The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which women seeking services of a shelter for battered women in the Southwestern United States were similar to the existing picture of battered women. Supplemental questions were asked concerning the effects of substance abuse, marital status, and child abuse. Information was gathered from records of a sample of 100 women who sought shelter between September 1984 and August 1987. Results were compared with previous studies by Gayford (1975), Giles-Sims (1983), and Walker. Results suggested women in this study were similar to battered women who had been studied previously. No significant relationship was found between the use of drugs and/or alcohol and the type of abuse a woman experienced, between marital status and employment status, nor between the occurrence of child abuse and a woman's willingness to involve the police. Implications and recommendations for future research were presented.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2001.

The general purpose of this study was to duplicate research conducted by Beverley Joyce Miller Pitts, Ph.D., regarding the newswriting process of practicing journalists. (Future reference regarding this study will be termed the Pitts study.) In an effort to update previous research, this study sought to: review literature published between 1981 and 1987, update research conducted since 1981, support or disprove previous findings as documented in the Pitts study, and provide further research regarding the journalist's newswriting process. The study was conducted separately from previous research; thereby adopting an objective atmosphere in which research and data were obtained. The methodology and procedure of this study were replicated from the Pitts study to ensure consistency in research methods. All analyses, discussions, summaries, conclusions, observations, and recommendations, presented in this study, are based solely on data gathered during the research and presentation phases of this study.Although the Pitts study, 1981, consisted of protocol analysis case studies of three practicing journalists, the study contained herein focuses on the case study of one isolated journalist. As with the Pitts study, this study sought to gather data which describes the overall thought process as executed by a practicing journalist. The primary research tool utilized was protocol analysis. During taped sessions, these verbal protocols required the journalist to "think out loud" while composing the news story.Three protocol case studies were comprised. The first protocol session, the journalist was provided with a fact sheet from which to write. In the second and third protocol sessions, the journalist composed news stories based upon events covered on the daily beat. All three stories were composed on a video display terminal (VDT). The three protocol transcripts, follow-up interviews, reporter's notes, and the completed stories provided the data for analysis. These may be found in the Appendix. The coding scheme used in the Pitts study, which isolated and labeled activities of the newswriting process, was utilized; thus, deciphering the thought process evoked from the journalist when composing newsworthy articles.Journalist Kristi Stone, reporter for the Muncie Star, was selected to participate in this study.Findings indicated that the selection and writing of the lead was the most time-consuming task, that the writer wrote in a patterned sequence, that the writercomposed the story in small units, that goals, planning, and evaluations were short-term in nature, and that the writer created sentences as they were being typed into the VDT. In addition, the writer demonstrated recursiveness in her writing style, and had difficulty in composing stories when the newsgathering element was omitted.A major finding was that the task of writing the lead was the initial step in the writing process and had to be completed before any other writing could take place. The selection of the lead determined the direction of the story; thus, it was the most important act the writer performed. The story was organized as it was written, not planned in advance. The writer planned and wrote one sentence at a time incorporating a series of activities aimed at completing an immediate task. Editing was an important part of the writing process as well as a tool for refining. Memory was an important tool for obtaining information during the writing process. Recall was used for the purposes of remembering information from the newsgathering process, while notes provided the specific details of the incident. The newsgathering task was an integral part of the newswriting process, serving as a catalyst for the story's composition. Difficulty in writing occurred when the newsgathering process was omitted; thus, the newsgathering and newswriting tasks worked in unison and were so closely related they could not easily be separated.The findings documented in this research paper support the previous findings by Pitts conducted in her 1981 port the previous findings by study in that:the lead was the most important taskselection and writing of the lead took place first editing was an integral part of the writing process, not a separate act of refining memory served to recall overall story ideas and informationnotes provided a tool for obtaining specific pieces of informationwriters planned and wrote one sentence at a time by orchestrating a complex set of activities directed at completion of an immediate task.l1Beverly Joyce Miller Pitts, "The Newswriting Process: A Protocl Analysis Case Study of Three Practicing Journalists," Ed.D. Dissertation, Ball State University, pp. 2-3. / Department of Psychological Science

D.Litt. et Phil. / The sexual molestation of children is one of the most pressing problems of our times. Considering that as many as one in every four girls, and one in every ten boys are sexually victimized as children, the sexual molestation of children seems to be a common occurrence. Child sexual abuse results in emotional symptoms such as depression, low self esteem, sexual disfunction, impaired health, eating disorders and other emotional disturbances. The vast number of children being subjected to sexual molestation, as well as the cost in terms of human suffering, necessitates studies that focus on determining why certain individuals violate sexual boundaries with children. Mainstream theories and research to date only focus on the conscious functioning of men who sexually molest children. The focus is therefore only on the description of the outward manifestation of symptoms. Research to date does not succeed in describing the mechanisms or processes that culminate in the sexual molestation of children. This study represents a first step in addressing this void in the body of knowledge pertaining to men who sexually molest children. By means of a method of analysis, namely Medical Hypnoanalysis, the subconscious thought patterns of two males, which culminated in the molestation of children, were revealed, described and explained. The problem statement and purpose of the study, namely to reveal, describe and explain the dynamic development and course of the subconscious thought patterns which eventually culminated in the molestation of children, inspired a qualitative multiple case study as a research design. After an in-depth analysis of each individual case, the dynamic development and course of the subconscious thought patterns of the two cases were integrated with each other by means of a cross case analysis. The cross case analysis enabled the researcher to develop detailed explanations, better insight and theories pertaining to the subconscious thought patterns underlying the sexual molestation of children. The cross case analysis was integrated with the theory of Medical Hypnoanalysis to form a general psychological structure consisting of the dynamic development and course of the subconscious thought patterns of men who molest children. The general psychological structure was subsequently integrated with previous literature, which allowed for the development of new theory. This study has found that the absence of love, which was experienced since the prenatal period, and intensified throughout, resulted in the perception of worthlessness. The absence of love led to an insecurity with regards to the self and a feeling of spiritual emptiness, a death-like feeling. Without love a person cannot survive; without love life is just not worthwhile. The subconscious mind is genetically programmed to survive, and is therefore compelled to engineer ways to establish survival. For various reasons, sexual interaction became the proof to the two molesters in this study that they were loved, that they were worthy, and thus alive. Sexual interaction was therefore the way in which survival was established. For both molesters, sexual interaction developed into a compulsion. Their emotional and spiritual survival were threatened whenever they were deprived of sexual interaction. This led to severe anxiety, which was provided by the subconscious mind in order to compel the men to have sexual interaction, and survive. It is this compulsion, together with the fact that both respondents’ emotional development was arrested at an earlier age, which led to the sexual molestation of children. The study was concluded with recommendations to psychologists on how to treat men who molest children.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The present study explores the experiences of abused women who kill their intimate male partners and are imprisoned as a result. It looks at the multiple traumas associated with the abuse, killing and imprisonment. Abuse of women violates their right of freedom and security, as well as the right to be free from torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The experiences are explored within a prison context in which these women are serving hefty sentences as a means of punishment. This is a means of prosecuting perpetrators by the criminal justice system, thus sending out a message that violence is unacceptable. The prison context is metaphorically and physically associated with phenomenon such as isolation, control, labelling, punishment, reform and rehabilitation, among many others. Social Constructionism as a postmodern epistemology becomes relevant in this study in that the concern is in explicating the process by which people come to describe, explain, or otherwise account for the world (including themselves) in which they live. Therefore, the abused women’s experiences are descriptions to be understood through the analysis of the intersubjective influence of language, family, and culture. The implication being that social construction reflects on that which is said about the world, which is the product of shared conventions of discourse that are guided by and limited by the systems of language that we use. Our understandings of reality are embedded in our patterns of action, and these understandings constrain future constructions. Language as an important tool in social constructionism is embedded in the ideas, concepts and memories arising from social discourse and is found in neither the speaker nor the hearer, but somewhere in between. Furthermore, the context of prison afforded me with the opportunity to experience a sense of communality with the women, which according to a social constructionist stance suggests that reality is co-created between people in their quest for meaning from the interpreted experiences. There is no absolute truth that represents its objectivity, implying that as the researcher, I am not entering the system searching for some single truth that is ultimate. This acknowledges that there are realities and reflexivity of events and situations that look for many alternatives deconstructed and constructed equally between the researcher and participants. In conducting this study, a qualitative method of research was used, which focuses on the description, exploration and elaboration of experiences and perspectives of the people being interviewed. The qualitative method is not concerned with numbers and statistical analysis in the way that the quantitative method is. The participants take active charge in describing and exploring experiences that bring about meaning to them and the study. The researcher is equally involved as the participants, and becomes the participant observer. Whilst the focus was directed towards experiences of abuse and the multiple implications of trauma on abused women, the larger social context of their experiences was acknowledged. Five women offenders who are in the Potchefstroom prison, participated in this research. The women were allowed to elaborate on their experiences as experts in their own lives. Through this interaction a relational process of sharing and support emerges, which is characteristic of therapeutic practices with social constructionism. In-depth semi-structured interviews provided a means to explore their incidents of abuse as perpetrated by their intimate male partners. For the purpose of collecting data, an open-ended questionnaire was used. A thematic content method was used to analyse data. Here themes are identified that represent the meaning of events constructed by the participants themselves. A thematic analysis reflected the following themes: Loss and gain, power and helplessness, hope and despair as well as connection and disconnection. Upon the identification and analysis of themes, the discussion of findings which are integrated using the social constructionist theory, was conducted. From the findings the implications of multiple traumas abused women suffer at the hands of their intimate male partners, and the result of killing and imprisonment, are explored.

Student Number : 9601703X - MA research report - School of Human and Community Development, Centre for Psychology - Faculty of Humanities / Domestic violence is recognized as a pervasive problem in South Africa. This study focused on the narratives of four abused women and attempted to establish the significance of sheltering in their lives. A qualitative research design was used based on semi-structured interviews and a short follow-up questionnaire, which were analysed thematically. The findings supported past research, indicating that the women’s experiences were very diverse, and they contained many similar features to those reported in previous studies. Each of the four women was not a passive victim, having taken the decision to leave an abusive and violent relationship. Sheltering provided for these women the protected space necessary to move beyond, and in addition provided structure and social support necessary to start to transcend the abuse. Sheltering was found to fill in the gaps created by a society in transition, in which abuse and violence are often tolerated or condoned within the existing social and family structures.

A dissertation submitted to the faculty of arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts (clinical psychology) / The present research study, located in the field of social psychology and attribution theory investigated variations in causal attributions of abused women in relation to reported severity, duration and frequency of the abuse. The study aimed to expand current attributional research to incorporate global/specific attributional dimensions of blame. Although theories of learned helplessness have been linked to global attributions of blame, this relationship has been under-researched in the area of women abuse. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / AC2017

Background: Intimate partner violence is a structural problem in our society because of the inequality between men and women. Nurses are often the first person to meet the abused woman in health care and therefore have an important role in identifying the violence and in trying to influence the women's future choices in life. Aim: To illustrate nurses' experiences of meeting women exposed to partner violence. Method: A literature-based study based on analysis of 10 qualitative scientific articles. Results: Nurses meeting women subjected to partner violence experienced a lot of emotions both at work and in private. They experienced that the lack of time in care was crucial to how they were able to respond to the women. According to the nurses, lack of training and knowledge were the main reasons to why they refrained from posing questions on experiences of violence. Fear, frustration, suffering and the feeling of not being able to perform good care affected the well-being of the nurses. Conclusion: Knowledge about the topic and time for the healthcare encounter are crucial for nurses to create trustworthy relationships and provide a good care for women subjected to partner violence. Importantly, the findings in this study show that time and knowledge are the major barriers in the care of these women. / En av fyra kvinnor i Sverige blir utsatta för partnervåld. Partnervåld förklaras vanligen med att vi lever i ett ojämställt samhälle där män som grupp strukturellt har mer makt än kvinnor. Forskning visar att orsaken till våldet framförallt handlar om mannens behov av att kontrollera kvinnan. Våld mot kvinnor går långt tillbaka i tiden och var länge ett accepterat beteende för män i samhället. Våldet är i dagens samhälle ett tabubelagt problem vilket gör att många våldsutsatta kvinnor lever i tystnad med skam och rädsla för att anmäla. Det är känt att våldsutsatta kvinnor ofta söker vård för andra symtom än de våldet orsakat. Det är därför av stor vikt att sjuksköterskan har kunskap och tid för att kunna identifiera de eventuella underliggande orsakerna till vårdbesöket samt det våld som kvinnan utsatts för. Mötet mellan den våldsutsatta kvinnan och sjuksköterskan utspelar sig olika beroende på hur sjuksköterskan väljer att bemöta henne. Personcentrerad vård lyfts ofta fram som nyckeln till bättre förutsättningar för sjuksköterskan att möta den våldsutsatta kvinnan där hon befinner sig psykiskt. En utmaning är samtidigt den emotionella påfrestning som dessa möten utgör för sjuksköterskan. Ledningen inom sjukvården har här ett stort ansvar att stötta sjuksköterskor för att kunna möta kvinnor som är utsatta för partnervåld. Studien är en kvalitativ evidensbaserad litteraturstudie. I studien har artiklar från olika länder systematiskt och osystematiskt sökts fram och använts i resultatet. Artiklarna som valdes att inkluderas har sjuksköterskor som är erfarna av att möta våldsutsatta kvinnor. De artiklar som valdes att exkluderas var där de våldsutsatta kvinnorna hade barn eller då den våldsutsatta inte var en kvinna i partnerrelation till mannen som utövade våldet. Samtliga artiklar är granskade med Fribergs (2012) femstegsanalysmetod. Samtliga artiklar granskades även med kvalitetsbedömningsmall samt att alla artiklar har ett etiskt förhållningssätt.  Resultatet är uppbyggt på tre teman och nio subteman som visade att sjuksköterskor har brist på utbildning, brist på tid, är rädda och upplever frustration under mötet med den våldsutsatta kvinnan. Dessa faktorer kunde leda till att sjuksköterskan valde att inte fråga eller se våldet. Många sjuksköterskor var också rädda för att mötet kunde drabba det personliga välmåendet. Resultatets olika teman som framkom var påverkan på sjuksköterskans personliga liv, sjuksköterskans upplevda känslor och att våga fråga om våld. Sjuksköterskor behöver mer stöd i arbetet med våldsutsatta kvinnor. Både en ökad praktisk samt teoretisk utbildning är nödvändigt för att kunna minska våld mot kvinnor.

The present thesis explored the experiences and correlates of victimization among Chinese gay men and lesbians in Hong Kong with the aim at reducing their victimization experiences in future. This thesis had two studies. Study One was a cross-sectional study to examine correlates of victimization experiences. Based on the stress and coping paradigm, an integrated model on victimization experiences was developed. The model composed of three predicting factors of victimization experiences: predispositional stressors including gender role atypicality and internalized homophobia, cognitive appraisal variables including perceived discrimination and gay/lesbian community involvement, and sexual identity management strategies including counterfeiting, integration, and confrontation. A total of 645 Chinese gay men and lesbians in Hong Kong participated in this study. Results of path analyses showed that sexual identity management strategy of confrontation was the immediate correlate of victimization. Cognitive appraisal variables, including perceived discrimination and gay/lesbian community involvement, were also directly related to victimization experiences. Predisposition stressors, including gender role atypicality and internalized homophobia, were related to cognitive appraisal variables and sexual identity management strategies, which in turn predicted victimization experiences. The cross-sectional model was examined with four types of victimization experiences, including verbal insults, physical attacks, sexual assaults, and unfair treatment; and with gay men and lesbians separately. Results showed that the model was more predictive of physical attacks and sexual assaults of gay men. Based on the final cross-sectional model, a longitudinal model on victimization experiences and a psychoeducational program on sexual identity management strategies were developed. Study Two was a three-month follow-up study to examine the longitudinal model and to evaluate the effectiveness of the psychoeducational program on reducing future victimization experiences. A random sample of 392 participants from Study One was recruited to Study Two. Results of path analyses showed that victimization experiences at T2 (Time Two) were predicted by three longitudinal paths. Confrontation at T1 (Time One) had direct impact on confrontation at T2, which was linked to victimization experiences at T2. Victimization experiences at T1 predicted confrontation at T2, which was related to victimization experiences at T2. Victimization experiences at T1 had direct effects on victimization experiences at T2. Similar to the cross-sectional model, the longitudinal model was more predictive of physical attacks and sexual assaults of gay men. Results also showed that the psychoeducational program was effective in reducing participants' victimization experiences in future. Compared with the control group, participants of the psychoeducational program used less confrontation strategy, more counterfeiting and integration strategies from T1 to T2. Participants showed greater reduction in victimization experiences than the control group from T1 to T2. Compared with lesbians, gay men demonstrated greater reduction in victimization experiences after the psychoeducational program. Limitations and service implications of the studies were discussed. / Wong Chi Yan. / "August 2005." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: B, page: 0566. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 262-291). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

As the first exploratory qualitative study on child sexual abuse in the People's Republic of China, this study adopted system-individual-culture-gender-resilience perspectives under social constructionism approach using the family as the unit of study, and extended the research parameters beyond the individual child to other systems. The data was collected through ethnography, family and couple interviews, individual interviews with parents and the abused children, participant and part-participant observation by this researcher in a village in north-eastern China. Six families were selected for the study, each with a 10-year-old daughter who had been sexually abused by the same male teacher for two years, with the said teacher engaging in molestation, masturbation, oral sex, intercourse, etc. on the girls, two of whom were also known to have been physically abused. The researcher conducted the field study between eight and thirteen months after the disclosure (over a six-month period), and sought to understand the family experiences from seven aspects: the disclosure process, the family coping, traumatic experiences (including the abused and their family), the family relational process, the reactions from extra-familial systems, the healing process for the abused, and the need for professional support. / Results indicated that while the entire family was traumatically impacted, there were significant differences in reactions from male and female parents. In responding to "one of their own" being sexually exploited by an outsider, parents made concerted efforts in facing external ramifications, often at the expense of marginalizing the abused daughter and adding an extra burden on the whole family in healing from the trauma. Furthermore, parents were observed to become more protective in the process, providing physical care and material needs, and refraining from mentioning the trauma before the abused. As for emotional support, families varied in their coping at different stages in time. At the initial stage, parents seemed to be overshadowed by shame towards their daughter's loss of chastity. As time went by, they resumed their parenting routine, until eventually the adult-, sibling- and extended family relations constituted a circular impact that would in turn impact on the parent-child relations. The external systems, the family relational reality before disclosure, as well as family financial conditions combined could either facilitate or hinder the family system in seeking change. / The study further analyzed the systems and cultural mechanisms vis-a-vis the traumatic experience and family support, seeking to de-construct the chastity myth in the Chinese rural culture, as well as expert discourses in mainstream western research that focused on a psycho-pathological approach to study trauma. It further challenged the cultural practice of attributing blame to the individuals and their family, and provided recommendations to address the above-mentioned issues. / Western studies on the sexual abuse of children and the resulting trauma on the abused and their families have adopted primarily a psycho-pathological perspective. This has led to the tendency of blaming the victim, the mother and the family. Until now, comparative studies on this subject have not been carried out in a Chinese context. / 龍迪. / 論文(哲學博士)--香港中文大學, 2005. / 參考文獻(p. 464-487). / Adviser: Joyce Ma. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-07, Section: A, page: 2753. / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in English. / School code: 1307. / Lun wen (Zhe xue bo shi)--Xianggang Zhong wen da xue, 2005. / Can kao wen xian (p. 464-487). / Long Di.