Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2002. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Decker School of Nursing, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-307).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Oct. 22, 2007). Directed by Kenneth Allan; submitted to the Dept. of Sociology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-144).

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / 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’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’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. / South Africa

This research was undertaken with a view to advancing scholarship on the production and reproduction of notions of masculinity through everyday experiences of violence in the domestic sphere. In particular, the researcher sought to explicate constructions of masculinity in men’s narratives of their experiences of violence in the homeplace. The participants in this study constituted a fairly homogenous sample in terms of age, education, geographic location, and socio-economic status. A homogenous sample was purposefully selected because it aided an analysis of the phenomenon under study without diversions from extraneous variables. Data was collected from semi-structured, personal, in-depth, face-to-face interviews with eight young men. In these interviews participants were asked to recall and to talk about one particular experience of domestic violence that they witnessed or that had happened to them in the past. Photo elicitation was used as a reflective technique aimed at facilitating recall and discussion during the interviews. Data was analysed by means of a discourse analysis. The main findings of this research were that the participants grew up in communities where a more traditional hegemonic masculinity was commonplace and where violence as a means of exerting control was associated with being a ‘real man’. The participants did however question this notion of masculinity as a result of their experiences, particularly when they perceived the violence that they had been exposed to as excessive or unwarranted.

This dissertation examined how psychological variables associated with selfcontrol related to abusiveness in situations of intimate conflict. The variables of interest were efficacy, need for power and responsibility. These variables were examined relative to other predictors of abuse such as the Abusive Personality (Dutton, 1994b), a construct of personality features that predispose some men to intensely aversive emotional arousal in their intimate relationship, leading to abusiveness. The research is relevant to the experience of those men with the characteristics of Abusive Personality, as well as those who may not have those predispositional features. The first step of the project was the development of the Power, Conflict Efficacy and Responsibility Questionnaire (PCERQ), with its four sub-scales: (1) Conflict Ineffectiveness (CI; lack of conflict efficacy), (2) N-Power (NP; need for power), (3) Standards of Non-Abusiveness (SNA; one part of responsibility), and (4) Exonerative Rationalizations (ER; cognitions complicit with inconsistent self-control - a second part of responsibility). These sub-scales were developed on the basis of data collected from samples of undergraduate males in dating relationships (n = 147), men in treatment groups for wife assault (n = 50), and a community sample of men (n = 27). Results from regression equations predicting self-reported abuse with the PCERQ sub-scales, along with other theoretically-relevant measures, found that CI was a prominent and consistent predictor of both verbal and physical abuse. The interaction of the NP and ER sub-scales significantly predicted physical abuse, as did the interaction of the CI sub-scale with the Abusive Personality (the most abusive participants had the highest scores on both Abusive Personality and Conflict Ineffectiveness). These results show the importance of considering both situational conflict experiences, along with personality and life history variables, when examining wife assault. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The issue of domestic violence continues to be of great concern to society. It is crucial counselors have an understanding of dynamics of domestic violence and the impact it has on victims. Even with heightened awareness of the past decade, the issue continues to be misunderstood, missed altogether by counselors, and sometimes misdiagnosed. This study was created to explore the level of understanding masters level counseling students have of domestic violence, battering behavior, victimization, socioeconomic preconceptions, and counseling victims. Masters level counseling students from the University of North Texas, Denton, TX and staff members of two battered women's shelters from the Dallas, TX area participated in a survey to identify the level of knowing and sensitivity to the issue of domestic violence. Upon completion, an independent t-test was conducted to measure differences in these areas between the two groups. Results indicate a need for counseling students to better understand this issue and implications for client/victims.

This project surveyed 21 respondents to determine whether family medicine physician assistants' medical education and training while in residency is sufficient to assess or identify domestic violence. The project found that although family medicine physician assistants do receive education and training on domestic violence, it is insufficient because victims may still go undetected and unserved.

This national survey reports the current state of batterer intervention programs (BIP) and the provision of batterer intervention services. BIP directors (N = 150) provide data regarding program structure, service characteristics, referral processes, client characteristics, evaluation activities, and recidivism. Results indicate that BIP have become more independent of parent agencies and two-thirds are completely selfsupporting from client fees. Current development of specific treatment tracks and the screening of clients for these tracks are judged to be inadequate. This survey is believed to be the largest to date and the first on a national scale in 20 years. Recommendation is made for national coordination of BIP efforts.