<p>The problem of abusive relationships has attracted national attention in South Africa. Historically South Africa has a strongly entrenched patriarchal system, which gives men proprietary rights over women. Traditional and cultural values as means of resolving conflict are critical in shaping and perpetuating violence of men toward women. A woman&rsquo / s social status is believed to be derived by her relative position to a man that is as daughter, wife, girlfriend or mother of his children. One solution to ending the abuse and leading violence free lives would be to leave the relationship. While this is a possible solution it should be noted that in order for women to leave it requires enormous restructuring of material, physical and social relations. A qualitative feminist research methodology was used with a convenience sample of 8 women who agreed to participate in the study. In depth interviews were conducted with the participants to explore the perceptions and experiences of Xhosa women in abusive relationships. The participants resided in Khayelitsha, Phillipi and Langa. The interviews lasted from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, were audio taped and transcribed. In view of the qualitative nature of the study, the researcher employed thematic analysis. Women mentioned their experiences of abuse and discussed their help seeking strategies. A number of themes that emerged from the study suggested clearly women&rsquo / s perceptions and experiences to remain in their abusive relationships. These themes relate to commitment, staying because of children, cultural beliefs (lobola), economic dependence and lack of social support. It also emerged from the discussions with women that the emotional and structural support that these women received from the NGO played a huge role. The most important finding from the study was that change occurred as a result of abuse.</p>

Meta-analyses with 144 correlations from 44 studies to assess the relationship between experienced, father-to-mother, and mother-to-father violence in the family of origin and partner violence for males and females in clinical, community and student samples.

M.A. / This study explores the ways in which children are affected by witnessing domestic violence. The literature reviewed shows that witnessing violence against their mother’s impacts upon their development in many different ways. The wide-range of problems associated with children exposed to wife abuse, including significant behavioural, emotional and cognitive problems, are described in this study. The outcomes and consequences are also discussed. Children respond to witnessing domestic violence in a variety of ways. These responses are mediated by many factors, for example, their age and gender, the intensity and frequency of the violence, parental responses, levels of family dysfunction, and the psychological disposition of the child. Children’s experiences vary according to these many characteristics. This study also examines various theoretical perspectives on exposure to domestic violence. These approaches provide an important framework that contributes to this understanding of this phenomenon. There are many shortcomings in this area research, and an in-depth understanding of the phenomena of witnessing marital violence during childhood is lacking. There is also minimal research examining the long-term consequences of exposure to marital violence, particularly with regard to the way that women’s lives are impacted upon as adults. / Dr. I. van der Merwe Prof. R.van Vuuren

The Family Safety Team (FST) is a collaborative intervention developed to address family violence in New Zealand. Interagency collaborations are effective at addressing the social supports for battery, improving the systems and responses of agencies that address battery, and improving cohesion and consistency across agencies. The FST has a particular focus on justice system agencies. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the Hamilton FST. The research was conducted using in-depth interviews with FST members and others directly involved with the project, archival research using police family violence files, observation of FST meetings, and a focus group with battered women. The evaluation was constructed around four aims: to identify any barriers to establishing the FST, to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Hamilton FST, to determine the adequacy of the FST structure, and to assess the extent to which the FST has improved the ability of agencies to enhance the safety and autonomy of battered women and hold offenders accountable. An overall finding of this evaluation was that people are feeling very positive about the Hamilton FST. The evaluation found that the FST has increased contact and communication between community and government agencies, and there was improvement in each agency's awareness of the policies, processes and protocols of other agencies in the FST. The evaluation found some limitations in the amount of monitoring and measurable outcomes from the FST, but this was understandable considering the infancy of the project and the time taken for members to understand their roles and the function of the FST. However, there were some positive developments in police responsiveness: an improved police attitude towards family violence cases, and an increase in cases coded as family violence. An important finding of this evaluation was that the Hamilton FST is functioning as a genuine collaboration. This seemed to be due to: mutual respect and an equal distribution of power among FST members, trusted working relationships, recognising each member for their area of expertise, and the role of the coordinator. There are, however, some limitations of the FST model that FST members need to acknowledge.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-326). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

A study on the Law of Retribution concept and the literature skills of ¡mXing-Shi Yin Yuan Chuan¡n Abstract ¡mXing-Shi Yin Yuan Chuan¡nis a vernacular fiction mainly about human feeling and events in Ming and Ching dynasties¡CAlthough the term ¡uYIN YUAN¡v usually refers to romance and marriages¡Athe novel portrays not only love affairs and matrimony but also the reality of family life in the feudal society¡Ageneral observation of gentlemen¡Bgovernment officials¡Bbusinessmen¡Band servants¡Acan also be found in the book¡Areflecting various aspects of real life and the complicacy of human natures¡C This paper is divided into six chapters¡GChapter One brings out the study motivation¡Adirection¡Aand scope¡Aas well as general introducing the present related references to describe the current study situation¡CChapter Two collects and studies who the author is¡HTime background and the orientation of the book¡CChapter Three talks about the author¡¦s ideas on ¡ucausality¡v¡AThe thought of ¡ucausality¡vcover the ideologies of Buddhism¡BTaoism¡Band Confucianism¡Areflecting the miscellaneous¡ucausality¡vvalues in the book¡C Chapter Four extends the various¡ucausality¡vvalues¡Aand points out the conflicts between the¡ucausality¡vpresentations¡Awhich reveal the author¡¦s internal contradiction towards the values¡CChapter Five analyzes the character molding skills¡Awhich draw a lot of interest¡CIt praises the portraying of the characters and the outstanding polishing skills as each typical role is vividly presented¡CChapter Six concludes and outlines the varied values and meaning¡AIt also mentions the short-comings and the researcher's suggestions on future related study directions¡Ain order to draw more academic attentions¡C ¡mXing-Shi Yin Yuan Chuan¡nis based on a chaotic family¡Aironically describing the fallen morality and disordered ethnics during Ming and Ching dynasties¡CThe nearly sick brutality between the couple shows the family violence at that time¡Athis is definitely an earthly novel worth recommending¡C Keywords¡Gromance¡Bcausality¡Bfamily violence¡Bearthly novel¡C

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.

Thesis (M.S.)--Marshall University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 78 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-61).