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The involvement of women in human trafficking within the United States has received limited research attention. Human trafficking encompasses labor, sex, and organ trafficking (Roberts, 2012). In 2009 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that women play a significant role in human trafficking. Nagel and Johnson (1994) conclude that, historically, female offenders have stayed at the edge of the criminal justice system. Generally, theories about prosecution and conviction outcomes derive from the study of male offenders. Women can be involved in all aspects of the human trafficking organizations, from the recruitment, to the supervision of prostitutes and to the finances. Pulling from the chivalry theory framework, this study used data sourced from the FBI on human trafficking offenders and their sentencing outcomes to compare the discrepancies between men and women. The current research adds to the existing literature by examining the gender discrepancy on human trafficking case outcomes. The analysis measures how gender influences court-related decisions.

This study explored risk factors associated with the arrest for adolescent to parent abuse (ATPA) when compared to arrest for a similar violent misdemeanor against a non-parent. The phenomenon of ATPA is widely under-researched and there is little in terms of prevention policy or treatment. Using 18,548 risk assessment screens performed with adolescents (12-17) arrested in Florida for a violent misdemeanor, and guided by previous literature and social ecological and social bond theories, this analysis explored the relationship between risk factors (categorized as individual characteristics, beliefs, behavior, commitment and involvement and attachment) and arrest for ATPA versus arrest for a violent misdemeanor against a non-parent. Of the 17 hypothesized risk factors, 9 risk factors were found to be significant risk factors associated with the arrest for ATPA versus the arrest for a violent misdemeanor against a non-parent. Age and ethnicity/race were both found to be associated with ATPA arrests. Risk factors found to increase the likelihood of being arrested for ATPA included a history of mental health problems, the adolescent witnessing domestic violence, the adolescent being a victim of abuse, and adolescents' normative beliefs in resolving conflict. The findings of this study add to the current body of literature and can be used to inform the creation of new policies and interventions in the realm of ATPA and family violence.

This study explored the relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Risk-Propensity in African-American women. Current literature on HIV reveals that one of the groups most seriously impacted by the continued scourge of HIV is African-American heterosexual women. An anonymous questionnaire was completed by a community based sample of 200 African American women with a varied history of intimate partner violence to (1) explore whether a relationship exists between Intimate Partner Violence and sexual coercion in African-American women (2) determine whether a relationship exists between sexual coercion and HIV Risk in African-American women (3) determine if the frequency of intimate partner violence impacts the HIV-risk of African-American Women (4) determine if the ability of African-American women to negotiate condom use is affected by being in a violent relationship, and (5) determine if there is a relationship between Intimate Partner Violence and increased HIV-risk propensity among African-American women. Various statistical techniques, including structural equation modeling (SEM), bivariate correlation analyses and ANOVA were used to examine the data. A strong positive correlation was found to exist between sexual coercion and Intimate Partner Violence. Specifically, the frequency of physical abuse, and feeling frightened by what a partner says or does were found to be highly correlated with sexual coercion. Moderate levels of correlation were also found between sexual coercion and frequency of being emotionally abused. Statistically significant regression weights indicate that when Intimate Partner Violence increases, sexual coercion also increases. Moderate and high correlations were also found between sexual coercion and ability to negotiate condom use. Statistically significant standardized regression weights indicate that as sexual coercion increases HIV Risk also increases. Moderate correlations also exist between being in a violent relationship and being able to negotiate condom use. Standardized regression weights reveal that as IPV increases HIV Risk also increases. The frequency of Intimate Partner Violence was also shown to impact the levels of sexual coercion, likelihood of having a partner with a STD, and the likelihood of have a partner who uses intravenous drugs. In the effort to fortify prevention strategies, and reduce the rates of HIV infection in African-American women, additional factors that impact disease transmission were discussed and suggestions for future research were made.

While research on intimate partner violence (IPV) has begun to include gay and lesbian relationships, these studies have almost entirely focused on cisgender relationships or victims. To date, little to no research exists on IPV in the transgender community. The current study explored accounts and meanings of IPV victimization as told by 18 transgender-identified survivors. Thirteen in-depth interviews and five open-ended questionnaires were analyzed from a modified grounded theory method through open and focused coding that revealed three broad and salient themes. First, the accounts of violence illustrated the role of transphobic and genderist attacks in the dynamics of abuse. Central to the power dynamics in these abusive relationships was the use of these attacks against trans identities. Second, participants constructed meanings behind their IPV victimization; specifically, they addressed why they felt this happened to them and what motivated abusers. Participants emphasized the meaning behind much of what they experienced as the abuser controlling transition. The survivors described their abusers as wanting to regulate their transition processes and maintain control over their lives. In their discussions, participants attempted to make sense of their experiences and explain why this could’ve happened. Participants felt that they were susceptible to abuse and in a period in their life in which they felt unwanted due to their trans status. This trans vulnerability is how most of the participants explained why they felt they were victimized by their partners. Finally, as all of the participants in the study had left their abusive relationships, their narratives revealed their processing of a victim identity. In these discussions, participants utilized a gendered discourse or a “walking of the gender tightrope” as they distanced themselves from a “typical” feminine and passive victim. Further, participants described navigating genderist resources as they sought help iv for their experiences. This study offers ground-breaking insight into how IPV affects transgender communities and illuminates the distinct realities faced by these survivors.

This research was designed to expand the empirical knowledge and understanding of stalking victimization by examining both intimate and nonintimate stalking and the use of technology to stalk. To accomplish this, the current research examined differences among intimate and nonintimate stalking, stalking types (cyberstalking, stalking with technology, and traditional stalking), and stalking types by the victim-offender relationship. Specifically, this research examined demographic differences, differences in severity, seriousness, victim reactions and responses to and effects of stalking. Findings revealed that overall intimate partner stalking victims experienced greater levels of seriousness and severity of stalking, and expressed more fear than nonintimate partner stalking victims. Additionally, they were more likely to have engaged in self-protective or help-seeking actions. With regard to stalking type, victims who were cyberstalked and stalked with technology experienced a greater variety of stalking behaviors, were more likely to define the behaviors as stalking, and took more actions to protect themselves than victims who were traditionally stalked. Moreover, those who were stalked with technology experienced a greater severity of stalking. And when examining differences among stalking types by the victim-offender relationship, intimate partner stalking victims were still more likely than nonintimate partner stalking victims to have experienced a greater severity of stalking. This research contributed to existing research by being the first to examine cyberstalking and stalking with technology with a national dataset, and adding to the knowledge of differences between intimate and nonintimate partner stalking. Implications for policy and for research are discussed.

<p>This dissertation explores the struggle between the impulse to cover up intimate violence and the impulse to make it public and consumable in nineteenth century England. It shows that intimate violence was both spectacular and unspeakable, rendering woman abuse a highly contested site of representation. It also reveals, however, that these ostensibly diametric modes of portraying violence worked in tandem to test the limits of what was socially and culturally representable during the period, and, in turn, to challenge hierarchies of genre, gender, class, and sexuality.</p> <p>This thesis is therefore both a study of the ways in which representations of intimate violence have avowed the imagined differences between members of disparate social categories and a study of how these differences often break down in the face of brutality. Chapter One shows that although street literature's representations of abuse seem invested in spectacularizing working-class violence, they often gesture towards the failures of middle-class domestic life and thus presume a unique vision of cross-class, shared moral experience. Chapter Two explores how feminist poet, pamphleteer, and novel writer Caroline Norton conflates multiple female identities to emphasize the importance of women's creative self-imagining as a means to resist physical violence and the rhetoric that encourages or allows it. Reading Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers, Chapter Three intersects discourses on abuse with disability studies to interrogate how the conspicuous bodies of battered women can disrupt male homosocial interactions and complicate discourse on trauma and representation. Finally, Chapter Four considers the ways in which displacements of intimate violence in Wilkie Collins's The Woman In White create sympathetic bonds that blur subjective distinctions between abusive men and violated women to test male authority over representation.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p> This mixed methods study seeks to explain women's decision making regarding intimate partner violence disclosure in urban emergency departments. It contributed to an overall program of research led by Dr. H.L. MacMillan examining the effectiveness of screening in health care settings to reduce violence and improve the quality of women's lives.</p> <p> The study included a randomized, controlled trial with a quantitative sub-analysis and a grounded theory approach. The trial goal was to evaluate whether routine screening for IPV in health care settings, as compared to usual care, does more good than harm. The quantitative sub-analysis included 1,182 participants from three trial emergency departments. In the sample, 1.9% were exposed to intimate partner violence disclosed to the health care provider. Of those who disclosed, 62.9% were positive on both the screening tool and criterion standard. The grounded theory phase involved 19 participants and sought to examine the problems that trial participants associated with intimate partner violence disclosure and the processes they used to resolve them.</p> <p> "Being found out" was the basic social psychological problem that influenced women's decisions against disclosure. This led to a three-phase process where participants attempted to "minimize their risks." The basic social psychological process included: (a) deciding to seek health care, (b) evaluating trust in the clinician, and (c) establishing internal readiness for disclosure. Participants stated that the emergency department was not an ideal place to disclose violence due to overcrowding, chaos, long wait times, and a lack of privacy. Results indicated that abused women wanted clinicians to offer empathy and support, and to minimize the intrusion caused by assessment. Clinician education is required to improve communication, client engagement and comfort discussing intimate partner violence. Future research could explore the barriers and facilitators to care quality and patient satisfaction among abused women seeking emergency care.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Misconceptions about intimate aggression have been found to have serious consequences (Kamphius et al., 2005; Robinson, 2005). These beliefs serve to minimize the crime and blame the victim which can cause individuals to not take the crime seriously (Kamphius, et al., 2005; Sinclair, in press). Initial work combined and updated Sinclair's (2010) Stalking Myths Scale and McKeon's unpublished Stalking Attitudes Questionnaire, but further psychometric analysis is needed (Lyndon, Sinclair, & Martin, 2011). I surveyed 1,200 undergraduates using the Stalking Myth Scale –Revised (SMS – R), a modified version of the Obsessive Relational Intrusion Inventory – Short Form (ORI - SF; Cupach & Spitzberg, 2004), and three intimate partner aggression myth scales. My findings replicated the factor structure of the previous pilot and attitudes regarding stalking were found to be predictors of the likelihood to engage in, the perceived normativity of, and the perceived motivation behind stalking.

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