which there exists a set of preconditions for the successful application of evidence based practice to bear on the community based problem of youth violence. The concept of readiness to change and its impact on the success or failure of interventions designed to change harmful or dangerous behavior among individuals is well established and understood in intervention research. In recent years this concept has been discussed and developed in the community intervention and harm reduction literatures. The current study is one of a community where an attempt was made to identify community levels of harm, develop a strategic plan to reduce the source of harm, and develop, implement, and evaluate youth violence prevention interventions. Over more than 5 years of involvement by university based researchers and community partners, the effort was largely unsuccessful. The events of this project are discussed within the context of the Community Readiness Model Edwards et al. (J Community Psychol 28(3): 291-307, 2000) and we present a narrative that helps to highlight the reasons for the relative lack of success of the effort. We suggest additional strategies and actions that might have helped to overcome the lack of readiness of this particular community to reduce the harms associated with youth violence. Suggestions that may improve chances for a more successful set of outcomes for other communities in similar states of readiness to change and with similar challenges are given.