In this thesis I investigate intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in heterosexual relationships by analysing the accounts of women and men in the Anglophone Caribbean country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since IPV occurs in the context of a range of abusive practices (Dobash and Dobash 2004) participants' talk on the use and experiences of violent acts, violent threats, as well as other controlling and coercive tactics are examined as part of this study. Analytically, I focus on the points at which discourses of gender converge with narratives of violence. In other words, the current work examines the ways in which participants construct, (re)produce, disturb and/or negotiate gender in their accounts of IPV, and the kinds of power dynamics that are implicated in these verbal performances. I apply a feminist poststructuralist framework to the study of IPV against women. Synthesising feminist theories of gender and power, and poststructuralist insights on language, subjectivity, social processes and institutions, feminist poststructuralism holds that hegemonic discourses of gender are used to subjugate women (Weedon 1997; Gavey 1990). The points at which individuals complicate dominant discursive practices will also be assessed as part of this approach. In-depth interviews conducted with 34 participants - 19 women and 15 men - between 2007 and 2008 are analysed by using a version of discourse analysis (DA) compatible with the feminist poststructuralist framework outlined in the thesis. My analysis begins by highlighting the ways in which narratives of gender inscribe asymmetrical relations of power. The focus then shifts to a comparison of women's and men's accounts on a range of abusive acts. Traditional scripts on gender are often used to police the boundaries of femininities and masculinities, tying these to female and male bodies respectively. This is the context in which control, coercion, violence and violent threats are discussed in these accounts. Understandings of manhood and womanhood also emerge in the analysis of the strategies used to explain violence. I conclude with a summary and discussion of the analysis, and I suggest possible areas for further research on IPV in the Anglophone Caribbean.

This dissertation examines the ways intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors' experiences of poverty, mental illness, social isolation, and gender inequality shape their opportunities to protect themselves and their children before, during, and after separating from abusive partners. Ethnographic research was conducted in three communities in the United States over two years. In each site I observed and interviewed women about their experiences of abuse and their attempts to achieve long-term security. I also observed and interviewed practitioners across a range of disciplines about their work with IPV survivors. The results of this study demonstrate that when women ended abusive relationships they often sustained a variety of losses related to their economic stability, social support, and access to their children. After leaving their batterers, many survivors faced debt, trauma, and protracted custody disputes that continued to disrupt their lives. However, the IPV interventions studied were routinely designed as though the collateral damage to an IPV survivor's life ended when she left her abuser. Interventions rarely accommodated survivors' post-separation social, economic, and parenting needs, and indeed, often placed additional strain on women's lives. As a result, the most disadvantaged survivors often found institutional resources in the domestic violence service system inaccessible, irrelevant, and at times counterproductive. This dissertation demonstrates that IPV is more than a series of isolated acts by individual people: it is the cause of many women's diminished agency and heightened suffering long after their abuse has ended.

Bakgrund: Våld i nära relationer är ett globalt problem med stora effekter på kvinnors hälsa. Tidigare forskning visar att våldsutsatta kvinnor upplever brister i det bemötande de fått av vårdpersonal. Akutmottagningen är ofta våldsutsatta kvinnors första, och ibland enda, kontakt med hälso- och sjukvård. Vårdpersonal på akutmottagning har därmed goda förutsättningar att uppmärksamma och vårda denna patientgrupp.   Syfte: Studien syftar till att beskriva vilka erfarenheter kvinnor som blivit utsatta för våld i nära relationer har av mötet med vårdpersonal på akutmottagning.   Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie med kvalitativ innehållsanalys av sex kvalitativa artiklar och en artikel med mixad metod utifrån vilka tre kategorier identifierades.   Resultat: Kvinnor som blivit utsatta för våld i nära relationer har både negativa och positiva erfarenheter av mötet med vårdpersonal när de söker vård på akutmottagning. Bristande bemötande visade sig genom att kvinnorna kände sig skuldbelagda och att vårdpersonalen uppvisade bristande empati och inte såg bortom kvinnornas fysiska skador. I motsats till detta har en del kvinnor upplevt tillfredsställande bemötande som visade sig genom att vårdpersonalen upplevdes som hjälpsamma och medlidande med en attityd som var empatisk och förstående.   Slutsats: För att främja ett gott bemötande från vårdpersonal gentemot den utsatta kvinnan, visade det sig finnas ett behov av kunskap och utbildning kring våldsutsatta kvinnors situation och vilka vårdbehov de kan ha. Ett gott bemötande ökar patientens känsla av delaktighet, lindrar lidande och motverkar att lidande uppkommer till följd av vård.

A proposta desta tese é apresentar uma análise das obras O Mandarim e A Relíquia, de Eça de Queirós, a partir da perspectiva da escrita intimista. Para essa leitura serão considerados os aspectos inerentes à escrita de si segundo Michel Foucault, descritas nos textos Lécriture de soi, publicado pela primeira vez no ano de 1983, e no Volume III da História da Sexualidade: O cuidado de si, publicado em 1985. A escolha desse aporte teórico se dá pela evidenciação dos traços desse tipo de escrita nessas duas narrativas de Eça de Queirós, ora classificadas como autodiegéticas. Pretende-se demonstrar que a mimese da escrita de si elaborada pelo escritor nessas duas obras está a serviço de uma forte crítica social, que visa a atingir a própria constituição do sujeito oitocentista. / The aim of this thesis is to present an analysis of the works The Mandarin and The Relic of Eca de Queiroz, from the intimate writing perspective. On this reading will be considered aspects of the writing the self, according to Michel Foucault, described in the texts L\'écriture de soi, first published in 1983, and in Volume III of the History of Sexuality: Self care, published in 1985. The choice of this theoretical contribution is given by the disclosure of the features of this kind of writing these two narratives of Eca de Queiroz, now classified as autodiegéticas. We intend to demonstrate that Eça de Queirozs writing of itself as mimesis in these two works is at the service of a strong social criticism, which aims to achieve the very constitution of the subject nineteenth century.

O objetivo deste trabalho é, à luz da Literatura Comparada, tecer uma rede de vínculos entre os romances O Amanuense Belmiro, de Cyro dos Anjos, e Para Sempre, de Vergílio Ferreira, para cotejá-los, realçando suas semelhanças e dessemelhanças, e, conseqüentemente, compreendê-los melhor. Para isso, após breves considerações sobre determinados conceitos relativos à composição do romance, como enunciado e enunciação, narrador e narratário, o foco narrativo, o espaço e a personagem, centralizamos a discussão no conceito de tempo distinguindo três noções: tempo físico, tempo interior e tempo lingüístico, com destaque para as duas últimas e o utilizamos como eixo no estudo das obras, na intenção de verificar como os narradores-personagens vêem seu passado e vivem seu presente. No que tange ao tempo lingüístico, privilegiamos o estudo do uso dos verbos, dentre outras palavras temporais, a fim de verificarmos os efeitos de sentido nas escolhas dos dois autores; quanto ao tempo interior, que não é marcado pelo relógio, mas pela intensidade com que as personagens vivem diferentes momentos, enfatizamos o estudo da relação das personagens com o passado. Também, em virtude da clara diferença entre os tipos de romance analisados, destinamos considerável parte do trabalho ao estudo do gênero narrativo. / The aim of this paper is to weave a set of relations, at the light of the Comparative Literature, between the novels O Amanuense Belmiro (Cyro dos Anjos, 19XX) and Para Sempre (Vergílio Ferreira, 19XX), highlighting similarities and differences in a way such as to provide a deeper understanding of them. To cope with this task, after briefly considering some concepts related to the novel composition, like the enunciation and the enunciated, the narrator and the narrated, the point of view, the setting, and the character, we centered the discussion over the concept of time making a tripartite distinction among time notions: the physical, the internal, and the linguistic, with emphasis on the latter two using it as an axis in the study of the novels, seeking to verify how the character-narrators see through their past and live their present. With regard to the linguistic time, we gave particular attention to the study of verbs, detached from other temporal words, in order that we could note the meaning effects resulting from the authors verb choices; as for the internal time, which is not measured by the clock, but by the intensity with which the characters go through different moments, we focused our study on the relation of the characters with the past. Also, owing to the clear difference between the types of novel analyzed, we dedicated a considerable effort to the study of the narrative genre.

Até o ano de 2001 mulheres do sistema prisional do estado de São Paulo não tinham o direito a receber seus parceiros para realizar a visita íntima, o que constituía uma das principais queixas e reinvidicação das presidiárias, já que para o homem preso isto sempre existiu. Em 27/12/2001 a resolução no. 96 da Secretaria das Administrações Prisionais regulamentou o exercício da visita íntima às mulheres presas assegurando este direito, prescrevendo igualdade de gênero já previstos na Constituição federal. No entanto, há baixa adesão por parte das mulheres em inscrever seus parceiros para a realização da visita íntima. O estudo teve como objetivo compreender os significados da visita íntima, na perspectiva da mulher presa, como também, caracterizar o perfil das mulheres da Penitenciária Feminina da Capital de São Paulo (PFC), do ponto de vista sóciodemográfico, prisional e familiar/conjugal. Tratou-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa. Foram consultados 655 prontuários das mulheres da PFC, das quais são bastante jovens, da raça branca e de baixa escolaridade. Referem ser solteiras e não ter companheiro. A maioria das mulheres está envolvida nos delitos referentes a entorpecentes como também os do roubo e extorsão. Somente 2,6% (17) referiram, nos prontuários, ter o desejo em inscrever o parceiro para a visita íntima. Também foram realizados dois grupos focais, um com mulheres que optaram pela visita íntima e outro com as que não optaram. Não obstante relatos de constrangimento e humilhação, no contexto da visita íntima, os significados da mesma para a mulher da PFC são modelados pelo interesse na manutenção da conjugalidade, pela necessidade de satisfazer o parceiro ou como modo de afirmar a liberdade sexual através da recusa à visita íntima. / Until the 2001 women's of the system prisional of the state of São Paulo they were not entitled to receive their partners to accomplish the intimate visit what constituted one of the main complaints and the convicts' request, since for the arrested man this always existed. In 27/12/2001 the resolution number 96 of Prisional's Administration Department the exercise of the intimate visit to the women arrested assuring this right, prescribing gender equality already foreseen in the Federal Constitution. However, there is low adhesion on the part of the women in enrolling their partners for the intimate visit's accomplishment. The study looked for to know who they are the women of the Feminine Prison of the São Paulo City (PFC), of the socialdemographic point of view, prisional and family matrimonial, as well as to understand the intimate visit's meanings, in the woman's perspective arrested, so much of the ones that chose or not for the same. That was a quantitative and qualitative research, were consulted 655 records of the women's PFC, of which are plenty young, of the white race and of low education. They refer to be single and not to have partner. The majority of the women is involved in the crimes regarding narcotics as well as the one of the robbery and extortion. Only 2,6% referred, in the records to have the desire in enrolling the partner for the intimate visit. Also two focal groups were accomplished one with women that opted for the intimate visit and the other with the ones that didn't choose. The intimate visit's meanings for the woman of PFC are marked strongly by the gender relationships, where the conflict among the need of accomplishing the sexual encounter it is related to the maintenance of the matrimonial with the need of the man's satisfaction. Subjects as embarrassment and humiliation are present in the little adhesion to intimate visit's Program as well as the institutional rigidity.

O objetivo deste trabalho é, à luz da Literatura Comparada, tecer uma rede de vínculos entre os romances O Amanuense Belmiro, de Cyro dos Anjos, e Para Sempre, de Vergílio Ferreira, para cotejá-los, realçando suas semelhanças e dessemelhanças, e, conseqüentemente, compreendê-los melhor. Para isso, após breves considerações sobre determinados conceitos relativos à composição do romance, como enunciado e enunciação, narrador e narratário, o foco narrativo, o espaço e a personagem, centralizamos a discussão no conceito de tempo distinguindo três noções: tempo físico, tempo interior e tempo lingüístico, com destaque para as duas últimas e o utilizamos como eixo no estudo das obras, na intenção de verificar como os narradores-personagens vêem seu passado e vivem seu presente. No que tange ao tempo lingüístico, privilegiamos o estudo do uso dos verbos, dentre outras palavras temporais, a fim de verificarmos os efeitos de sentido nas escolhas dos dois autores; quanto ao tempo interior, que não é marcado pelo relógio, mas pela intensidade com que as personagens vivem diferentes momentos, enfatizamos o estudo da relação das personagens com o passado. Também, em virtude da clara diferença entre os tipos de romance analisados, destinamos considerável parte do trabalho ao estudo do gênero narrativo. / The aim of this paper is to weave a set of relations, at the light of the Comparative Literature, between the novels O Amanuense Belmiro (Cyro dos Anjos, 19XX) and Para Sempre (Vergílio Ferreira, 19XX), highlighting similarities and differences in a way such as to provide a deeper understanding of them. To cope with this task, after briefly considering some concepts related to the novel composition, like the enunciation and the enunciated, the narrator and the narrated, the point of view, the setting, and the character, we centered the discussion over the concept of time making a tripartite distinction among time notions: the physical, the internal, and the linguistic, with emphasis on the latter two using it as an axis in the study of the novels, seeking to verify how the character-narrators see through their past and live their present. With regard to the linguistic time, we gave particular attention to the study of verbs, detached from other temporal words, in order that we could note the meaning effects resulting from the authors verb choices; as for the internal time, which is not measured by the clock, but by the intensity with which the characters go through different moments, we focused our study on the relation of the characters with the past. Also, owing to the clear difference between the types of novel analyzed, we dedicated a considerable effort to the study of the narrative genre.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy can lead to a myriad of poor physical and psychological outcomes for both mother and child. There is a paucity of research examining IPV risk factors for rural pregnant women and on information regarding the course of the specific types of IPV throughout pregnancy. The current project was an investigation of the prevalence of IPV and IPV risk factors for different types of IPV in an Appalachian pregnant sample that contained women from both rural and nonrural locations (Study 1), and was an examination of the occurrence of any IPV and the different types of IPV throughout the course of pregnancy (Study 2). Study 1 included 1,063 pregnant women participating in the Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers (TIPS) research project. IPV prevalence rates during pregnancy, measured using a modified HITS IPV screen, were approximately 26% for psychological violence, 2% for physical violence, and 1% for sexual violence. Chi-squared analysis indicated that rural pregnant women were not significantly more likely to experience any of the types of IPV compared to nonrural pregnant women. Additionally, logistic regression analysis supported previous literature findings that pregnant women who are unmarried, younger, have an unplanned pregnancy, have high levels of stress, and have low levels of social support are at a greater risk of experiencing any type of IPV during pregnancy compared to pregnant women not possessing those risk factors. However, rural status was not a significant predictor or modifier of IPV. Study 2 participants included a subsample of 337 pregnant women who indicated they had experienced IPV at any time during the course of their pregnancy. Generalized estimating equation logistic models indicated that women who experienced IPV at some point during pregnancy were more likely to experience IPV during the third trimester. Both studies support the importance of screening for specific types of IPV throughout pregnancy. Information obtained from the current research is valuable to health care providers because it is important they are aware of IPV risk factors and that different types of IPV, especially psychological IPV, can occur at any time during pregnancy.

Recent national surveys in the United States estimate one in five females will experience abuse by an intimate partner during her lifetime. Previous quantitative research linked childhood victimization to repeated victimization in adult relationships. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of childhood in eight female victims of intimate partner violence who were born and reared in southern Appalachia. Interviews were analyzed using a descriptive-interpretative phenomenological method, as described by Van Manen. The three essential themes from childhood were identified as: living 'as if' an orphan; surviving in chaos; and, manifesting a devalued self. These themes were congruent with findings from quantitative literature regarding family violence. After analyzing the data, it was found that the Neuman Systems Model provided a comprehensive perspective for linking the data to a nursing theoretical framework that is used to guide practice, education and research; thus extending nursing science. Through increased awareness of personal stories, previous negative attitudes toward victims can be altered and behaviors changed, leading to improved nursing care.

Over one million women in the United States are physically, sexually, or emotionally abused by a partner or former partner every year. Women between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most likely to experience intimate partner violence (IPV), with prevalence rates for that group double the overall national average. Although the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended universal screening for all women of child-bearing age, compliance with this recommendation remains low. The present study examined the effectiveness of an asynchronous educational intervention to increase perceived knowledge, actual knowledge, and screening behaviors among 44 college-based health care providers. Data were collected using the Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS). Results indicated that participation in the educational intervention did not have a significant effect on provider knowledge or screening behaviors. A positive trend was observed for perceived knowledge and knowledge regardless of treatment condition, but not for screening behaviors. The lack of significant findings may have been related to insufficient sample size and low power. Recruitment was challenging, despite multiple strategies and the offer of one free continuing education credit for all participants. Future research should explore how college health care providers prefer to engage in clinically informed research and whether IPV screening is viewed as an important clinical practice.