The study was conducted in northern Ghana to determine the scope of male partner violence (MPV) against women, identify the factors associated with this problem as well as point out the health implications of MPV. In a sample of 443 married women drawn from outpatient populations across six district health centers we found that nearly 7 out of 10 women have experienced some MPV: 62% have experienced psychological violence; 29% have experienced physical violence; and 34% have experienced sexual violence. A multiple regression analysis showed that male controlling behavior, number of children, presence of concubines, partner appreciation, and very good health significantly predicted Total Violence. The results showed that the more controlling a husband is the more likely his wife is to experience severe violence and that more children in the marriage is associated with more violence for the women. Marriage duration was significantly positively correlated with violence, indicating that the longer the time since a woman got married, the more likely she experiences violence. Husband’s education was significantly negatively correlated with violence, indicating that husband education has a decreased effect on violence. Logistic regression and ANOVA models identified a number of socio-demographic factors as significant correlates of MPV. These include couple’s unemployment, particularly husband unemployment, being young – under 30 years and being younger than the husband, presence of concubines, being Muslim or Traditional, living in a rural setting, husband alcohol use, being a healthy woman, and not being appreciated by the husband. We found that MPV is associated with physical and mental health difficulties among women. Some 47 women reported having sustained multiple injuries, including sprains, broken bones and teeth, cuts, and burns. Mental health difficulties among these women included partner phobia, sleep deprivation, and thoughts of suicide. We make recommendations that call on government and other stakeholders to initiate policy that provides services to women experiencing MPV and that implements education and campaign programs to eventually eliminate MPV in Ghana generally.

Previous studies examining memory biases for threatening faces in social anxiety (SA) have yielded inconclusive results. In the present study, memory and expectancy biases were tested within the context of a novel face recognition paradigm that was designed to offset some of the methodological challenges that have hampered previous research. Undergraduates with high (n = 40) and low (n = 40) levels of SA viewed a series of neutral faces randomly paired with phrases that communicated positive or negative social feedback. Participants’ recognition memory was tested for previously encountered faces, and for their categorization of each encoded face as having been associated with negative (mean) or positive (nice) interpersonal statements. For new faces, participants were asked whether the person seemed mean or nice. Results provided no evidence in support of a general memory bias for threatening (mean) faces among high SA individuals, but instead suggested that high SA individuals lack a positive expectancy bias to appraise new social partners as being nice. Implications are considered for cognitive behavioral and interpersonal models of SA.

Hate crime laws in both Canada and the United States purport to promote equality using the language of antidiscrimination law. National criminal codes in both countries authorize enhanced punishment for crimes motivated by “sexual orientation” but not “gender identity” or “gender expression.” Cities and states in the United States have also adopted hate crime laws, some of which denounce both homophobic and trans-phobic crimes. Hate crime penalty enhancement laws have been applied by courts in both Canada and the United States to establish a growing jurisprudence. In both countries, moreover, other hate crime laws contribute to official legal knowledge by regulating hate speech, hate crime statistics, and conduct equivalent to hate crimes in schools, workplaces, and elsewhere. Yet, despite the proliferation of hate crime laws and jurisprudence, governmental officials do not control all legal knowledge about hate crimes. Sociological “others” attend criminal sentencing proceedings and provide support to hate crime victims during prosecutions, but they also frame their own unofficial inquiries and announce their own classification decisions for hate-related events. In both Canada and the United States, nongovernmental groups contend both inside and outside official governmental channels to establish legal knowledge about homophobic and trans-phobic hate crimes. In two comparable Canadian and American cities, similar groups monitor and classify homophobic and trans-phobic attacks using a variety of information practices. Interviews with representatives of these groups reveal a relationship between the practices of each group and hate crime laws at each site. The results support one principal conclusion. The availability of local legislative power and a local mechanism for public review are key determinants of the sites and styles of nongovernmental contention about hate crimes. Where police gather and publish official hate crime statistics, the official classification system serves as both a site for mobilization, and a constraint on the styles of contention used by nongovernmental groups. Where police do not gather or publish hate crime statistics, nongovernmental groups are deprived of the resource represented by a local site for social contention, but their styles of contention are liberated from the subtle influences of an official hate crime classification system.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Feb. 28, 2008). Directed by Heidi Gazelle; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references (p. 41-47).

Thesis (M.A.)--Marshall University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains 59 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-42).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996. / Includes tables. Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Leah Blumberg Lapidus. Dissertation Committee: Harold F. Abeles. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-113).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Justin Schwartz, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 24, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-78). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-78). Also available on the Internet.