Trends in the Treatment of Men Who Commit Violence against Women

Violence committed by men against women has a long history. At this time its prevalence is being increasingly documented and questioned in our society. Mental health workers have not had sufficient knowledge of the problem and, therefore, have not provided adequate treatment or devised preventive strategies. This article reviews the available literature regarding characteristics and treatment of three types of abusive men (rapists, incest offenders, wife batterers) and discusses the generalizability of common treatment approaches and counselor roles in treating these men.     

Adoptive Family System Dynamics: Variations by Level of Openness in the Adoption

This study examines the consequences of variations in levels of openness in adoption, especially focusing on the dynamics of the adoptive family system from the perspective of the adoptive parents. Participants included the father, mother, and at least one adopted child in 190 adoptive families, and 169 birthmothers, drawn from adoption agencies across the United States. Families included 62 confidential, 17 time-limited mediated, 52 ongoing mediated, and 59 fully disclosed adoptions. When compared to parents in confidential adoptions, those in open adoptions generally demonstrated higher levels of acknowledgment of the adoption, empathy toward the birthparents and their child, a stronger sense of permanence in the relationship with their child as projected into the future, and less fear that the birthmother might try to reclaim her child. Despite these mean differences, variations within all levels of openness were present, and results are discussed in terms of the ongoing process involved in building a family through adoption.     

When does performance feedback prompt complementarity in romantic relationships?

Two studies addressed five issues concerning complementarity in romantic relationships and suggest that complementarity deserves a new look. Dating couples (N= 28 couples) and married couples (N= 43). were given performance feedback to assess effects on self and perceived partner relevance. We found that comparison with a partner but not comparison with a stranger prompted complementarity (Study 1). Comparison resulted in complementarity and did not merely change self‐image (Studies 1 and 2). Both outperforming the partner and being outperformed by the partner can prompt complementarity (Study 2). Ceding areas to the partner in response to being outperformed was relatively automatic (Study 2). And, degree of development in the relationship influenced response to comparison‐feedback (Studies 1 and 2). Findings suggest that partners in romantic relationships automatically protect their views of the relationship as a “team” by increasing “perceived complementarity” in response to differential performance feedback.     

“I can’t get no satisfaction”: Insecure attachment,inhibited sexual communication,and sexual dissatisfaction

An Internet survey was conducted to extend the investigation of attachment style to the domains of sexual communication and sexual satisfaction. We hypothesized that insecure attachment would be associated with sexual dissatisfaction, mediated by inhibited communication of sexual needs. Further, the association of attachment with inhibited communication was expected to be mediated by attachment‐related tendencies toward deference to partners’ needs, concern with the relationship implications of sexual choices, general anxiety regarding sex, and feelings for one’s partner. Somewhat different mediational pathways were predicted for each of the 2 dimensions of attachment insecurity: anxiety and avoidance. Respondents (N= 1,989, around half of them involved in a sexual relationship at the time of the study and half not involved but with previous sexual relationship experience) completed measures of attachment‐related anxiety and avoidance, neuroticism (a possible confound), and sexual communication and satisfaction. Results generally supported the hypotheses and provided additional evidence regarding the associations between attachment style, sexual communication, and sexual satisfaction.     

Some Evident Truths About Conversations in Everyday Relationships All Communications Are Not Created Equal

This article presents a program of studies that map out daily conversations and so establish a geography of everyday communication. A new method (the Iowa Communication Record) is offered to extend research using diary methods and focus the researcher on communication in daily life. Three studies collectively show (a) consistent sex differences in the quality and nature of conversations across different types of relationships, (b) a consistent rank ordering of relationship types that differs from that intuitively included in previous models of relationship formation, and (c) a consistent difference between conversations held on different days of the week, with Wednesdays associated with greater degrees of conflictive communication. Self-disclosure is much less frequent in everyday life than assumed on the basis of laboratory work, and the predominant form of communication in intimate relationships is not only nonintimate but not simply distinguishable from communication in other relationship types. Communication quality distinguishes female from male partners, suggesting that previous findings on preference for female partners are truly founded in communication variables, which have previously been underrated. The article shows that closer attention must in future be paid to communicative variations created by daily events and circumstances, and the role of routine communication in daily life must be explored in future studies of social participation.     

The effects of social support on adjustment to stress: The mediating role of coping

The present research tested Thoits' (1986) proposal that coping mediates in the relationship between social support and adjustment to stress in two different contexts, namely adjustment to work stress and women's adjustment to the birth of their first child. The research was also designed to examine whether sources of support are more likely to influence coping if they are similar to the support recipient or proximal to the source of stress. In the first study, 137 employees from a large retail organization participated. Measures of social support (from supervisor, work colleagues, nonwork network members) and coping were obtained at Time 1. Two weeks later (Time 2), measures of employee adjustment were obtained. The second study was conducted on 197 expectant mothers. The measures of social support (from partner, family members, nonfamily members) were obtained at Time 1, coping was assessed at Time 2, and adjustment (self-report and husband ratings) was assessed at Time 3. Results of structural equation analyses revealed, in the first study, that the effects of colleague support on levels of adjustment were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, the effects of supervisor support on adjustment (job satisfaction) were direct. In Study 2, there was evidence that the effects of partner support on women's adjustment to new parenthood were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, levels of family support had direct effects on self-reported and external measures of adjustment.     

The Nature of Arousal and Nonverbal Indices

The current monograph asserts that nonverbal behaviors can serve as useful overt indices of experienced arousal. Various conceptualizations of arousal and factors eliciting arousal in communication situations are examined. It is proposed that, from a communication standpoint, indices of arousal and arousal change are best classified along two dimensions of arousal intensity and arousal valence. Diverse bodies of literature on nonverbal concamitants of arousal are reviewed. As a first test of whether separate profiles exist for negatively, as opposed to positively or neutrally, valenced arousal, data are analyzed from a mock-interview experiment in which, following a baseline interview, participants (N=52) were subjected by an interviewer to either increased or decreased involvement. The involvement changes were expected to elevate arousal intensity for all participants and induce positively or negatively valenced arousal in the two respective conditions. Polynomial regressions and z-test comparisons of correlations revealed that 16 composites, comprising a total of 47 nonverbal variables, showed significant associations with changes in arousal.     

Barriers to Condom Use and Safer Sex Talk among College Dating Couples

Using an open-ended questionnaire response format, this study examined self-generated barriers to condom use and safer sex talk among 119 heterosexual college dating couples at the University of New Mexico (total N=238). Data were collected from both members of these dyads. Reasons for abstaining from intercourse were also elicited. Several general response categories emerged including no perceived risk; spontaneity; deliberate choice; negative attitudes; and a lack of perceived self-efficacy for enacting condom use and safer sex discussion. Explanations for abstinence included religious/moral prohibitions; lack of readiness for intercourse; and a fear of being emotionally hurt. Few differences emerged across gender, ethnicity (Caucasian vs Hispanic), and prior sexual experience (participant had intercourse prior to current relationship vs did not). Selected reasons for not using a condom and/or discussing safer sex (e.g. partner is monogamous) were cross-validated with the self-reported behavior of the respondent's dating partner. In general, participants reasons for perceived non-risk were not supported by their partner's reported behavior. Implications of these findings for sexual risk reduction programs include: establishing realistic goals for safer sex behavior and talk within committed relationships, acknowledging the impact of passion on safer sex, and addressing knowledge gaps in risk perception.     

Distress and aggression during dating conflict: A test of the coercion hypothesis

Research with clinically depressed and maritally discordant couples suggests that women's distressed behaviors function to suppress their partners' subsequent aggressive responses. We applied this coercion hypothesis to a nonclinical sample of dating couples (N = 288). We further examined whether these effects were gender‐specific, and whether distressed and aggressive behaviors differ within physically violent versus nonviolent relationships. Women but not men reported engaging in elevated rates of distress in response to partner aggression during past dating conflicts. However, both women and men expected distressed behavior to suppress partner aggression during future conflicts. Expectations about the functional effects of distressed behavior did not differ for participants with physically violent partners versus nonviolent partners. However, participants in violent relationships reported enacting more distressed behaviors and had greater expectations for partner verbal aggression during future conflicts than did participants in nonviolent relationships. Future research may identify the early onset of dysfunctional interaction patterns in couples and concomitant psychological distress.     

A School-Based Program from Infancy to Kindergarten for Children and Their Parents

The authors present a program of service and research with preschool children that has been shown effective in providing positive preventive outcomes.