Prior research has shown that college women in the United States are experiencing significantly high rates of verbal intimate partner violence (IPV); estimates indicate that approximately 20-30% of college women experience verbal IPV victimization (e.g., Hines, 2007; Muñoz-Rivas, Graña, O'Leary, & González, 2009). Verbal IPV is associated with physical consequences, such as chronic pain and migraine headaches, and psychological implications, including anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and substance use (Coker et al., 2002). However, few studies have examined verbal IPV in college populations, and none have focused on Hispanic college women who are members of the largest minority population on college campuses today (Pew Research Center, 2013), and experience higher rates of IPV victimization (Ingram, 2007). The current dissertation sought to address these gaps by examining the influence of familial conflict strategies on Hispanic college women’s verbal IPV victimization. Further, within group differences were explored, with specific attention paid to the role of acculturation and gender role beliefs. A total of 906 from two Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) in the southeastern (N=502) and southwestern (N=404) United States participated in the three part study. Study one examined the influence of parental conflict strategies on Hispanic women’s verbal IPV victimization in current romantic relationships. Consistent with previous research, results indicated that parental use of verbal violence influenced verbal IPV victimization in the current romantic relationship. A unidirectional effect of paternal use of verbal aggression towards the participant on maternal verbal aggression towards the participant was also found. Study two examined the influence of parental conflict strategies, acculturation, and gender role beliefs on victimization. Acculturation and gender role beliefs were found to not have an influence on participants’ verbal IPV victimization. Study three examined within-group differences using Study two’s model. Differences were found between the southeastern and southwestern participants; gender role beliefs increased rates of verbal IPV victimization in the southeastern population. The current dissertation fills a gap in the literature on IPV experiences in Hispanic college populations, the importance of examining verbal IPV trends, and highlights importance differing cultural influences within populations traditionally viewed as homogenous. The implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this practicum is to give impetus to the exploration and delineation of long-range effects of a rape experience. This will be accomplished in the following manner: (1) a literature review to (a) review what reactions are known; (b) discuss which response patterns to the crisis may exist; and (c) which issues rape victims express as being difficult or of concern in their adjustment. The literature review will be in Chapter II. (2) Designing a research instrument or questionnaire that can be administered to victims at least one year after the rape. The purpose of the questionnaire is to identify sequelae of the rape still giving the woman difficulties, the degree of difficulty, and to determine if specific reactions take longer to integrate into one's total life experiences. The instrument is presented in Appendix A. It is expected that further critical study and research can be facilitated by its use. Following the literature review, Chapter III presents a short summary and discussion of the procedure. Chapter IV consists of a discussion of the questionnaire and its content, and Chapter V, recommendations.

Background: Little is known about the perspectives of South Asian mothers with regards to the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV), including risk and protective factors, impacts of exposure, and help-seeking. This thesis is comprised of two sub-studies. In the first study, a scoping review was conducted to identify and map the literature on IPV amongst South Asian women residing outside of South Asia. The second study consists of a qualitative project to explore how IPV is perceived among South Asian mothers living in Ontario, Canada. Methods: The first study was a scoping review conducted using the 5-stage framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley, and later advanced by Levac et al. Four health and social science databases, including Embase, CINAHL, Medline, and PsychINFO were systematically searched from inception to June 2020 using the themes “intimate partner violence” and “South Asian.” Studies were screened for inclusion based on pre-determined eligibility criteria, and relevant data with regards to study location, journal type, and sample characteristics were abstracted by two independent reviewers. Studies were organized and synthesized into thematic categories. Then a qualitative descriptive study was conducted with a purposeful sample of 6 South Asian mothers from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, recruited from a sub-sample of the SouTh Asian biRth CohorT Study (START). Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore their perceptions and experiences of IPV in their community. The interview data were analysed using reflective thematic analysis. Findings: The scoping review revealed that most studies qualitatively explored the experiences and perceptions of IPV amongst women of the South Asian diaspora; however, there was a paucity of quantitative literature to ascertain the impacts of exposure to IPV. Similarly, there was a dearth of literature on the prevention of IPV in this population. Other research gaps included the lack of clinical samples, the underrepresentation of some South Asian ethnicities over others, and the overrepresentation of studies conducted in the USA. The qualitative descriptive study revealed that among this sample of South Asian mothers, they expressed that in-laws play a significant role in contributing to violence from in-laws, which can lead to IPV, and in increasing a woman’s risk of experiencing IPV by adhering to traditional gender roles. Participants identified that the IPV can manifest as unequal sharing of responsibilities between partners and women’s education can be protective against IPV. Participants believed that their concern for their children’s well-being along with cultural expectations of South Asian females, played a key role in the decision to seek help for IPV. Participants identified that physicians could play an important role in helping women who have experienced IPV by asking about IPV and offering resources. Discussion: This scoping review, which identified and mapped IPV literature, and qualitative study, which investigated the perceptions of IPV amongst South Asian mothers, contribute to the body of IPV literature amongst women in the South Asian diaspora. The findings can help inform future research directions, and can contribute to the general understanding of stakeholders, such as service providers for IPV, about how IPV is understood, experienced, and addressed among South Asian mothers. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an insidious societal problem with potentially lethal ramifications. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread conditions and virus risk mitigation procedures like social distancing and stay-at-home orders exacerbated factors that contribute to IPV such as poverty and substance use. Though anyone can experience IPV, mothers carried unparalleled burdens in the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic such as increasing childcare responsibilities, growing financial difficulties, and worsening mental health, and many of these factors have been linked to experiencing IPV. The growing body of literature indicates a rise in IPV during COVID-19, but little has been empirically established on the interactions between IPV, motherhood, and COVID-19. This study used inductive thematic analysis of open responses to an online survey completed by a sample (n = 55) of mothers in U.S. metropolitan areas who were at least 18 years old and who had experienced IPV in the last five years. Data were organized by respondents' perceptions of the pandemic's impact (positive, negative, or no impact) on their interactions with abusive partners, overall well-being, and feelings of safety. Responses indicating a negative impact were sorted into three themes: Pandemic Circumstances Creating or Exacerbating Problems, Adapting Abuse Tactics to Fit Pandemic Circumstances, and Strategically Managing Abusive Situations. Responses indicating no impact were sorted into two themes: No Impact (General) and No Contact. Responses indicating a positive impact were sorted into two themes: Feeling Safer During the Pandemic and Improving Mother-Child Situations. Furthermore, respondents identified mental health care, legal or judicial assistance, and financial support as needed resources during the height of COVID-19 shutdowns. Findings can be used to aid mothers in future pandemics as well as natural disasters, wars, and similar environmental conflicts.

Objective: Shared Decision-Making (SDM) as a clinical approach allows patients and physicians to discuss the best treatment options for the patients' improved health outcomes. Over the past two decades, SDM has improved the quality of health by reassuring patients that they have a voice when considering treatment options. The objective of this study is threefold: to examine parents' perceptions of engaging in SDM with their physicians about their treatment options; to engage in the SDM process when their children's mental health conditions were the subject of SDM; and to assess the comfort level of parents engaging in SDM, based upon their highest levels of education. Specifically, the researcher was interested in how parents' racial demographics influenced their involvement in the SDM process. Methods: The researcher reviewed in-depth the 2016-2017 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). In that study, interviewers asked parents of different races how they engaged in SDM with their physicians, when discussing their health and their children's mental health issues. The three questions dealt with parents' experiences with SDM and their physicians, parents' experiences with SDM when discussing their children's mental health conditions, and how parents' highest educational attainment might impact their comfort levels in engaging in SDM with their physicians. The researcher conducted a Univariate descriptive statistic, Cronbach Alpha Score, ANOVA, T-test and Tukey poc test to make valid conclusions in answering the question, "How does shared decision-making between patient and physician differ by race?"

Intimate partner violence (IPV) and poverty plague populations as twin social crises. Just as IPV has implications in terms of gender, race, magnitude, and deleteriousness—so does poverty. IPV cuts across demography but has concentrated burden for certain groups. In addition to the many dimensions of violence survivors may face, survivors may face economic abuse, as well as difficulty working or attaining an education. Poverty, measured in relative and absolute terms, is stratified by various demographic categories (e.g., disability, ethnicity, gender), with certain groups facing an enhanced prevalence of the issue. With these demographic disparities working in the background of the IPV-poverty connection, various inequality dynamics (e.g., social control, resource scarcity, bureaucracy) constrict survivors' options. This constriction can lead to deleterious outcomes: homelessness, staying with partner-violent people, or facing failure-to-protect prosecution. Having concentrated implications for female-headed families, these possibilities have been subject to policies that attempt to moderate and disentangle the IPV-poverty relationship. Public policies targeting IPV and poverty, constructed through federalism, separation of powers, and symbolic politics, are further implemented to target various IPV categories, including firearms, housing, immigration, healthcare, employment, and compensatory strategies for victims. The current study aims to answer the following research question: What are the intricacies of the relationships among IPV, IPV-related statutes, and poverty rates among female-headed families with related children at the state-level in the United States? Using secondary data and legal sources, the current study looks at the potential moderating effect of policy in the IPV-poverty relationship across the United States's major subnational units. Discussions of findings are provided accordingly.

Guided by Nils Christie's (1986) Ideal Victim framework, the current study examines the effect that victim/offender relationship status (casual vs. serious), victim self-identity (as a "victim" or a "survivor"), and observer gender (woman vs. man) have on victim blame attributions. Data were collected from 329 adult students at a large public university in the Southwest United States using an online, experimental vignette design. Three separate one-way analysis of variances (ANOVAs) were conducted to test the study's three hypotheses. Results suggest that among the study sample, victim/offender relationship status (H1) and victim self-identity (H2) do not significantly affect victim blame attribution towards victims of IPVAW. Results do support H3 suggesting that observer gender does significantly affect victim blame attribution towards victims of IPVAW with men participants attributing more victim blame than women participants. Future research directions to better capture the nuances of (IPVAW) victim/offender relationship status (among "dating" couples) and self-identity of an (IPVAW) victim (as a "victim" or a "survivor") are identified and conceptual replication is encouraged.

Exploring social attitudes towards acceptability of intimate partner violence (IPV) is essential to understanding the nature of IPV. Attitudes justifying acceptability of wife battery may strongly predict perpetration and victimization as well as institutional responses to IPV against women. Feminist scholars emphasize that supportive attitudes towards wife beating are largely impacted by the prevalence of patriarchal values and traditional gender roles in society. Petroleum patriarchy theory suggests that oil rich countries experience greater gender inequality and have stronger patriarchal values. The current study integrates these two theories using the concept of the double curse effect. The study used mixed - effect ordered logistic regression to assess attitudes towards wife beating while utilizing individual and country level variables. The data on gendered attitudes includes attitudes about justification of wife beating that were derived from the World Values Survey, Wave 6, for the period 2010-2014. The data included 14,872 respondents from 10 former Soviet countries. Data on oil and gas revenues for post-Soviet countries were obtained from the Ross-Mahdavi Oil and Gas Dataset. The data on HDI, GDI, GII were derived from UN reports. The indicators represent dimensions of human development and gender inequality at the country level. This study showed that individuals from oil rich post-Soviet countries and individuals who support statements about gender inequality are more prone to justify wife battery. Results from this study support the double curse concept. Further, this study is unique as it analyzed an understudied region and focused on the impact of the individual and structural level data on attitudes towards wife beating.

Since the legalization of abortion in 1973, abortion continues to be an ongoing debate among pro-choice and pro-life groups, and politicians, and is one of the many barriers women may face. As rape continues in being a significant social issue, rape-related pregnancies and abortions have been understudied. By using the General Social Survey (GSS), this paper analyzes various sociodemographic variables which may influence social attitudes toward rape-related abortions. Findings indicate that Blacks, women, those living in the South, and age were not significant predictors of whether a pregnant woman should have a legal abortion as a result of rape. Other sociodemographic variables were significant; many supporting previous studies. However, this paper adds to the literature since social attitudes related to rape-related abortions have not been thoroughly studied. As this issue may arise, it is critical for professionals working with victims/survivors to understand, offer, and not judge women's decision should they decide to terminate their pregnancy. Due to various potential barriers women face, we may never obtain an accurate number of rape-related abortions or pregnancies. Because women may not report their rape, future research should focus on women in hospitals, abortion clinics, etc. to get a better understanding of the issue.

Over 40,000 arsons were reported in the 2014 Uniform Crime Report; however, this number is underestimated since there are no official arson trends reported by the FBI due to the lack of agencies reporting this offense. Arson is one of the most destructive and under researched crimes. This lack of research can be attributed to the dual definition of arson – that is, the destruction of one's own property or someone else's property – the opportunistic nature of arson, and the inability to determine a measurable rate. The current study uses data from the Chicago Police Department's Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting (CLEAR) System and the 2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates to explore arson offending among and across neighborhoods within the framework of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory. Spatially weighted negative binomial regression is used to test correlation and significance. Analyses were run in STATA and ArcGIS 10.4.1. Results are consistent with prior arson research showing that rates of occurrence are increased by structural measures such as social disorganization, physical disorder, and public transportation. However, racial heterogeneity and accessibility to public transportation are shown to both increase or decrease rates of arson occurrence depending on the subtype of arson. These results suggest that community characteristics may play a greater role in understanding arson offending than previously thought.