This paper presents the results of a study conducted at a domestic violence safehouse for an undergraduate Honors Thesis. Twenty-three children ages 4-16 from African American and immigrant communities were interviewed while residing at a safehouse for victims of domestic violence regarding their beliefs and attitudes about perceptions of self, conflict resolution skills, and feelings of anger and coping strategies. The study found a strong relation between length of stay & positive coping strategies. Age & gender were also related to conflict resolution skills. Qualitative data provided interesting & potentially important insights into children’s internal experiences of being witnesses of domestic violence. The study did not support past research in terms of child witnesses exhibiting low self-esteem, poor conflict strategies, and high rates of aggression. This study concludes that more research needs to be conducted on protective factors and resiliency to the effects of domestic violence to explain this study’s results.

Research finds that intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs at comparable rates for heterosexuals and sexual minorities; however, few IPV prevention programs exist for sexual minority communities. Most programs are developed on heterosexuals and ignore the unique contexts and dynamics of IPV for sexual minorities. Community capacity IPV prevention programs aim to increase the skills and resources within informal social networks, and they represent a promising approach to IPV prevention for sexual minority communities. The current study explores the informal networks of sexual minorities in order to build knowledge that can inform the future development of community capacity IPV prevention programs for sexual minorities. The goal of the current study was to provide information on three major aspects of sexual minorities’ informal networks: network structure, network function, and the use of networks by sexual minorities experiencing IPV. The study used a mixed method design. The quantitative component included an online survey completed by 367 sexual minorities. The survey asked with whom sexual minorities discuss their intimate relationships, and it asked the response and helpfulness of each member. These data illustrated the structure and function of informal networks. The study also included interviews with seven sexual minority women on their experiences of seeking help for IPV from their social networks. This information addressed the third aspect of informal networks. The quantitative results revealed that sexual minorities turn to on average only three people to discuss relationship issues. Surprisingly, a substantial number were family, and almost half were heterosexual. The qualitative results illustrated that many informal networks members could benefit from receiving education on sexual minority identities and issues, IPV in sexual minority communities, and communication skills. The findings illustrated key aspects of informal networks that can be used to inform future community capacity IPV prevention programs for sexual minorities. Specifically, the quantitative data on network structure and function can be used to inform relevant targets for future programs, and the data from the interviews can inform aspects of program curricula.

This research examined the link between family conflict and youth aggression in Latino families. Attitudes toward aggression were tested as a mediator of this link, whereas family constellation variables (cohesion, responsibilities, birth order, and gender) were tested as moderators. This model was tested in a longitudinal community sample of 143 youth (study 1) and in a sample of 35 sibling dyads exposed to domestic violence (study 2). Differences between the two studies supported the notion that domestic violence and family conflict are distinct phenomena. For example, fairness did not have any main effects or interaction effects on behavioral outcomes in study 1. However, fairness had a negative association with aggression for oldest siblings in study 2. Future directions are discussed including a call for a developmental-ecological-feminist theory and participatory action research.

Children’s perceptions of the fairness of their filial responsibility was examined as a moderator between witnessing domestic violence and behavioral outcomes in children. Hierarchical Multiple Regressions revealed that children’s perceptions of the fairness of their family responsibility influenced the relation between the psychological violence in the household and child reports of internalizing behavior problems. Specifically, higher levels of psychological violence predicted higher levels of internalizing only under perceptions of unfair filial responsibility. In addition, increased levels of reported psychological violence in the household significantly predicted increased levels of mother-reported externalizing problems. Descriptive analyses revealed that for 12 of the 27 families all of the children had very small levels of reported behavior problems, as compared to the rest of the sample. These resilient families had lower level of psychological violence and physical violence in the household than the other families in the sample.

Latino children living in the context of domestic violence (DV) often lack access to cultural-specific services. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among Latino children’s level of cognitive development (age), country of origin and psychological adjustment as well as styles of coping with domestic violence . Analysis of data collected from an interview conducted with Latino children at a local DV intervention program suggests that Latino children utilize a range of coping responses when confronted with violence in their homes. In a regression analysis using psychological adjustment as the dependent variable, developmental age was not related to adjustment in children. However, country of origin was a significant predictor of psychological adjustment. That is, immigrant children reported lower levels of psychological adjustment compared to children born in the U.S. This remained true while controlling for age, coping strategy, and family cohesion. The growing number of immigrant Latino children in the United States increases the need for culturally relevant research with racial and ethnic minority groups in regard to DV. These findings suggest immigrant Latino children have unique needs in the context of DV.

Domestic violence against children is well known on the social problem aspect, and Sweden has become the first country clarifying its stance on physical punishment and child abuse since established “anti-spanking” law in 1979. The purpose of this research was to investigate how Swedish social workers deal with the issue about domestic violence against children. The research was developed with hermeneutics approach and ecological systems theory, and carried out by four respondents from Social Services Gävle. With the answers claimed by the respondents, constitute the results and conclusions, that is all kinds of tackling methods about child abuse should be regulated by laws, and cooperate with police or citizens comprehensively, especially in the period of investigation.  This paper might be a general pattern, but we do hope it could make people rethinking about child abuse issues, that probably may reduce a little bit pressure to children in the future.

The object of this thesis was to deepen the understanding of the contemporary political discourse regarding migrant women exposed to domestic violence. This was conducted by analysing propositions, motions and interpellation debates raising the issue during the years 2000-2012. The method used was inspired by Foucault’s discourse analysis and the traditional hermeneutic approach. The result showed how several different mechanisms work to both include and exclude these women from the Swedish welfare system. By being women they are included in the political debate regarding men’s violence against women, but their migrant status excludes them from it at the same time. When migrant women are exposed to domestic violence it is often seen as an individual problem even though men’s violence against women generally is seen as a structural problem. Several conflicts of interests were also found. One of them being whether migrant women are to be warned if their partners have abused women before. The man’s right to integrity stands against the woman’s right to protection. Another conflict is the fear of the migration right being abused, which is pitted against the migrant women’s rights. To summarize the analysis this thesis has shown how the portraying of migrant women as different in the political discourse plays an important role in creating conflicts of interest and to some extent exclude them from the welfare system. Women’s right seem to apply only to certain women under certain circumstances. An intersectional perspective was necessary for understanding the complexity of the situation, taking into account how different power relations interact and construct the contemporary discourse.

The current study focused on the challenging task of providing treatment to male batterers and the various factors that may positively affect the outcome of treatment. Group treatment has been shown to be a successful modality to working with partner abusers, due to the unique environment that is created where males interact with and establish relationships with other males. This male-male socialization may have potential positive effects on the course and outcome of therapy. This study sought to provide support for Jennings and Murphy’s theory of domestic violence that malefemale disrupted relationships have roots in disrupted male-male relationships and male identity issues and rigid gender role ideals. This study predicted that over the course of a 15-week court mandated domestic violence group, improving male-male relationships would be correlated with improvements in male identity issues and rigid sex role attitudes and improvements in male-female relationship issues. These expectations were supported by the research data. Additionally, it was expected that an improvement in same sex relationships would be related to an overall dimensional change in their attachment system. This hypothesis was not supported by the data. Moreover, process variables such as group climate and working alliance were also examined throughout the course of the group to shed light on any changes that were found. The results showed steadily increasing reports of positive working alliance ratings by counselors and clients, and increasing levels of group cohesion among the group members. The discussion and conclusions focus on the clinical significance of the study’s findings and include specific examples from the groups in this study. Implications for treatment with this population, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are also addressed.

This study examines the effectiveness of internet-based poetry therapy on symptoms of secondary posttraumatic stress disorder (SPTSD) in domestic violence counselors, and explores correlations between demographic, workplace and personality variables with SPTSD symptoms in this population. Domestic violence counselors, at risk for SPTSD due to their exposure to the traumatic material of clients, need effective interventions that combat symptoms of SPTSD. Poetry therapy is a form of expressive arts counseling used increasingly by psychologists and mental health counselors. Expressive writing therapies in general have been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms of stress, and in increasing mental and physical health and well-being. In this study, data was collected from 97 participants who participated anonymously by completing some assessments and activities accessed via the website set up for the study. Results of t tests indicate that in this sample, participants in the internet poetry therapy group showed a decrease in symptoms of SPTSD following treatment, though additional analyses also show that there was a decrease in symptoms on post tests for all participants in the study. Regression analyses indicate that openness to experience and years working with trauma significantly predicted symptoms of SPTSD in this sample.

Designing domestic violence shelters for women must be considered from a feminist perspective, inclusive of theories of embodiment, as the female victim's emotional state (mind) is a critical component in determining her overall state (i.e., level of distress). The primary objective of this study (Specific Aim 1) was to identify the mental and emotional state of female domestic violence victims upon entry into a shelter as a means of establishing specific user needs which should directly impact the design of the shelter. The primary hypothesis (Hypothesis 1) was that upon entry into a shelter environment, victims are experiencing high levels of distress compared to normative controls. The secondary objective of this study (Specific Aim 2) was to identify shelter users? perceptions of the current shelter environment in which they lived as a foundation for matching specific design criteria with the specific needs of the female domestic violence victim (i.e., stress reduction) in an attempt to understand the relationship between user needs and individual design characteristics of the shelter. The secondary exploratory hypothesis (Hypothesis 2) was that anxiety or stress is reduced over time; therefore, the architectural design of a shelter that promotes independence will result in less distress among domestic violence victims utilizing the shelter. Thirty-three domestic violence victims in Fort Worth, Texas participated in focus groups and interviews conducted over a four-month period of time in 2009. Qualitative analysis of this data yielded four emergent themes: (1) loss of independence and control: the second layer of fear; (2) the search for security; (3) reconnecting to self; and (4) expressions of humanity. Quantitative analysis was utilized to measure participant stress levels at three intervals during their thirty day shelter program: (1) within the first twenty-four hours of shelter entry; (2) seven to ten days after shelter entry; and (3) fourteen or more days after shelter entry. Findings of this researcher have been utilized to generate design objectives that can be extrapolated to apply to other locations of shelters and could impact the design of new facilities as well as the redesign of current shelters.