The past decade has seen a rise in research on social, relational and indirect aggression, with a burgeoning focus only recently on the psychosocial consequences of being a target of such behaviours. It is widely understood that experiencing social aggression can trigger internal distress for children and adolescents, but far less is known about the nature and extent of longer-term psychosocial consequences. In this qualitative study, I aim to begin filling this gap by exploring how young women make meaning from experiences of social aggression in adolescence, with a particular focus on how they understand the impact of these experiences on their sense of self and relation to others in adulthood. Seven women between the ages of 25 and 32 were interviewed using a modified collaborative narrative method (Arvay, 2003). Interviews were transcribed and interpreted in narrative form to preserve the unique voice and experience of each participant. Five themes emerged through a process of categorical-content analysis as described by Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber (1998). Themes address participants' meaning-making following experiences of social aggression in terms of the (1) struggle to understand, (2) loss of trust in relationship, (3) changes in sense of self, (4) psychosocial responses, and (5) process of reframing of the experience in adulthood. The themes are discussed within the context of relevant qualitative and quantitative literature on the psychosocial consequence of social, relational and indirect aggression in adolescence and adulthood. Implications for school and community counselling practice and suggestions for future research are examined.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-40).

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-28). Also available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-28).

Adolescence heralds a unique period of vulnerability to depressive symptoms. The current study examined relational victimization, targeting adolescents’ interpersonal relationships, as a unique predictor of depressive symptoms in a broad age range of adolescents. Past research shows that interpersonal resources—particularly emotional support—are negatively related to depression. In this study, the moderating effects of emotional support from mothers, fathers, and peers on the association between relational victimization and depressive symptoms were investigated. As expected, high levels of maternal and peer emotional support buffered the association between relational victimization and depressive symptoms. Emotional support from fathers did not moderate this relationship. Findings also suggest that while support from peers is protective against concurrent depressive symptoms, it can be detrimental to adolescent’s mental health over time. In contrast, maternal emotional support buffers future depressive symptoms associated with past experiences of relational victimization.

Chefer har enligt svensk lag ett särskilt ansvar att förebygga, uppmärksamma och hantera kränkande särbehandling på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka hur chefer inom en offentlig förvaltning upplevde de krav som kommer med detta särskilda ansvar samt vilket stöd som cheferna upplevde sig behöva i sitt arbete mot kränkande särbehandling. För att undersöka detta genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio chefer på vald förvaltning. Intervjuerna analyserades med en induktiv tematisk analys. Resultatet visade på att cheferna upplevde de krav som ställs på dem att arbeta med frågor som rör kränkande särbehandling som ett naturligt ansvar som medföljer i chefsrollen. Vidare upplevde cheferna en del utmaningar i sitt arbete mot kränkande särbehandling och de betonade betydelsen av kommunikation för ett välfungerande arbete. Det stöd som cheferna främst upplevde sig behöva i arbetet mot kränkande särbehandling var stöd från avdelningen för Human Resources. / Managers have in according to Swedish law a particular responsibility to prevent, pay attention to and deal with matters regarding victimization at work. The purpose of this study was to investigate how managers within a public administration was experiencing the demands that accompany this particular responsibility, As well as the support managers felt was necessary in order to conduct their work against victimization at work. The method used in this study were semistructured interviews with nine managers within a chosen public administration, the interviews were then analyzed with a inductive thematic analysis. The result showed that managers were experiencing the demands that were put on them in order to work with issues regarding victimization at work as a natural responsibility accompanying the managerial role. In addition managers were experiencing certain challenges in their work against victimization and they highlighted the meaning of communication for the establishment of a well functioning working environment. The main support managers felt was necessary for their work against victimization was the support from the Human Resources Department.

abstract: Despite some prevailing attitudes that bullying is normal, relatively innocuous behavior, it has recently been recognized as a serious problem in schools worldwide. Victimized students are more likely to evidence poor academic and semi-academic outcomes, experience social difficulties, and drop out of school in comparison to their non-victimized peers. Although anti-bullying programs have proliferated during the last decade, those aimed at helping children cope with bullying often suffer from a lack of basic research on the effectiveness of children's responses to bullying. The focus of this study was to delineate the ways in which elementary school-aged children typically cope with peer victimization, then to examine which strategies reduce future risk for harassment and associated adjustment problems to inform prevention and intervention program development. A cohort-sequential design was used to examine the effectiveness of children's strategies for coping with peer victimization. The sample included 317 children (157 boys; 49.5% Caucasian, 50.5% Hispanic; M age =10 years 5 months at T1) who were surveyed in the Fall and Spring of two academic years. Confirmatory factory analysis was used to validate the factor structure of the coping measure used and internal reliability was verified. Comparison of means indicated differences in children's coping based upon sex and age. For example, girls tend to cope more emotionally and cognitively, while boys are more behavioral in their coping. Regression results indicated that a number of specific relationships were present between coping, victimization, loneliness, and anxiety. For example, support seeking behavior was effective at decreasing victimization for younger children (fourth graders) who experienced high initial victimization. In contrast, revenge seeking behavior was predictive of increased victimization for both girls and highly victimized students. Problem solving was effective at reducing adjustment problems over time for younger students and, although results for older students were non-significant, it appears to be a promising strategy due to a lack of association with negative future outcomes. Results highlight the importance of identifying influential characteristics of individual children in order for prevention and intervention programs to successfully decrease the incidence and adverse impact of bullying behavior. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2010

abstract: The link between victimization and offending is well established in the literature, yet an unexplored causal pathway within this relationship is concerned with why some individuals engage in maladaptive coping in response to victimization. In particular, those with low self-control may be attracted to problematic yet immediately gratifying forms of coping post-victimization (e.g., substance use), which may increase their likelihood of violent offending in the future. Using three waves of adolescent panel data from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, this research examines: (1) whether individuals with low-self control are more likely to engage in substance use coping following violent victimization, and (2) whether victims with low self-control who engage in substance use coping are more likely to commit violent offenses in the future. The results from negative binomial regressions support these hypotheses, even after controlling for prior offending, peer influences, prior substance abuse, and other forms of offending. The implications for integrating general strain and self-control theories, as well as for our understanding of the victimization-offending overlap, are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2011

Objetivos: Desenvolver e validar instrumento que auxilie o pediatra a determinar a probabilidade de ocorrência do abuso sexual em crianças. Métodos: Estudo de caso-controle com 201 crianças que consultaram em ambulatórios de pediatria e locais de referência para vítimas de abuso sexual, entre março e novembro de 2004: grupo caso (com suspeita ou revelação de abuso sexual) e grupo controle (sem suspeita de abuso sexual). Aplicou-se, junto aos responsáveis, um questionário com 18 itens e cinco opções de respostas segundo a escala Likert, abordando comportamento, sintomas físicos e emocionais apresentados pelas crianças. Excluíram-se nove crianças sem controle esfincteriano e um item respondido por poucas pessoas. A validade e consistência interna dos itens foram avaliadas com obtenção de coeficientes de correlação (Pearson, Spearman e Goodman-Kruskal), coeficiente α de Cronbach e cálculo da área da curva ROC. Calculou-se, após, a razão de verossimilhança (RV) e os valores preditivo positivos (VPP) para os cinco itens do questionário que apresentaram os melhores desempenhos. Resultados: Obteve-se um questionário composto pelos cinco itens que melhor discriminaram crianças com e sem abuso sexual em dois contextos. Cada criança recebeu um escore resultante da soma das respostas com pesos de 0 a 4 (amplitude de 0 a 20), o qual, através do teorema de Bayes (RV), indicou sua probabilidade pós-teste (VPP) de abuso sexual. Conclusões: O instrumento proposto é útil por ser de fácil aplicação, auxiliando o pediatra na identificação de crianças vítimas de abuso sexual. Ele fornecerá, conforme o escore obtido, a probabilidade (VPP) de abuso sexual, orientando na conduta de cuidado à criança. / Aims: Develop and validate an instrument to assist the paediatrician in determining the probability of the occurrence of sexual abuse in children. Methods: Case-control study with 201 children that attended the paediatric out-patient services and the referral facilities for victims of sexual abuse, between March and November 2004: case group (suspicion or disclosure of sexual abuse) and control group (without suspicion or disclosure of sexual abuse). The responsible adults were invited to answer a questionnaire containing 18 items and five answer options, in accordance with the Likert scale, that dealt with the behavioural, physical and emotional symptoms presented by the children. Nine children that lacked sphincter control and one item that was answered by few people were excluded. The validity and internal consistency of the items were assessed by obtaining the correlation coefficients with the (Pearson, Spearman and Goodman-Kruskal), Cronbach’s α coefficient and the calculation of the area of the ROC (Receiver Operator Characteristics) curve. Later, the Likelihood Ratio (LR) and the positive predictive values (PPVs) for the five items in the questionnaire that presented the best performance were calculated. Results: A questionnaire was obtained, composed of the five items that best discriminated children with or without sexual abuse in two contexts. Each child received a score consisting of the sum of the responses with weights from 0 to 4 (range from 0 to 20) that, through the Bayes theorem (LR), indicated his/her post-test probability (PPV) of sexual abuse. Conclusions: The proposed instrument is useful as it is easily applied, is of assistance to the paediatrician in the identification of child victims of sexual abuse. It will give, according to the score obtained, the probability (PPV) of sexual abuse, and so offer guidance in the care of the child.

p. 1-182 / Submitted by Santiago Fabio (fabio.ssantiago@hotmail.com) on 2013-04-30T18:03:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 555555555555555.pdf: 1328036 bytes, checksum: f68c458cca60cdc96204be2b6dc06aea (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Creuza Silva(mariakreuza@yahoo.com.br) on 2013-05-04T17:40:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 555555555555555.pdf: 1328036 bytes, checksum: f68c458cca60cdc96204be2b6dc06aea (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-04T17:40:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 555555555555555.pdf: 1328036 bytes, checksum: f68c458cca60cdc96204be2b6dc06aea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Da mesma forma que a violência como tema da Saúde Coletiva demorou a ganhar espaços de discussão, o sequestro relâmpago, uma modalidade de violência criminal que atinge a classe média brasileira desde meados da década de 1990, carece de estudos que o evidenciem e reconheçam o seu impacto na saúde física, mental e social dos envolvidos. Buscamos compreender o fenômeno e a experiência do seqüestro relâmpago segundo os relatos da pessoa vitimizada, de modo a: 1. descrever o evento e identificar suas fases de execução; 2. analisar as violências perpetradas e os sentidos atribuídos pelas vítimas; 3. compreender as dimensões de interação de vítimas e ofensores; e 4. conhecer as repercussões da experiência de vitimização no cotidiano de vida dos ex-sequestrados. Desenvolvemos um estudo exploratório e com método qualitativo, no qual investigamos a experiência subjetiva de treze vítimas do seqüestro relâmpago por meio de entrevistas individuais. Descrevemos o evento a partir de quatro fases. A primeira fase antecede a captura (pré-abordagem); em seguida, tem-se a fase na qual os papéis de vítima e ofensor são iniciados (captura); e então a fase mais prolongada durante a qual ofensores expõem suas intenções e inserem a vítima em um acordo coercitivo-cooperativo (o passeio compulsório), para enfim encerrarem o evento (desfecho), sendo este um dos momentos mais tensos para a vítima. De modo geral, o seqüestro relâmpago pode ser identificado como aquilo que os estudiosos nomeiam de ―sequestro para roubo‖. É um delito que pressupõe um meio de atuação comum – o confinamento e transporte forçado das vítimas – que pode seguir scripts distintos e complementares (saques em caixas automáticos, compras, obtenção dos bens pessoais, roubo do veículo). Ele é caracterizado pela temporalidade reduzida, pelo ―cárcere móvel‖ e pela relação diádica entre ofensor e vítima. As ameaças e a arma de fogo, fortalecidos por uma encenação convincente dos ofensores, são elementos comuns a todos os casos investigados e figuram nos relatos das vítimas como elementos essenciais à sua cooperação. Esta, por sua vez, é o tipo de resposta mais freqüente por parte das vítimas. Elas acreditam que, ao colaborarem com os mandos dos ofensores, suas vidas serão preservadas e, assim, validam o contrato coerção-cooperação imposto pelos algozes. Entretanto, esse contrato pode ser continuamente negociado, já que vítima e ofensor mantêm um contato face-a-face prolongado e constante e estão inseridos em uma cena mutável por conta de fatores situacionais. Consequentemente, as vítimas vivenciam repercussões emocionais e físicas da vitimização, como medo da retaliação, mudanças imediatas de rotina, prejuízo à vida social, sensação de insegurança generalizada, entre outros. Essa deterioração da vida social do sujeito e das suas relações pessoais e a revivência emocional negativa recorrente podem ter efeito prolongado e danoso às vítimas. / Salvador