Battered women's perceptions of gender roles within the family were studied. Twenty white, working-class women who were victims of domestic violence were interviewed. It was determined that battered women have very traditional views of gender roles in the family and these views affected the choices that they made within their relationships and their ability to escape these abusive relationships.

Little research has addressed the degree to which domestic violence is mutual and whether patterns are stable across women's relationships. Studies that exist have conflicting results. This study addressed these issues and the effects of sustaining past violence on women's expressions of violence in their current relationship. Archival data from a sample of severely psychologically abused community women (N = 92) and a sample of low-income community women (N = 836) were analyzed. Results showed the presence of mutual violence in women's current relationships which was not related to past partners' violence. Results regarding the stability of violence are weak, but indicate that the frequency and severity of violence across relationships sustained by women does not decrease across relationships. Overall, results supported the hypothesis that violence is mutual in the relationships of community women, although specific patterns may differ by ethnicity.

The rationale for this study was based on the application of the cycle of domestic violence theory to elder abuse. It examined the effect of history of experienced childhood violence on tolerance, behavioral intentions, and past behaviors of elder abuse toward general and specific elderly targets. The effectiveness of educational interventions for altering tolerance and behavioral intentions of elder abuse was examined. Two hundred and twenty-five undergraduates were assessed for aging knowledge, general aging attitudes, aging anxiety, elder abuse attitudes, and elder abuse intentions and past behaviors. Participants were assigned to a High or Low Experienced Violence group and participated in an educational group or control group. Posttest and one-month followup measures were obtained. No differences were found at pretest between High and Low Violence. Level of Violence did not impact intervention efficacy. Elder abuse education altered attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of elder abuse at posttest significantly more than did aging education or control groups (p < .001), but these effects were no longer significant at followup. Elder abuse attitudes had higher relationships with elder abuse intentions and reported past behaviors than did global aging attitudes or aging anxiety (p < .05). General elderly targets yielded more tolerance, intentions, and reported past behaviors of elder abuse than did specific elderly targets (p < .001). Experienced childhood abuse was unrelated to elder abuse expression yielding no support for the role of cycle of violence in elder abuse. Specificity of target mediated elder abuse attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Primary prevention interventions which aim to reduce tolerance and intentions of elder abuse should include specific information on elder abuse; aging education is ineffective for this goal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Abstract AN EXPLORATION OF THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: LISTENING TO OLDER WOMEN By Suzanne Faries Lowe, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008 Chairman of Committee Laura J. Moriarty, Ph.D. Professor of Criminal Justice Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs There has been a great deal of research during the past four decades on the topic of domestic violence. Very little research has been conducted, however, on the effects of long-term intimate partner violence on older women. The four women who participated in this in-depth study ranged in age between 63 and 70, and each had been in a violent and abusive relationship for at least twenty years. Two of the women were divorced from their abusers, while two were still married. Each of the women was interviewed twice, for a total of between 4 ½ and 6 hours. The interview topics included discussions of their childhood, courtship, marriage, and relationships with their now adult children. Social learning, social bond, feminist, and exchange theories were used as a framework for understanding the dynamics involved in these abusive relationships. The respondent’s experiences, observations, health issues and suggestions have been used, together with an examination of the pertinent academic literature on the topics, to formulate policy recommendations and ideas for fertile areas of future research.

A multidimensional model of associations between domestic violence exposure and risk of violence and prosocial behavior was tested in a sample of Colombian adolescents, with attention to impulsivity and substance use problems as mediators of these associations. A representative sample of 1,152 school youths and a convenience group of 148 juvenile offenders aged 11-19 years was recruited from Medellin, the second largest city in this South American country. Assessment was carried out in classrooms in the school sample and in correctional institutions for juvenile offenders. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the conceptually derived models. Similarly, multisample analyses and nested model comparisons were used to explore mediator effects. Results showed strong associations between domestic violence exposure and putative mediators and outcomes, especially among offenders. Though impulsivity and substance use problems mediated the relation between family violence (i.e., exposure to interparental violence) and adolescent maltreatment (i.e., harsh parenting) and violent and prosocial behavior in both groups, impulsivity exerted a greater effect on adjustment among juvenile offenders than their counterparts. Juveniles who reported less ability to inhibit their impulsive responses engaged in more problems related to illicit substance use, violent acts (e.g., carrying weapons at school and in the streets), and less prosocial activities with their peers. Nonetheless, the best model fit indexes were obtained when paths from impulsivity to substance use problems and violent behavior were added to model comparisons. Results are discussed within the framework of Information-Processing theory for understanding pathways to violent and prosocial behavior.

This study addresses the question, "What is the lived experience of Southeast Asian immigrant women who live in the United States related to domestic violence, including the relationships with their partners, their knowledge of domestic violence, and the existence of domestic violence in the Asian community?" Fourteen Thai women engaged in semistructured interviews during which they were asked to describe their experience. This study chose the phenomenological approach, using content analysis that identified six major themes representing essential aspects of the experience, as described by the participants: (a) Knowledge about Domestic Violence and Sources of Information, (b) The experience of Domestic Violence, (c) The existence of Domestic Violence among Thai Women, (d) Factors Considered to be Violence-protective, (e) Life as a Thai Wife, and (f) Ability to Perform Duties as a Woman. Ten of the participants had not experienced domestic violence by their husbands; two had been abused in previous marriages; one was currently being abused by her husband; and one had abused her husband early in their marriage. The women defined domestic violence as abusive actions identified by physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse, including assault and threatening behavior. The women's knowledge of domestic violence was based on personal experience, witnessing abusive behavior in other relationships, or reports in mainstream media sources. The study's findings confirm the existence of domestic violence in the Thai community. The participants identified the husband's infidelity as the main cause, followed by family background creating a generational chain of abusive behavior. Protective factors that prevent domestic violence are the husband's supportive characteristics, the wife's financial independence, and confidence in the U.S. legal system. Although the majority of the study participants did not experience domestic violence, they encountered various constraints, such as feelings of frustration and helplessness, attributed to the challenges of immigrant women adapting to a new society and culture. Despite limitations involving recruitment, this study expands the knowledge of domestic violence among Thai immigrant women, providing valuable insight for healthcare professionals interested in improving culturally sensitive resources for these women. The study's findings also provide important evidence that suggests the need for further research to examine domestic violence among Southeast Asian immigrant women living in the United States.

In the past twenty years a global trend has emerged illustrating increasing rates of violence against women, with HIV rates among this population also steadily on the rise. Despite the burden of the problem, there is scant corpus of literature exploring the influence of domestic violence on HIV. Therefore, this study examined the association between domestic violence and women’s decision to consent to HIV testing, and their HIV status. Using the 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey, it was found that Zambian women who have experienced domestic violence are 13% more likely to consent to an HIV test. After adjusting for residence as a confounder, women who had experienced domestic violence were 11% more likely to test positive for HIV. Studies similar to this one could provide the basis for future policy and program planning that would have significant implications on violence against women in HIV prevalent populations.

The aim of the thesis was to find out how domestic violence was framed in the Czech printed media. The analysis was based on the findings of Robert Entman, who defined framing as selection and emphasising of certain attributes in the media (Entman, 1993). The work brought about a theoretical introduction into the concept of framing which became a part of the media studies in the last twenty years and which currently deals with all phases of media text origination and interpretation. The framing method was applied on a chosen topic of domestic violence, in connection with the new law on protection of abused people, which came into effect on January 1, 2007. Five weeklies (Blesk pro ženy, Instinkt, Květy, Reflex, Respekt) were selected for analysis and the monitored period of one calendar year from January 1, 2007, to January 1, 2008, was set. In the practical part, a qualitative analysis was carried out, determining the frames and research hypotheses for further interpretation of framing of given topic. Subsequent quantitative analysis studied the methods of article framing by individual magazines and eventual differences in the approach to this topic from the viewpoint of prevailing stereotypes associated with domestic violence. Attention was also paid to the question whether the magazines provided...

English abstract Domestic violence in society This thesis is divided into two parts to reflect the definition of domestic violence as a very broad social (gender) and legal term. The opening chapter provides an introduction to the theory of domestic violence along with en explanation of its elementary features and concepts. The chapter describes domestic violence as a societal problem which - in the light of statistically proven (and surprisingly frequent) occurrence and presumptive high latency - cannot be put aside as a marginal pathological phenomenon. Such (erroneous) conclusion, however, is tempting since there are many myths around intimate violence, as is a general misapprehension that both victims of domestic violence as well as persons abusing their close relatives can be unmistakably identified. The author of this work aspires to refute such conclusions by pointing to criminological as well as victimological specifics of a person that is the victim or perpetrator of domestic violence. The second chapter explores the factors of feminization of domestic violence, including the aspects of gender, gender socialization and its dynamics, discrimination and violence against women. Worldwide, domestic violence is still considered a subcategory of violence against women, despite the facts that anyone can...