Knowledge of genetic predisposition to future illness and disability creates uncertainties that shape and influence life decisions about reproduction, career, health behavior, and the need for care. Current research has not yet identified the meaning of the experience of feeling uncertain among intimate partners of persons who have received genetic information pertaining to future health status. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the meaning of uncertainty as a lived experienced among intimate partners of persons who have tested positive for a mutation in the gene causing Huntington disease (HD) but have not yet been clinically diagnosed with HD. The specific aims were to create a rich, vivid description of uncertainty as experienced by this population and to present these findings within an existential phenomenological perspective. Using van Manen's hermeneutic-phenomenological methodology, experiential descriptions from 10 intimate partners of persons in the prodromal phase of HD were obtained. Thematic aspects of the lived experience of uncertainty were uncovered and isolated; essential themes were determined; and linguistic transformations were composed. The analysis revealed four essential themes, indicating that the meaning of the lived experience of uncertainty was 1) an intangible reality characterized by 2) anticipating with ebbing and flowing disquietude while feeling 3) a weighty pull to dwell upon, towards inner turmoil and 4) a subdued presence with freeing possibilities. The implications of these findings are that nurses need to ensure adequate opportunity is created in which the meaning of the lived experience of uncertainty can be ascertained and explored among persons who are on the cusp of the inevitable but not yet graspable. Continued research is needed to further address the implications of being situated in this potentially fracturing phase of the disease trajectory and to determine appropriate interventions.

This study sought to further build on previous empirical findings regarding Johnsons theory that the gender symmetry debate can at least be partially resolved by acknowledging that two distinct subgroups of physical violence exist within intimate partner violence: Intimate Terrorism (IT) and Situational Couple Violence (SCV). According to Johnsons predictions these separate groups can be distinguished by the use of non-violent control tactics. This study focused on testing the ability of non-violent control tactics to predict the frequency and severity of violence within the sub-group intimate terrorism. It further explored Johnsons assertion that intimate terrorism is gender asymmetric with females experiencing a greater amount of victimization. Previous studies demonstrated moderate support that two subgroups do exist within intimate partner violence and that intimate terrorism may be asymmetrical. However, only one of the previous studies included a male sample that was not reflective of the general population. This study will test the gender asymmetry of intimate terrorism by using both a male and female sub-sample form the National Violence Against Women Survey. This studies sample consisted of males and females reporting at least on incident of physical violence by either their current spouse or cohabitating heterosexual partner. The statistical analysis showed moderate support that there are two subgroups within intimate partner violence that can be distinguished by the use of non-violent control tactics. It also demonstrated that for the subgroup intimate terrorism there are some differences across gender when examining severity and frequency of violence. However, only a small amount of the variance in intimate terrorism can be explained by non-violent control tactics.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis explores the experiences of white women who partnered Chinese men and their children in southern Australia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It has been based on a wide range of sources, including newspapers, government reports, birth and marriage records, personal reminiscences and family lore, and highlights the contradictory images and representations of Chinese-European couples and their families which exist in those sources. It reveals that in spite of the hostility towards intimate interracial relationships so strongly expressed in discourse, hundreds of white women and Chinese men in colonial Australia came together for reasons of love, companionship, security, sexual fulfilment and the formation of family. They lived, worked and loved in and between two very different communities and cultures, each of which could be disapproving and critical of their crossing of racial boundaries. As part of this exploration of lives across and between cultures, the thesis further considers those families who spent time in Hong Kong and China. The lives of these couples and their Anglo-Chinese families are largely missing from the history of the Chinese in Australia and of migration and colonial race relations more generally. They are historical subjects whose experiences have remained in the shadows and on the margins. This thesis aims to throw light on those shadows, contributing to our knowledge not only of interactions between individual Chinese men and white women, but also of the way mixed race couples and their children interacted with their extended families and communities in Australia and China. This thesis demonstrates that their lives were complex negotiations across race, culture and geography which challenged strict racial and social categorisation.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Intimate partner violence (IPV) is highly prevalent in Pakistan. Social support is associated with a reduced risk for violence and adverse mental health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between social support and the occurrence of IPV and adverse mental health among Pakistani women exposed to IPV, along with exploring help-seeking behaviour using qualitative interviews. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 759 women, aged 25–60, were analyzed using logistic regression. The results demonstrated that informal social support was associated with fewer occurrences of all forms of IPV and less likelihood of adverse mental health when exposed to psychological violence, whereas formal social support was associated with more occurrences of all forms of IPV and more likelihood of adverse mental health when exposed to psychological violence. The qualitative result showed that fear of social stigma and low autonomy were, among others, obstacles for seeking help. Suggestions for future interventions include strengthening informal social networks and expanding formal resources, as well as raising awareness of IPV in order to address the issue.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> / This thesis was made possible by a Minor Field Study grant from the Swedish International Developmental Agency (SIDA) distributed by the department of Psychology at Stockholm University and we would like to express our gratitude for assisting us financially. / PhD project by Tazeen Saeed Ali, School of Nursing, Aga Khan University, called, “Living with violence in the home - a normal part of Pakistani women's life or a serious transgression of human rights.”

<p>Intimate partner violence against women has gone from a concealed family affair to a public issue. The health care services are often those who first come in contact with abused women, despite this many women are not identified as victims of domestic violence. The purpose of this study was to describe nursing care of abused women and factors influencing the care. The study was conducted as a literature review where 18 articles were analyzed. The result showed the importance of the nurses’ role in screening for abused women. Knowledge and understanding of domestic violence was of importance in the meeting with abused women. More education about care for abused women during formal nursing program and continuing education on domestic violence for nurse practitioners was considered necessary. Better developed guidelines are required and should be accessible in all health care services. No Swedish research on intimate partner violence was found and further research should focus on nurses’ care of abused women in Swedish health care.</p>

<p>Men abuse women every day. It has become a Health Problem which we affects all of us. Help is available for those women who have the strength to seek it. Health care personnel are often these women’s only contact with the surrounding world. As professionals, health care personnel need the right knowledge and resources in order to help abused women. Our aim with this study was to describe abused women’s experiences when they seek health care, and also to document health care experiences and attitudes towards these women. A literary review of 14 scientific articles was conducted. The result was then divided into two sections: women’s perspectives and health care personnel’s perspectives. Abused women felt a lack of confidence with the health care personnel. They had been violated, and felt that the health care personnel did not listen. The health care personnel felt that they needed more training and resources in order to work with abused women and help them. The lack of health care personnel’s ability to create a safe and confident environment where women feel that they can open up and ask for help is a major social problem. In order to correct these flaws, people need to take a stand in the matter.</p> / <p>Dagligen misshandlas kvinnor av män. Det är ett folkhälsoproblem som alla har ansvar för att lösa. Hjälp finns att få för de kvinnor som har styrkan att söka den. Oftast är vården enda kontakten som kvinnorna har med omvärlden. Vårdpersonal möter dessa kvinnor i sin yrkesroll och de behöver ha den rätta kunskapen och de rätta verktygen för att kunna hjälpa kvinnorna. Syftet med studien var att med aktuell litteratur beskriva hur kvinnor som blivit misshandlade av sin partner upplever mötet med vården, samt vårdpersonalens erfarenheter och inställningar till mötet med misshandlade kvinnor. 14 internationellt vetenskapliga artiklar granskades och sammanställdes sedan i två delar . I den ena fokuseras på kvinnornas perspektiv och i den andra vårdpersonalens. Misshandlade kvinnor upplevde att de hade lågt förtroende för vårdpersonalen. De kände sig kränkta och inte hörda. Vårdpersonalen å sin sida kände att de inte hade adekvat utbildning, resurser och verktyg för att kunna möta misshandlade kvinnor. Det finns brister hos vårdpersonalens kompetens för att skapa en trygg och förtrolig plats där kvinnorna upplever att de kan söka stöd och råd. För att häva dessa brister krävs det att alla människor tar ställning i frågan om kvinnomisshandel.</p>

<p>Syftet med vår uppsats är att ur ett sociologiskt samhällsteoretiskt perspektiv, ge både oss själva och läsaren en ökad förståelse för och synliggöra flickor från vissa etniska grupper och deras intim- och familjerelationer i Sverige. För att kunna förstå flickornas eventuella problem och konflikter i familjen tar vi hjälp av Niklas Luhmanns systemteori och hans analys av intima relationer och familjen i det moderna samhället. De frågeställningar som besvaras är:</p><p>• Vilka skillnader mellan det förmoderna och moderna samhällets syn på intim- och familjerelationer ställs flickorna i vårt material inför?</p><p>• Hur kan dessa skillnader tolkas och förstås utifrån Luhmanns systemteoretiska analys av den moderna familjen?</p><p>Vår studie är ett teoretiskt arbete och grundar sig på litteraturstudier. För att kunna besvara våra frågeställningar har vi inspirerats av och löst anknutit oss till en abduktiv metod. Undersökningen tar sin utgångspunkt dels i en nyligen gjord studie av Åsa Andersson, Inte samma lika (2003), och dels i den internationellt erkände sociologen Niklas Luhmanns systemteori och hans analys av intima relationer och familjen.</p><p>För att kunna få en sociologisk samhällsteoretisk förståelse för och kunna placera in familjen i det moderna samhällets kontext presenterar vi de delar av Luhmanns teori och begreppsapparat som vi ansåg relevanta för ämnet. Det gör vi för att kunna förstå hur familjen fungerar i det moderna samhället.</p><p>Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att de skillnader i synen på intim- och familjerelationer som flickorna har att förhålla sig till finns i såväl den offentliga som den privata sfären. Skillnaderna är flera under respektive sfär men de mest framträdande skillnaderna handlar om moral och förnuft där familjen och den egna etniska gruppen använder mekanismer som skam och skuld för att reducera en ökad kontingens och komplexitet som råder i det moderna samhället. Utifrån flickornas beskrivningar kan vi förstå att deras förväntningar i hög grad skiljer sig från föräldrarnas såväl i valet av äktenskapspartner, hemarbete, mer frihet och ökad jämställdhet i form av utbildning och ekonomiskt oberoende. Utifrån en systemteoretisk synvinkel kan vi även se skillnader på såväl generell som specifik nivå, förändringar av intima relationer kan alltså kopplas till samhällsutvecklingen och dess semantiska koder knutna till familjen som system.</p>

<p><strong>Bakgrund:</strong> Våld mot kvinnor i partnerrelationer är ett stort samhällsproblem och varje år dör ungefär 17 kvinnor till följd av våldet. När kvinnorna besöker hälso- och sjukvården kan en unik möjlighet ges att upptäcka partnervåldet. <strong>Syfte: </strong>Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva hur kvinnor som blivit våldsutsatta av en manlig partner upplever vårdpersonalens bemötande. <strong>Metod: </strong>En allmän litteraturstudie gjordes som baserades på 14 vetenskapliga artiklar. <strong>Resultat: </strong>Kvinnorna upplevde att vårdpersonalen inte vågade ställa frågan om partnervåld, dock hade de flesta positiva upplevelser av att vårdpersonalen satt ner och lyssnade på dem. Upplevelser av att integriteten och autonomin inte respekterades förkom och även att fokus låg på de fysiska skadorna och att det psykiska välbefinnandet glömdes bort. <strong>Diskussion: </strong>Diskussionen belyser fyra centrala fynd; att vårdpersonalen inte vågade ställa frågan, positiva bemötanden gällande att vårdpersonalen var närvarande och lyssnade på kvinnorna, att kvinnorna inte blev respekterade och tagna på allvar samt att kvinnornas psykiska välbefinnande glömdes bort. <strong>Slutsats: </strong>De flesta kvinnor som blivit utsatta för partnervåld upplevde att vårdpersonalen inte bemötte dem på det sätt de önskade och kvinnorna fick därmed inte den hjälp de var i behov av.</p> / <p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a big public health problem and every year about 17 women die in Sweden as a consequence of this. When the women seek healthcare, there can be a unique opportunity to discover IPV. <strong>Aim: </strong>The aim was to describe how women subjected to IPV experience how they were handled by healthcare professionals (HCP). <strong>Method: </strong>An overview based on 14 scientific articles was made. <strong>Result:</strong> The women experienced that the HCP did not have the courage to question about IPV but they had positive experiences regarding that the HCP sat down and listened. The result also showed a lack of respect for the integrity and autonomy and that the HCP often only treated the injuries and forgot about their psychological well-being. <strong>Discussion: </strong>Four central findings were highlighted; the HCP do not have the courage to ask about IPV, positive handling regarding the HCP were presence and listened, the lack of respect and not to be taken seriously and that the psychological well-being was forgotten. <strong>Conclusion: </strong>Most of the women experienced that the HCP did not handle them in the way they wanted, which resulted in the women not getting the help they needed.</p>

The mental health field lacks an array of effective interventions designed to assist women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Moreover, treatment modalities responsive to the needs of racially and ethnically diverse populations are under researched. This presents a significant challenge to serving ethnic minority women who are known to experience more crime, violence victimization, and psychological trauma than their dominant-ethnic group counterparts. This study integrated research and theory of trauma with current IPV literature and tested the utility of a brief trauma-based approach in reducing trauma related symptomatology in a predominantly Latina and African American clinical sample. Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) is a time limited intervention that seeks to resolve trauma and psychological symptoms through various memory-based methods, guided exposure techniques, and the use repetitious story-telling of traumatic event(s). By taking this approach, this research sought to add to the emerging literature on the effects of TIR in alleviating symptoms associated with trauma exposure. Treatment effects in 106 survivors of IPV were examined (age = 36, SD=9, 80.2% Latina, 19.8% African American, mean hours spent in TIR treatment M = 6.4, SD = 5.28). Paired t-tests supported the hypotheses that TIR significantly (p < .001) reduced symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression and increased self-concept. Multiple regression analyses found that as the hours in TIR increased so did the participants self-concept (R2 = .179, F(4, 75) = 4.08, p = .005). Multiple regression analysis also supported the hypothesis that as the total number of crimes as a victim increased Depression increased significantly (R2 = .125, F(4, 76) = 2.72, p = .036). Chi squares and t-tests found no differences between those who remained in treatment versus those who terminated prematurely.

Bakgrund: Våld mot kvinnor i partnerrelationer är ett stort samhällsproblem och varje år dör ungefär 17 kvinnor till följd av våldet. När kvinnorna besöker hälso- och sjukvården kan en unik möjlighet ges att upptäcka partnervåldet. Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva hur kvinnor som blivit våldsutsatta av en manlig partner upplever vårdpersonalens bemötande. Metod: En allmän litteraturstudie gjordes som baserades på 14 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat: Kvinnorna upplevde att vårdpersonalen inte vågade ställa frågan om partnervåld, dock hade de flesta positiva upplevelser av att vårdpersonalen satt ner och lyssnade på dem. Upplevelser av att integriteten och autonomin inte respekterades förkom och även att fokus låg på de fysiska skadorna och att det psykiska välbefinnandet glömdes bort. Diskussion: Diskussionen belyser fyra centrala fynd; att vårdpersonalen inte vågade ställa frågan, positiva bemötanden gällande att vårdpersonalen var närvarande och lyssnade på kvinnorna, att kvinnorna inte blev respekterade och tagna på allvar samt att kvinnornas psykiska välbefinnande glömdes bort. Slutsats: De flesta kvinnor som blivit utsatta för partnervåld upplevde att vårdpersonalen inte bemötte dem på det sätt de önskade och kvinnorna fick därmed inte den hjälp de var i behov av. / Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a big public health problem and every year about 17 women die in Sweden as a consequence of this. When the women seek healthcare, there can be a unique opportunity to discover IPV. Aim: The aim was to describe how women subjected to IPV experience how they were handled by healthcare professionals (HCP). Method: An overview based on 14 scientific articles was made. Result: The women experienced that the HCP did not have the courage to question about IPV but they had positive experiences regarding that the HCP sat down and listened. The result also showed a lack of respect for the integrity and autonomy and that the HCP often only treated the injuries and forgot about their psychological well-being. Discussion: Four central findings were highlighted; the HCP do not have the courage to ask about IPV, positive handling regarding the HCP were presence and listened, the lack of respect and not to be taken seriously and that the psychological well-being was forgotten. Conclusion: Most of the women experienced that the HCP did not handle them in the way they wanted, which resulted in the women not getting the help they needed.