Thesis advisor: Alyssa Goldman / Thesis advisor: Sara Moorman / How do lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples experience emotional intimate partnerviolence (IPV) and relationship satisfaction? And how are these associations affected by differences in power, stress and discrimination? This research aims to fill the gap in literature by examining how emotional IPV and relationship satisfaction may be differently shaped by power, stress and discrimination among gay, lesbian and heterosexual couples. To address this research question, I use data from the Health and Relationships Project, in hierarchical linear models to explore the differences between gay (N=248), lesbian (N=342) and straight (N=248) respondents' experiences of emotional intimate partner violence and relationship satisfaction within couples. Using dyadic data, the actor-partner interdependence models also test the mediating roles of stress, discrimination and feelings of equal power. Findings indicate that overall, lesbians experience the least amount of emotional intimate partner violence and the greatest amount of relationship satisfaction, while straight respondents experience the most amount of emotional intimate partner violence and the least amount of relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, feelings of equal power mediate this relationship. These findings contradict past literature, which suggests that same-sex couples would experience more emotional IPV than their heterosexual counterparts. This indicates that more research is needed to explore the numerous variables at play for same-sex and different-sex emotional IPV and relationship satisfaction, as there are unique differences in power, stress and discrimination between these groups. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

<p>  </p> <p>Sexual aggression occurs at alarming rates on college campuses, wherein upwards of one-third of college women report some form of sexual victimization during their college careers. While individuals of any gender may perpetrate or experience sexual aggression, this form of violence is disproportionately perpetrated by men against women. Numerous risk factors for perpetrating sexual aggression have been identified, with prominent etiological, conceptual, and explanatory models of sexual aggression all emphasizing the role of impelling risk factors—which includes dispositional or personality traits that may serve to increase proclivity to sexually aggress, as well as attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions that contribute to sexually aggressive behaviors. Despite the proliferation of research on impelling risk factors for perpetrating sexual aggression, there is little consensus on how these constructs are operationalized and to what extent similarities and dissimilarities exist between existing measures of impellance for sexual aggression. Therefore, first aim of the present study seeks to examine the underlying factor structure of impelling risk factors for sexual aggression perpetration. Importantly, personality traits may represent an important non-specific impellor for sexual aggression; yet few researchers have examined the role of normal and pathological personality traits in predicting perpetration of sexual aggression, despite the robust literature on the role of personality in predicting other forms of aggression and violence. As a result, the present study also examined the role of both normal and pathological personality traits in independently and while controlling for the effect of emergent factors of impellance in predicting sexually-aggressive outcomes. Furthermore, exploratory analyses were conducted to examine the incremental validity of emergent factors of impellance above and beyond the role normal and pathological personality traits in predicting sexually-aggressive outcomes. Participants included <em>N</em> = 275 men between the ages of 18 and 26 from a large public university in the midwestern region of the United States, who completed an online survey assessing impelling risk factors for sexual aggression, normal personality, pathological personality, coercive condom use resistance, sexual-intimate partner violence, sexual assault perpetration, sexual objectification, and post-refusal sexual coercion. Results from the principal component analysis suggested that a three-factor solution best explained the variance in existing measures of impellance. Results from regression analyses indicated that normal personality significantly predicted all five sexually-aggressive outcomes, and that pathological personality significantly predict four of the study’s sexually-aggressive outcomes. After controlling for the effect of impelling risk factors for sexual aggression, both normal and pathological personality traits only accounted for additional variance not explained by measures of impellance for coercive condom use resistance and sexual objectification. Broadly, results identifying the underlying factor structure of impellance align with existing theoretical models of sexual aggression; however, results from the present study also extend these models by presenting a more granular, nuanced, and differentiated view of risk factors that were previously conceptualized to perform similarly. In addition, results from the present study underscore the importance of both normal and pathological personality traits in predicting sexually-aggressive outcomes. Despite this, results from the present study also suggest that after accounting for impelling risk factors of sexual aggression, personality may only help predict minimal additional variance in sexually-aggressive outcomes. Implications for both the screening and assessment of men at risk of perpetration sexually aggression, as well as recommendations for the prevention of sexual violence are discussed.</p>

Background: One third of all women in the world are exposed to violence, it is a global public health problem. Violence in a close relationship can be problematic to detect because signs of violence can appear in several different ways. The nurse area of expertise has a significant role when it comes to identifying women exposed to violence in order to be able to promote health. The nurse's response can be a crucial part of whether the woman dares to talk about her exposure to violence. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe the nurse's experiences of dealing with women who have been subjected to violence in a close relationship Method: A literature study based on a qualitative method where eight articles were analyzed with Friberg's five-step model. Results: The results of the literature study draw attention to factors that affect the nurse in the meeting with the woman exposed to violence in a close relationship. The results were divided into two main themes and five sub-themes  Conclusion: The meeting with the woman who is exposed to violence in a close relationship is experienced as complicated. Nurses need more knowledge, support and clear guidelines to feel confident in meeting the women. To be able to break preconceived notions and normsabout violence in close relationships, a broader awareness in society is needed.

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Background: Research shows that a total of 38,700 cases of intimate partner violence occurred in Sweden in 2021. Where 81% of the cases were against women. Many of the vulnerable women seek help by turning to the healthcare system. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and illustrate nurse ́s experiences of caring for women who have been exposed to violence in close relationships. Knowing the signs of violence is important for healthcare professionals to detect cases of violence. Method: The study is a literature review, where 11 qualitative scientific articles have been used with Cinahl’s and Pubmed’s database to find relevant articles. The articles have been reviewed using SBU's review template to ensure high quality of the articles and Popenoe's (2021) article has been used as a guide for data analysis. Result: Results show that there is a lack of knowledge on the part of the nurse about women who have been exposed to violence in close relationships, a lack of training on violence in close relationships and a lack of routines and cooperation between different professions. In addition, several articles highlight the nurse's emotional impact in the care of women who are exposed to violence in a close relationship. Conclusion: Different factors can affect the nurse's experience of caring for women who are exposed to violence in a close relationship. In response, there may be feelings of anger, sadness, frustration. There should be collaboration between different professions to facilitate and support the nurse's work, for example when it comes to the emotional part.

Recent research indicates that pregnant women in rural communities are at increased risk of experiencing IPV and comorbid illicit opioid use compared to urban-residing pregnant women. Few studies of the interactions among rurality, substance use, and victimization in pregnant women exist. The current study sought to examine the relationship between IPV and opioid use and the interaction effects of rurality in Appalachian pregnant women. A convenience sample of pregnant women who were enrolled in a smoking cessation research study was used for this analysis. Participants included 488 pregnant women from five prenatal clinics in South-Central Appalachia. Data were from self-reported assessments and semi-structured interviews on substance use and IPV conducted from first trimester of pregnancy through eight months postpartum. Four hundred and ten participants reported experiencing any form of IPV in the past year. Logistic regression results indicated that physical IPV was associated with opioid use, but sexual and psychological IPV were not. The moderation model indicated direct effects between IPV and opioid use, but were not moderated by rurality. This study suggests a need to further understand the relationship between substance use, IPV, and rurality in pregnant women. The specific subtopic of opioid use by pregnant women living in rural communities, and its relationship to IPV victimization and adverse fetal and maternal health outcomes, continues to be an understudied, but critically important area. Limitations and future directions pertaining to IPV screenings and interventions for pregnant women are discussed.

In the past few decades there has been research dedicated to understanding the roles that animals play within violent households. The American Humane Association (2010) has developed what they termed The Link. This concept examines how forms of violence, including domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse, and animal abuse, are often intertwined. This qualitative study was facilitated using focus groups and interviews of animal service officers in Orange County, Florida to evaluate the relationship and training provided from a local domestic violence shelter. There were a total of 22 Orange County Animal Services employees who participated in four different focus group sessions, and two interviews with officers who had previously made referrals to Harbor House of Central Florida, the local domestic violence shelter. Results show that animal service officers view themselves as often being the first responders to a situation and, hence, an agent to help all victims, including both animals and humans. Participants indicated that their relationship with Harbor House of Central Florida has been weak and that many were unfamiliar with the referral program known as INVEST. They provided recommendations to strengthen their relationship with Harbor House of Central Florida that included trainings, support, and cross-reporting efforts that they felt were needed