“Changing the Text”: Modeling Council Capacity to Produce Institutionalized Change

Collaboration is a ubiquitous approach to change, but is notoriously difficult and not definitively linked to desirable outcomes. Not surprisingly, the collaboration literature is replete with numerous facilitators and barriers to collaborative efforts. The current study aimed to develop a parsimonious model of factors influencing the success of collaborative efforts both internal and external to the council, including, (a) features of the council environment, (b) intermediate outcomes including the empowerment of members in the council context and the degree to which councils have generated social capital and (c) the extent to which collaborative efforts are occurring in a community context supportive of their aims. In particular, this study examines whether these factors affect the extent to which councils are positioned to achieve institutionalized change, or changes \"in the text\" that govern front line providers' (e.g., police, advocates) practices in the community response to intimate partner violence. Results suggest that perceived member empowerment, generation of social capital, and supportive community context are the most important predictors of the extent to which councils foster shifts in institutionalized change. Features of the council environment are only indirectly related to the degree to which institutionalized change is ultimately fostered as mediated by the generation of social capital. This suggests that the ability of members to act as change agents and the extent to which those in power support council efforts figure more prominently to facilitate or constrain council efforts than council functioning itself.     

Does cost–benefit analysis or self‐control predict involvement in two forms of aggression?

The main aim of this research was to assess the relative association between physical aggression and (1) self‐control and (2) cost‐benefit assessment, these variables representing the operation of impulsive and reflective processes. Study 1 involved direct and indirect aggression among young Indian men, and Study 2 physical aggression to dating partners among Spanish adolescents. In Study 1, perceived benefits and costs but not self‐control were associated with direct aggression at other men, and the association remained when their close association with indirect aggression was controlled. In Study 2, benefits and self‐control showed significant and independent associations (positive for benefits, negative for self‐control) with physical aggression at other‐sex partners. Although being victimized was also correlated in the same direction with self‐control and benefits, perpetration and being victimized were highly correlated, and there was no association between being victimized and these variables when perpetration was controlled. These results support the theory that reflective (cost‐benefit analyses) processes and impulsive (self‐control) processes operate in parallel in affecting aggression. The finding that male adolescents perceived more costs and fewer benefits from physical aggression to a partner than female adolescents did is consistent with findings indicating greater social disapproval of men hitting women than vice versa, rather than with the view that male violence to women is facilitated by internalized patriarchal values. Aggr. Behav. 36:292–304, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Mediation Effect of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms on the Relationship of Intimate Partner Violence and IFN-γ Levels

Background: Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) report greater stress and negative health consequences than nonabused women. Although an association between psychological stress and altered immune function has been shown, IPV studies have not investigated this relationship. Objective: This study explored the association of IPV with mental health symptoms and an immune marker to determine if posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms mediate the effect of IPV on pro-inflammatory (IFN-γ) cytokine levels. Methods: A cross-sectional, comparative design was used to compare 62 women with IPV and 39 nonabused women. Results: Mean IFN-γ values were higher in abused women and in women with current PTSD symptoms. There were no significant relationships with potential confounding variables that could provide an alternative explanation for the increase in production of proinflammatory cytokines. Conclusions: PTSD symptoms mediate the association between IPV and IFN-γ levels and may partially explain the association of mental health symptoms with physical health sequelae in IPV.