A qualitative exploratory study informed by a community-based research model was conducted, involving the non-governmental organization Karnataka Health Promotion Trust, and community-based organization Chaitanya Mahila Sangha led by women in sex work, in India at each stage of the study. In-depth interviews were conducted by community research investigators among a purposive sample of 21 female sex workers and male intimate partners in Bagalkot district, Karnataka, India to explore how they describe their experience and understandings of intimate partner violence (IPV). The results show the social significance of intimate relationships as well as the interplay of multi-leveled issues underlying the vulnerability to intimate partner violence among sex-workers. The findings support the need for structural interventions working not only on the individual and relationship levels to address relevant triggers of violence, but also the community and societal levels, with the integral involvement of community partners, to more effectively address vulnerability to IPV.

Background: It is estimated that one in ten children witness domestic violence. It is of importance that children grow up in a safe environment. When they grow up with domestic violence they can lose very important skills which can be hard to gain back. Children respond to domestic violence in different ways depending on their age. Aim: The aim of this study was to enlighten children's experiences of domestic violence in their home. Method: An analysis was made of four quantitative and eight qualitative articles to create this literature review. Result: Four themes emerged in the result; A reckless vulnerableness, Entrenched emotions, A deprived childhood and Need of help and support. All of the themes enlightens in different ways what children experiences when witnessing domestic violence. Conclusion: Children who have been witnesses of domestic violence are in great need of support and help so they are able to the events they have witnessed. When the nurse meet these patients, that possibly have been victims of domestic violence, is it of great importance not to neglect the children who might have been involved. It is important that the nurse who meets the exposed children have an open attitude so the children can speak out about what they have been through

The purpose of this qualitative research was to get a deeper understanding of male victim’s experiences when exposed to Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) by a female partner. Two men who had been exposed to IPV were interviewed through email correspondence regarding their experiences. To provide a general understanding of the specific difficulties male victims may face from a Western perspective, we have over email and telephone also interviewed three people who work with the issue. The results of this study were analyzed using theories of social psychology and hegemonic masculinity theory. What was stressed throughout the interviews was the importance of abused men to get recognition for being victims of IPV. Our findings showed that stereotypical perceptions of masculinity may affect male victims of IPV in many ways, such as affecting the self-image and hindering help-seeking as well as receiving the proper help services.

Victim offender overlap is a relatively new area of research with most studies having focused on applying this concept to the study of assault and homicide. Research in intimate partner violence has found that there exists a group of victim offenders or individuals who are involved in initiating, sustaining, and engaging in intimate partner violence as both victims and offenders (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Steinmetz, 1980). This Master’s thesis explored the concept of victim offender overlap in connection to intimate partner violence (IPV). Bivariate analyses were conducted using Paul C. Friday, Vivian Lord, M. Lyn Exum, and Jennifer L. Hartman’s (2003-2005) data, Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina. The findings suggest that there is a separate group of individuals involved in intimate partner violence who are both victims and offenders. Furthermore, the three groups (offenders only of IPV, victims only of IPV, and victim/offenders of IPV) were found to be different across gender, past criminal involvement, and future criminal activity as predicted. Suggestions for future research and the implications of the findings are discussed.

There are a number of issues within the fear of crime literature, such as problems defining and measuring fear of crime, which continue to exist. Thus, the first aim of this thesis was to empirically test a new fear of crime model that consists of three components: fear of victimization (emotive), perceived risk (cognitive) and constrained behaviour (behavioural). The multiple component theory posits that a reciprocal relationship exists between the components that contribute to people feeling threatened by criminal victimization (also referred to as the threat of victimization). Past research has also indicated that gender is always a significant predictor of fear of crime, and therefore was included in the test to assess if women continue to feel threatened by victimization more than men in the new model. Finally two common theories used to explain why women fear crime more than men; specifically gender construction that equates femininity with vulnerability and masculinity with invulnerability and prior experience with intimate partner violence and stalking, were explored. The data came from the Statistics Canada General Social Survey 2004: Cycle 18, which is a Canadian telephone survey that measures fear of crime as well as various types of criminal victimization. A quantitative analysis was done using multiple logistic regressions to assess all three objectives. Results for this thesis indicate that a reciprocal relationship exists between all three components of the threat of victimization and must continue to be measured as separate constructs. Perceived risk and constrained behaviour are particularly influenced by gender construction and intimate partner violence and stalking victimization. It is concluded that accurate and consistent measures need to be created for each of the components of the threat of victimization to facilitate validity, replication and comparison. As well, (in)vulnerability linked to masculinity and femininity, appear to have negative implications for both women and men in relation to the threat of victimization, which need to be addressed through education and active resistance.

Physical and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) are deleterious to the physical and mental health of romantic partners and their children, yet both forms of aggression continue to be prevalent even when couples become pregnant with their first child. This study aimed to investigate the factors contributing to IPV in couples experiencing the transition to parenthood. A community sample of 98 heterosexual couples undergoing the transition to parenthood was recruited from Victoria, BC. Couples self-reported levels of depressive symptomatology, attachment anxiety and avoidance, relationship satisfaction, and frequency of physical and psychological IPV perpetration and victimization. Men with greater attachment anxiety perpetrated both forms of IPV at a higher rate than men with lower levels of anxiety. Women with greater depressive symptoms were more psychologically aggressive towards their partners. Women who were more depressed, or more anxiously or avoidantly attached were less satisfied with their relationships, and decreased satisfaction was in turn related to greater perpetration of physical and psychological aggression. Women’s relationship satisfaction mediated the effects of their depressive symptoms and attachment anxiety and avoidance on their perpetration of psychological IPV, and the effects of their attachment insecurity on their perpetration of physical IPV. Relationship satisfaction did not mediate these associations for men. Men’s avoidance did not moderate the association between women’s anxiety and men’s and women’s IPV perpetration; a model with genders reversed testing the moderating effect of women’s avoidance on the association between men’s anxiety and men’s and women’s IPV perpetration was also not significant. Men’s anxiety also predicted women’s psychological IPV perpetration, controlling for their own anxiety and psychological victimization. The results illuminate the ways in which men and women may be affected differently by the factors contributing to risk for violence during the transition to parenthood. Implications for prenatal interventions targeting depression, attachment insecurity, and relationship satisfaction in order to reduce the risk of IPV are discussed. / Graduate / 0622 / 0451 / lisagou@uvic.ca

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine nurses experiences of asking patients aboutintimate partner violence and what the nurses believed could be of help or hindrance whenasking the question. Method: The study design was qualitative. Nine nurses from four different divisions wasinterviewed. The participants worked at a Swedish university hospital with an action plan fortaking care of violated women. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews usingan interview guide. The results were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Main result: The question about intimate partner violence raises a variety of feelings amongnurses, for example anger and empathy. When the question is asked, nurses describe bothaggravating and facilitative factors. Some of the nurses had experience of regularly askingpatients about violence, while others only ask of suspicion. Nurses enter both aggravating andfacilitators to ask the question of violence. These factors may be related to the nurse herself,such ignorance/knowledge on the topic intimate partner violence. Operational factors includelack of routine of asking the question, or that there are keywords for documentation ofviolence in the patient record. Examples of factors related to the patient may be the prejudicesthat some groups of patients are not exposed or that the nurse suspects that violence is presentin the patient. Conclusion: The nurses mentioned several different obstacles to asking the question aboutintimate partner violence, but also helping factors. Several of the interviewed nurses do notknow the hospital's action plan on taking care of abused women, which says that all patientsshould be asked about violence. This is likely to affect the extent to which the question isbeing asked by the nurses. / Syfte: Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av attfråga patienter om våld i nära relation och vad sjuksköterskorna ansåg vara till hjälp ellerhinder för detta. Metod: En kvalitativ studie genomfördes. Nio sjuksköterskor från fyra olika avdelningarintervjuades. Deltagarna arbetade vid ett svenskt universitetssjukhus med en handlingsplan föromhändertagande av våldsutsatta kvinnor. Data samlades in genom semistruktureradeintervjuer med hjälp av en intervjuguide. Resultatet analyserades med kvalitativinnehållsanalys. Huvudresultat: Att fråga patienter om våld väcker en rad känslor hos sjuksköterskor där alltifrån ilska till empati har beskrivits. Några av sjuksköterskorna hade stor erfarenhet av attregelbundet ställa frågan om våld till patienter, medan andra enbart frågar då misstankeföreligger. Sjuksköterskorna anger både försvårande och underlättande faktorer för att ställafrågan om våld. Dessa faktorer kan vara relaterade till sjuksköterskan själv, exempelvisokunskap/kunskap om ämnet våld i nära relation. Verksamhetsrelaterade faktorer kan varaavsaknad av rutin för att ställa frågan eller att det finns sökord för dokumentation av våld ijournalsystemet. Exempel på faktorer relaterade till patienten kan vara fördomar att vissapatientgrupper inte är utsatta eller misstanke om att våld föreligger hos patienten. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskorna angav flera olika hinder för att ställa frågan om våld, mensamtidigt hjälpande faktorer för detta. Flera av de intervjuade sjuksköterskorna känner intetill sjukhusets handlingsplan om omhändertagande av våldsutsatta kvinnor, vilken säger attalla patienter ska tillfrågas. Detta kan sannolikt påverka i vilken utsträckning frågan omvåldsutsatthet ställs.

This study investigated the intrapersonal and interpersonal context of female dieting and partner support for dieting in 44 heterosexual couples. Participants completed questionnaires assessing self and relationship functioning, dieting levels and eating disordered attitudes, and weight-loss support frequency and helpfulness, in both a cross-sectional and longitudinal study. As predicted, a) higher levels of unhealthy dieting were significantly related to more negative views of the self (e.g., lower self-esteem), and b) lower perceived levels of support from the partner were significantly related to higher levels of eating-disordered attitudes, anxious attachment, and lower relationship satisfaction. However, testing more complex causal models showed that self-esteem played a pivotal role. First, tests confirmed that the impact of self-esteem on unhealthy dieting was mediated by more disordered attitudes to eating. Second, those with low-self-esteem were much less likely to diet in an unhealthy fashion with more frequent and positive partner support, whereas high self-esteem women were not influenced by the support offered by their partners. These findings did not apply to the frequency of healthy dieting, with the important exception that more frequent partner support encouraged healthier dieting, and they held up when plausible third variables were statistically controlled. The findings suggest that dieting behaviour is influenced both by individual differences and the nature of support in intimate relationship contexts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. School of Criminal Justice, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Apr. 7, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-155). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2010. / Directed by Jacquelyn White; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jul. 12, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-36).