The protective role of higher intellectual functioning on violence in the household population of Great Britain

Despite compelling evidence of the effect of intelligence on delinquency and violent crime, there is limited data on its impact on population violence. We aimed to determine the association of categories of intelligence with violent behaviors in the general population and the extent of the impact of social class on these associations. A randomly selected sample of 14,738 individuals was derived from 2 British national surveys of adults aged 16 years and older. We measured self-reported violent behavior in the past 5 years, including: repetition, injury, violence while intoxicated, familial and extra-familial victim types and intimate partner violence. We examined the moderating role of social class on all outcomes. The increased risk of violence among persons of below average IQ was explained by social class at population level. High IQ had an overall protective effect on all outcomes except violence towards family members, irrespective of socio-economic circumstances. Social class moderated the association of IQ with violence by decreasing its protective effect among those in the lowest socio-economic positions. Our findings suggest that the association of IQ and violence is not linear but protective on population level. Social class has both an explaining and a moderating role in this association.     

Theory and teen dating violence victimization: Considering adolescent development

Teen dating violence is an important public health problem, with implications for the future health and well-being of adolescents. However, most work on teen dating violence has developed separately from literature on normative adolescent romantic relationships and development; understanding teen dating violence within the framework of adolescent psychosocial development may provide new areas for research. Thus, the present paper summarizes five theories of adolescent development that are relevant to the study of teen dating violence victimization, as well as empirical literature that demonstrates support for key theoretical tenets in research examining adolescent romantic relationships. We also present questions for future dating violence study that arise from these key theoretical tenets and past empirical research. Researchers interested in dating violence victimization can use the presented theories to guide new directions in research inquiry, so that findings are situated within the broader field of adolescent development.     

How Patient-Perpetrated Workplace Violence Leads to Turnover Intention Among Nurses: The Mediating Mechanism of Occupational Stress and Burnout

This study looked into the impact of patient-perpetrated workplace violence on nurses’ turnover intention by examining the sequential mediation effect of occupational stress and burnout. Results were obtained by analyzing the data collected from 216 nurses working in four public hospitals of central Pakistan. Results provided full support to the research hypotheses, demonstrating that patient-inflicted violence negatively affects nurses’ turnover intention, and that occupational stress and burnout both individually mediate the patient violence–turnover intention relationship. Particularly, the results illustrated that patient violence is related to turnover intention through occupational stress first and then burnout. These results widen the focus of past research by demonstrating that the patient violence–turnover intention link is not as simple as previously believed. Future researchers can use these findings to further develop integrated models that explore the adverse consequences of workplace violence on nursing staff’s personal and professional well-being.     

Improving Interaction Competencies With Children—A Pilot Feasibility Study to Reduce School Corporal Punishment

High prevalence rates of corporal punishment in schools worldwide and the associated negative mental health issues show the need for interventions addressing this problem. Yet, so far there are very few intervention studies aimed at altering corporal punishment administered by teachers, particularly in low- or middle-income countries.

To conduct a feasibility study of the newly developed intervention approach, Interaction Competencies with Children for Teachers (ICC-T)—a training workshop designed to prevent corporal punishment and improve the teacher-student relationship.

The 1-week ICC-T intervention was conducted with 30 teachers in a Tanzanian primary school. Participants filled out a survey before, directly after, and 3 months following the intervention.

The widespread use of corporal punishment indicated strong demand for a preventive intervention. The feasibility of ICC-T was good: Despite challenging conditions, implementation of the training and participants’ acceptance was high. Further, participants reported a good integration of the training’s core elements in their daily working routine, improvements in the teacher-student relationships, and in the students’ behavior.

ICC-T shows a promising feasibility in the Tanzanian teacher sample. These encouraging results highlight the need for further studies testing the efficacy, sustainability, and effects of ICC-T on the students’ well-being.     

Validation and Standardization of the Dutch Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children in a Normative and Clinical Sample

The study aimed to describe the psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) in normative and clinical populations in the Netherlands. Caregivers’ ratings on the TSCYC were obtained for 1,802 children from the normal population, and for 515 children from a clinical population of traumatized children. In the clinical sample, additional measures were taken. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of TSCYC scales were adequate. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit on the putative scale structure. Regarding criterion validity, the clinical sample scored significantly higher on all clinical scales when compared to the normal population sample. Within the clinical sample, significant associations were found between TSCYC scales and convergent scales of other instruments. The Posttraumatic Stress-Total subscale demonstrated excellent discriminative ability between traumatized children and children from the normal population. The Dutch version of the TSCYC proved a valid and reliable instrument to measure trauma symptoms in young children through caregiver report, similar to the original American version. Further comparisons with diagnostic interviews are warranted.     

Moral injury and the ethics of teaching tainted legacies

Cases like that of John Howard Yoder – a pacifist theorist who perpetrated sexual violence – raise difficult questions about teaching material implicated in traumatic pasts. This paper argues that “moral injury” provides a useful framework for understanding the dynamics of teaching prominent cases of tainted legacies like Yoder's and for developing best pedagogical practices across the field of religious ethics. The moral injury framework empowers students to think critically and self‐reflectively about authority, conceptions of the good, the various stakes for different persons and communities in social issues, and the need for moral repair. It establishes the importance of professor and student preparation; propels students into the moral questioning and analysis that constitutes “ethics”; draws attention to the connections between and intersectionality of various moral problems while also attending to important moral distinctions; and affords opportunities to study individual and institutional efforts at moral repair.     

Being undone by research: an ethical obligation to togethering

I interviewed 24 women who participated in self-defense and handgun training classes who revealed lives that had been intentionally hidden, sharing the unspeakable experiences of incest, rape, child abuse, and domestic violence through stories of survival and resistance. In a poem to my participants, I reflect on my role as researcher and my desire to fulfill a commitment to my participants.

Hearing women’s stories of sexual and other violent assault, I not only experienced secondary trauma, but I have been charged with a mission of developing research products that will change policy. I wrote this poem as a way to communicate the complicated ethical issues that arise when conducting research with participants who reveal traumatic stories.     

The Contextual Role of Depression within Couples Experiencing Partner Violence

Despite previous research suggesting a link between intimate partner violence (IPV) and depression within romantic relationships, few studies have examined the role of depression in couples experiencing violence. Using dyadic data of 129 heterosexual couples seeking couples therapy for high conflict including physical IPV, depressive symptoms were evaluated as a moderator in the association between psychological and physical IPV. Results indicated that moderate and high reports of women's depressive symptoms provided a context, while men's psychological abuse toward them moved from low to high, for women to be more physically abusive toward their partners. Further, low reports of women's depressive symptoms provided a context, while men's psychological abuse toward them moved from low to high, for women to be less physically abusive toward their partners. Better understanding the role of depression and how it may offer a context for physical violence assists helping professionals in holistically addressing violence within romantic relationships.