The current study used a Post-positivist paradigm and was quantitative in nature. In addition, it used a descriptive survey design, which utilized self-reported questionnaires. The final sample included 125 students, ages 18-20, in undergraduate psychology courses at a Southern California university. This study attempted to explore the differences between the tree types of dating violence profiles: 1) victim only, 2) perpetrator only and 3) mutually violent; however, only 37 participants completed the questionnaire, which made statistical analysis impossible. Nonetheless, this study explored differences in relation to the demographic characteristics and five variables: a) gender, b) self-esteem, c) severity of violence, d) relationship satisfaction, and e) acceptance of violence. Therefore, this study proposed that differences would be identified and used correlations to reveal any associations between the variables. It was discovered that dating violence occurred among the sample with an 87.8% prevalence rate.

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Sexual assault on college campuses continues to be a pervasive public health issue with approximately one in five women experiencing sexual assault. Stranger rape is most commonly what people think of when they think of sexual assault, however, acquaintance rape is the most common form of sexual assault. Yet, victims are blamed more in acquaintance rape as compared to stranger rape situations. Thus, the perceptions of sexual assault occurring in various romantic relationships warrants further attention. Using an online survey at a large southern university, the current study examines the perceptions of college students, in various sexual assault scenarios, including stranger, acquaintance, committed dating, cohabitating, and marital. In addition, the levels of victim blame, rape myths, sexual attitudes and beliefs, and hostility toward women are examined. Findings may help inform future prevention efforts to help reduce rape myths regarding dating and marital rape.

There has been a heightened effort to research the overwhelming prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. Female undergraduates are the most common victims, with rates of one in five experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact during their college years. However, there is very little research that has examined sexual assault among students with disabilities. Students with intellectual disability are sexually assaulted at rates more than seven times higher than students with no disabilities. Thus, students with disabilities are hidden victims who experience sexual violence at extremely high rates. The current study used an online survey to assess the prevalence of sexual assault among students with disabilities at a large southern university. Findings may help inform future prevention efforts to help the high rates of sexual violence rates among students with disabilities on college campuses.

Adverse childhood experiences have been linked to poor behavioral outcomes of adults. Even though lots of studies have been conducted to examine the impact of family violence on children, not many studies have conducted research for understanding the long-term impact of family violence on adults later. In the current study, the long-term effect of domestic violence in childhood will be measured by using undergraduate students at University of Louisiana, Lafayette. First, the correlation between domestic violence in childhood and their current dating violence tendency will be examined. In addition, it will be examined how the experience of domestic violence in childhood is related to their academic achievement and their psychosocial status, such as depressive symptoms.

Empirical research in the areas of substance abuse (Beattie & Longabaugh, 1997; Beattie & Longabaugh, 1999; Falkin & Strauss, 2002; Gordon & Zrull, 1991; Humphreys & Noke, 1997; Mohr et al., 2001; Zywiak, Longabaugh & Wirtz, 2002) and general antisocial behavior (Browning, 2002; Capaldi, Dishion, Stoolmiller & Yoerger, 2001; Dishion, Patterson & Griesler, 1994) and a theoretical model of sexual assault perpetration (DeKeseredy & Schwartz, 1993; DeKeseredy, 1990a; DeKeseredy, 1988; Schwartz & DeKeseredy, 1997) highlight the role of peer groups' attitudes and behaviors in shaping those of their members. Intimate partner violence (IPV) among men's parents (Arriaga & Foshee, 2004; Doumas, Margolin & John, 1994; Silverman & Wiliamson, 1997) and peer groups (Abbey, McAuslan, Zawacki, Brown & Messman-Moore, 2010; Clinton, & Buck, 2001; Capaldi et al., 2001; Raghavan, Rajah, Gentile, Collado, & Kavanagh, 2009; Reed, Silverman, Raj, Rothman, Decker, Gottlieb, Molnar, & Miller, 2008; Silverman & Williamson, 1997) is also related to their own perpetration of IPV, specifically. However, existing research is yet to examine the extent to which men participating in batterer intervention programs (BIPs), a common form of treatment for perpetrators of IPV, receive messages about the perpetration of IPV from within their social networks, or whether or how BIP participants contribute to dialogues about abuse within their social networks. The purposes of the current study were to (1) describe the members of BIP participants' social networks and the ways in which they communicate about IPV with BIP participants, and (2) to describe how BIP participants address IPV with the members of their social networks, and the social network members with whom they do so. Focus groups with BIP facilitators and participants were conducted to develop inventories of abuse-relevant behaviors. One hundred and two BIP participants were surveyed to describe the members of their social networks, how the members of their social networks address the perpetration of IPV, and how BIP participants communicate about IPV to the members of their social networks. A series of multilevel models were tested to examine the characteristics of BIP participants' social networks and patterns of communication about abuse therein. An additional focus group provided interpretations of the quantitative findings. Findings reveal that the current sample of BIP participants has social networks that are smaller than those of the general population, and which consist of their current and former partners, friends and roommates, bosses and coworkers, family of origin, children, in-laws, and others. Participants' network members engage in behaviors that convey both pro-abuse and anti-abuse attitudes to BIP participants, participants engage in indirect anti-abuse behaviors with their social network members, and participants are less satisfied with network members who engage in more pro-abuse behaviors. Primary implications of the current study include (1) the understanding of BIP participants as bystanders who actively intervene in abuse-relevant social norms in their social networks; (2) a detailed picture of how and from whom BIP participants receive support for the perpetration of IPV; and (3) the creation of two new behavioral inventories that may be used to explore patterns and effects of abuse relevant communication in greater depth.

Domestic violence has received increasing attention in recent years as an area of concern for the helping professional. Despite this interest, programs for counseling the batterer are relatively few and counseling interventions for use with this client population are in what could be termed an experimental phase. The purpose of Counseling the Batterer is to review the pertinent literature concerned with counseling the batterer, to explore several programs which have been involved in this effort, and also to design a model group counseling program for abusive males. The foundation for the model program is based on the pertinent literature and programs while the content and process reflect the writer's counseling experience in this field.

It is estimated that approximately 25% of women and 7.6% of men report experiencing violence from their romantic partner during their lifetime. Additionally, in households where interpartner violence occurs, there are between 3.3 and 10 million children in the United States alone. It is important to understand the cycle of domestic violence that can occur, as it can inform us about expected outcomes across time. This study examined mothers' childhood exposure to their own parents' domestic violence. It was hypothesized that childhood exposure to domestic violence would be related to unhealthy intimate relationships and to the development of maladaptive parenting behaviors during adulthood. These experiences also were hypothesized to be related to the behaviors of the mothers' young children. For this study, 133 mothers with children who ranged in age from 1½- to 5-years participated. Results indicated that exposure to domestic violence in childhood was related significantly to the likelihood of experiencing interpartner violence later in life. Also, having a personal history of interpartner violence in adulthood was related to higher rates of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in mothers' young children. Further, findings demonstrated a relationship between mothers' parenting behaviors and behavior problems in their children. Future research is needed to investigate further the mediators and moderators in the relationship between mothers' childhood exposure to domestic violence and behavior problems in their young children to broaden the literature on this topic. This information may be critical for treatment planning and intervention development for families who experience domestic violence.

It is generally believed that a victim of an intimate partner homicide, who faced ongoing physical violence prior to the killing, would have contacted authorities for assistance or protection some time prior to their death. However, the results of this study show that this notion that a victim of ongoing abuse will, more than likely, request help is a misconception. Through qualitative and quantitative methods analysis, this study reveals the dearth of prior reporting of physical violence to law enforcement or the court when an intimate partner homicide takes place between heterosexual spouses in Florida between 2006 and 2016. Additionally, "coercive control," a term that is not nearly as recognizable as domestic violence or intimate partner violence but that should be understood and regulated, was conceptualized and operationalized using NVivo Pro 12, a qualitative social sciences software package. By constructing an original data set from secondary data from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Uniform Crime Report Supplemental Homicide Report, multiple law enforcement agencies from throughout the state of Florida, and many Florida county courthouses, variables of intimate partner homicide were analyzed in unique quantitative models using IBM SPSS, an advanced statistical software analysis program. Also, as part of the content analysis process, Petitions for Injunction for Protection against Domestic Violence were organized, coded, and analyzed to provide insight into the role coercive control takes prior to an intimate partner homicide. This study sheds light on the fact that the emphasis on physical violence in intimate partner abuse, rather than the non-violent tactics of coercive control, for lethality risk assessments for intimate partner violence victims is misplaced and warrants reconsideration.

For years, researchers, clinicians, and those working with victims/survivors of domestic abuse have overlooked the issue of same-sex partner aggression among lesbians and bisexual women. Through in-depth interviews with 19 women who identify themselves as either lesbian or bisexual, information was documented in this study demonstrating the severity of issues of power and control among some same-sex partners, as well as some if the dynamics that are unique to same-sex abusive relationships. Patterns of abuse within same-sex relationships often mirror those that are so commonly associated with partner aggression among heterosexual couples, and therefore demonstrate not only the need for further research on the topic of same-sex partner abuse, but also the urgency to provide more assistance to the victims/survivors of domestic violence.