Characteristics of Male Batterers in Treatment

Abstract

This article presents information on the characteristics of a clinical population of male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) court-ordered for batterers' treatment, and how these characteristics co-varied with treatment attrition. The average demographic profile of male batterers in a midwestern treatment program that met present-day treatment guidelines was similar to that found in other studies. In addition, relationship length and status, alcohol/drug use, self-reports of past treatment and mental health issues, and self-report of witnessing or experiencing violence within the home during childhood was also similar. Batterers' self-reports of their own violent behavior were found to vary by data collection technique, with face-to-face interviews eliciting greater admission of violent behavior than paper-and-pencil questionnaires. However, the only predictors of successful treatment outcome were living arrangement at the time of treatment and racial category. Implications of these findings are discussed, and “local effects” program evaluation approaches are suggested.     

An Historical Overview of Basic Approaches and Issues in Ethical and Moral Philosophy and Principles

Summary

This article provides a condensed history of ethics development for the purpose of exposing psychologists and other mental health professionals to ethical and moral bases upon which modern psychological ethics are founded. In addition, it focuses on contemporary theories, with an emphasis on professional ethics.     

Women Experiencing Psychological Abuse: Are They a Homogenous Group?

Dichotomizing women as “abused” versus “not abused” assumes that any psychological maltreatment results in similar outcomes. A national sample of women in conflictual relationships completed an online survey. Women with no incidence (N = 33), the lowest quartile (N = 86), and the top quartile (N = 81) of psychological maltreatment demonstrated significant differences in reactions to the maltreatment, mental health indicators, personality variables, perceived harm, problematic relationship schemas, and response styles. Women with no psychological abuse and women in the lowest quartile produced similar scores that were typically distinct from the top-quartile women. Effective treatment of women with lower amounts of psychological abuse might not require a unique intervention likely necessary for women experiencing much psychological abuse.     

Preface

Summary

Child victimization is a serious and on-going problem in the United States and throughout the world. In 2000, an estimated 900,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect in the United States. New and different responses to child maltreatment will have to be developed and implemented in response to the increasingly diverse contexts and situations within which maltreatment occurs. Emerging trends in adult-child boundary violations are explored within this volume from a cross-section of disciplines, including law, sociology, criminal justice, psychology, and health services. The selections analyze issues critical to child maltreatment and offer intriguingly different perspectives of present and future issues related to child abuse.     

Caring for Carers in the Aftermath of Trauma

The potential impact on psychological well-being of working in the caring professions in the aftermath of trauma and disaster has been recognized for many years, with terms such as burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization coined to describe stress-related conditions. Although prevalent, these conditions do not affect all workers in the field. Various studies have investigated potential risk and protective factors. It is argued that the outcomes of this research should be used to guide practical interventions in the workplace designed to minimize stress-related problems. A framework that incorporates interventions at the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention levels is outlined, and research investigating the efficacy of interventions at each of these levels is recommended.     

Perceptions of Juvenile Offenders Who Were Abused as Children

Should a history of child abuse be taken into consideration when a juvenile offender is punished? Although some research shows that child abuse is used as a mitigating factor for juvenile offenders (i.e., elicits less punitive sentences), surveys of juvenile court officials reveal that it is considered an aggravating factor. Specifically, in controlled mock jury studies in which child abuse is experimentally manipulated, child abuse elicits less punitive sentences. In contrast, child abuse elicits more punitive sentences in a nonexperimentally controlled environment—the juvenile justice system. This article provides a comprehensive literature review to explain these conflicting bodies of research by considering factors that naturally covary with childhood abuse: chaotic family environment, mental health problems, behavioral problems, and school problems.     

Child Homicide in the City of Los Angeles

SUMMARY

Homicide is the only leading cause of child death which has increased in rank in the past 30 years. This investigation describes the deaths of 0-14 year olds which were classified as homicides by the Los Angeles Police Department from 1980 to 1989. Special focus is given to suspect-to-victim relationship and victim race/ethnicity because of their relevance to prevention and program planning. Family members were suspects in 49.8% of the cases (mother, 14.5%; father, 13.6%; mother's paramour, 8.5%; male and female caretaker, 11.1%; other family members, 2.1%). Few differences emerged among the Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White child victims. Non-Hispanic White victims had the highest proportion (67.7%) and Hispanic victims had the lowest proportion (42.7%) of within-family suspects. Prevention implications include the need to focus on the actions of male caregivers and the observation that the substance and content of prevention programs (e.g., an emphasis on reducing blunt force trauma to young children) can be consistent across race/ethnic groups.     

History and Analysis of Delayed Discovery Statutes of Limitations in Adult Survivor Litigation

Summary

In this chapter, attorney Mary R. Williams examines how while Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA) cases share many of the types of facts for which delayed discovery, mental incapacity, equitable estoppel and other legal statutes of limitations doctrines were created, the combination of factors of CSA cases, including unusual social dynamics and long-term psychological effects, does not fit exactly with any of these legal doctrines. She explores the historical development of delayed discovery statutes of limitations, evaluates the different types of statutes and case law, and analyzes the problematic use of the concept of repression in legislation. This chapter interprets her ground-breaking state-by-state tabulations of delayed discovery statutes of limitations and reported appellate decisions on limitations in CSA actions, published in this volume as appendices A, B, and C.     

Resilience to Childhood Abuse and Neglect in College Students

This study examined the prevalence of a history of childhood maltreatment in a college sample and identified the relationship between being maltreated as a child and later college adjustment in men and women. Results indicate that men who had been maltreated in childhood had more resilient outcomes in college than women who had been maltreated in childhood. Negative life events and protective factors acted as mediators in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college adjustment for women, and protective factors acted as a moderator in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and college adjustment for men.     

Holistic processing of shape cues in face identification: Evidence from face inversion,composite faces,and acquired prosopagnosia

According to a classical functional architecture of face processing (Bruce & Young, 1986), sex processing on faces is a parallel function to individual face recognition. One consequence of the model is thus that sex categorization on faces is not influenced by face familiarity. However, the behavioural and neuro-psychological evidences supporting this dissociation are yet equivocal. To test the independence between sex processing on faces and familiar face recognition, familiar (learned) faces were morphed with new faces, generating facial continua of visual similarity to familiar faces. First, a pilot experiment shown that subjects familiarized with one extreme of the face continuum roughly perceive one half of the continuum (60 to 100% of visual similarity to familiar faces) as made of familiar faces and the other part as unfamiliar. In the experiment proper, subjects were familiarized with faces and tested in a sex decision task made on faces at the different steps of the continua. Subjects were significantly quicker at telling the sex of faces perceived as familiar (60-100%), and the effect was not observed in a control (untrained) group. These results indicate that familiar face representations are activated before sex categorization is completed, and can facilitate this processing. The nature of the interaction between sex categorization on faces and familiar face recognition is discussed.