Exploring dynamics of abusive lesbian relationships: preliminary analysis of a multisite,qualitative study

This paper presents preliminary results from a multisite, qualitative study on violence in lesbian relationships. A framework for conducting community-based, empowerment research that draws on theories of community psychology, feminism, and postmodernism is presented. The study was designed to understand the dynamics of abusive lesbian relationships and social service providers' responses to the abuse. Results from 80 in-depth interviews with lesbians who have experienced relationship violence are examined with a particular focus on a pattern of first relationships being abusive and a theme of shifting power dynamics. Analysis of focus group discussions with 45 feminist service providers (e.g., counselors, shelter workers, social workers, healthcare providers) reveals the difficulties in assessing the power dynamics of abusive same-sex relationships and in developing appropriate responses when relying on heterosexually gendered models developed to address men's violence against women. The preliminary results present implications both for how we theorize and research this form of violence, and for improving the practices and policies of social services that work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered communities.     

Children Exposed to Domestic Violence and Child Abuse: Terminology and Taxonomy

Three definitional issues regarding children exposed to domestic violence are examined. First, the multiple ways in which a child can be exposed to violence is discussed. A taxonomy of 10 types of exposure is proposed. Nine key characteristics of domestic violence, as they relate to children and children's exposure, are then outlined. The third issue addressed concerns why children who are exposed to domestic violence can be considered victims of child maltreatment. These children, by nature of their experience in the home, are psychologically maltreated and are also at high risk for physical abuse and some risk for sexual abuse. Empirical questions concerning these definitions and taxonomies and their interrelations are discussed.     

Children Exposed to Community Violence: The Rationale for Early Intervention

Children are exposed to violence in their homes and communities at extraordinarily high rates. Given the alarming rates of exposure and its known impact on child developmental outcomes, crisis intervention geared at interrupting the negative effects of violence exposure are increasingly important. This review provides a rationale for the implementation of early and crisis intervention strategies for children exposed to community violence and recommends principles for applying these interventions. These principles are based on the body of research concerning risk and protective factors for children who have been exposed to violence. Relevant factors are reviewed and recommended principles are explicated that correlate to these factors. Issues concerning developmentally informed crisis intervention, support of parental executive functioning, and the need for active community partnership to help ameliorate risk factors are highlighted.     

Consequences of Children's Exposure to Community Violence

Much has been learned over the past decade about the way children respond to experiences of violence in their community. The goal of this paper is to review what is known about the effects of community violence on children's development. In addition to main effects, factors that mediate these effects, as well as factors that moderate children's response to community violence are discussed. Special attention is paid to developmental differences in children's responses to community violence and the factors that may promote resilient functioning.     

Next Steps in Research on Children Exposed to Community Violence or War/Terrorism

The articles in this special issue of Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review provide an overview of what is known about children's exposure to community violence and war/ terrorism, and indicate significant gaps in extant research. These gaps and research needs are summarized in this conclusion.     

Prevalence of Child and Adolescent Exposure to Community Violence

Emerging as one of the most significant health issues facing American youth today, child and adolescent exposure to community violence has generated much interest across multiple disciplines. Most research to date has focused on documenting the prevalence of community violence and the emotional and behavioral ramifications. This paper provides an overview of the current literature regarding prevalence of youth exposure to community violence, and identifies those areas where further research is warranted. In addition to examining overall rates of community violence exposure, this paper reviews the prevalence of different types of community violence, such as weapon use, physical aggression, and crime-related events. Predictors of community violence exposure, including gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, behavior patterns, and geography, are discussed.     

Introduction

This issue of Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Current Status and Research Directions, addresses the current status of our knowledge as well as critical research needs in the area of children exposed to domestic violence. Although much has been learned in recent years about children exposed to violence, significant research gaps remain, the identification of which may help to build a more complete and rigorous science base in this area. This journal issue represents the distillation of a 3-day workshop on children exposed to violence, held in July of 2002, that identified what is known about children exposed to violence and what this information tells us about future research directions. Although many federal agencies have supported some research in this area, there is a need for more targeted attention on the topic, particularly with regard to measurement, sampling, and interventions/services. The papers in this issue were selected with these themes in mind. Although no single issue could cover the entire field, we intend to offer a representative sample of where we are and where we need to go with the hope of stimulating additional thought, collaboration, and research in this important area.     

Is It Lonely at the Top? An Empirical Study of Managers’ and Nonmanagers’ Loneliness in Organizations

Loneliness is often assumed to be an occupational hazard for senior-ranked members of an organization. However, most of what researchers hear about being "lonely at the top" is anecdote. This article provides empirical evidence from three separate studies assessing loneliness in managers and nonmanagers. Across all three studies, loneliness did not differ by managerial status. Managers were no more or less lonely than their nonmanager counterparts. This suggests that factors beyond seniority may be contributing to loneliness in organizational settings. Ideas for future research are discussed.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring Global Interpersonal Mistrust-Trust

Abstract

Global interpersonal mistrust is conceptualized as a general mistrust of the motives of others in situations related to one's well-being: a general tendency to view others as mean, selfish, malevolent, or unreliable people who are, thus, not to be depended on to treat one well. The authors developed an 18-item unidimensional self-report inventory measuring interpersonal mistrust as a negative cognitive orientation toward others. The measure comprises items describing perceptions of specific hypothetical interpersonal situations rather than items asking respondents to describe their own general behavior. The measure was reliable and evidenced construct validity in a heterogeneous sample of Australians.     

The Effect of Social and Situational Factors on the Intended Response to Aggression Among Adolescents

ABSTRACT

In this study, I explored intended response to aggression among adolescents. I drew hypotheses from social identity theory, cost/benefit considerations, and social information processing model. I asked 217 Jewish and Muslim male adolescents in this study to assess their intended use of aggression in 12 hypothetical conflict situations (vignettes), in which I manipulated the opponent's religion, gender, acquaintance, and severity of aggression. I mainly found that male adolescents respond to aggression by same-religion opponents more moderately than to cross-religion aggression; their response is more moderate to cross-gender aggression than to same-gender aggression; response is more moderate to the aggression of familiar opponents than to that of unfamiliar ones; and response is less severe toward moderate than toward severe aggression.