A family violence prevention program for incarcerated male offenders was evaluated. One hundred and one (101) offenders incarcerated in minimum and medium security facilities participated in a high intensity family violence prevention program offered by Correctional Services of Canada. Thirteen psychological, attitudinal, and behavioural measures were administered to the offenders. The measures were administered either pre-treatment only, pre-and post-treatment, or post-treatment only. Five measures were self-report measures completed by offenders, and eight were administered and scored by qualified corrections personnel. The offenders showed a number of positive pre- to post-treatment changes. Following treatment, offenders reported that they were less likely to rationalize their abusive behaviour or believe that being a man grants one special privileges and entitlements over women. Offenders were less likely to support the use of power and control tactics over women or to endorse an assortment of myths that can foster inequality and abuse. Following treatment, offenders were judged to have shown an improvement in their willingness to sympathize with their partner as well as an improvement in their conflict-resolution skills. Offenders were also judged to show substantial pre- to post-treatment improvements in their compliance with, and response to, treatment, as well as demonstrating an improved ability to apply the knowledge and skills learned from treatment. The Statistical Information on Recidivism (SIR) Scale failed to demonstrate concurrent and predictive validity on a sub-sample of these domestic violent offenders.

Recent research has found high rates of abuse in gay male relationships; however, little is known about their lived experience. This study aims to explore (1) the social construction of abuse in gay male relationships, (2) its discursive effects on clinical practice and (3) the lived experience of gay men involved in abusive relationships. This study included three sets of data. Using a discourse analysis, articles published in popular queer media and academic literature were analyzed to understand the social construction of partner abuse. Three focus groups, with 16 service providers, were conducted to examine the discursive effects of partner abuse on clinical practice. In-depth interviews with 21 gay men involved in partner abuse were conducted to understand their lived experience. Transcripts of the focus groups and interviews were reviewed in detail to highlight themes and concepts. Analysis revealed that gay male partner abuse is not a self-evident or natural category but, rather, socially constructed. Current discourse created two opposite categories (the victim who is powerless and helpless; the perpetrator powerful and evil) that both informed and limited the way in which service providers saw and, thus, worked with gay men involved in partner abuse. Yet, as shown in the analysis, the lived experience of partner abuse does not always fit neatly into the rigid victim and perpetrator roles. Instead, the roles are frequently unclear and contradictory. We social workers need to be aware of the discursive effects of gay male partner abuse and critically examine how they impose certain assumptions on us. Instead of seeking a “true” experience of partner abuse, we need to help these men search for meaning within the events that are relevant to them, regardless of how they fit into the normative discourse of gay male partner abuse.

This thesis will uncover how law and policy, as well as how social workers speak to their practice, shape how the Manitoba child welfare system intervenes in cases of violence against mothers. By searching for the dominant themes of "invisible fathers" and "mothers failing to protect", this project substantiates how these themes contribute to the failure of the current system to hold the perpetrator accountable for his violence. I set out to confirm the argument that men need to be included as both risks and assets in the frame of our child welfare lens when assessing risk for children, in order to realize a feminist perspective in our work with families. Discourse analysis methods from a number of sources were drawn on to reveal and analyze how the discourse of "mothers failing to protect" has emerged, and how it informs child welfare practice and policy in ways that harm mothers and children. / May 2009

Domestic violence remains a serious social issue. In North America, millions of women are victimized each year, and many of these women are victims of violence at the hand of their intimate partners. A small but growing body of research on domestic violence has shown that companion animals are among the victims of such violence. Abuse of or threats to the pets are used to control, manipulate and emotionally abuse the female partner. However, the majority of this research has focused on the perspective of the abused female partner; the male perspective is missing. Through semi-structured interviews with ten incarcerated men who have committed intimate partner violence (IPV), this thesis explores the abuser’s motivations for abuse of the pet as well as their perspective of pets in the context of a violent relationship. The findings indicate that, contrary to previous research, most men do not abuse pets in the relationship, and in fact have positive relationships with their pets. Just as pets are sources of comfort for women in abusive relationships, pets can be sources of comfort and support for the abusive men as well. When incorporated into violence intervention and treatment programs, relationships with pets can provide a venue for men construct a masculine identity in a positive way, and the treatment of animals can illustrate how violence is not an effective solution.

This dissertation explores the nature of marriage, violence, and region in the mid-nineteenth-century United States. Based on more than 1,500 divorce cases, it argues that marriages were often characterized by open enmity, not companionate harmony. Violence and cruelty between spouses generally erupted as part of ongoing struggles for power in the household and in the relationship. As the only book-length study of marital cruelty for a southern state, this work challenges much of what historians have argued about the relationship between violence and region. It finds that, contrary to what is generally understood about the American South, marriages in Texas and Virginia were not exceptionally violent, at least not compared with those in Wisconsin. The presence of marital cruelty was most pronounced in environments suffering from gender role instabilities. As the statement above shows, this dissertation takes seriously the use of gender as a lens through which to analyze marital discord. Correcting the historical perception of women’s violence as trivial, rare, or defensive, this dissertation contends that antebellum wives were indeed capable, and often willing, to commit a wide variety of cruelties within marriage. This work presents the first multi-state comparative study of marital discord focusing on the United States. Exploring nineteenth-century marriages from “way, way below” allows us to move beyond ideals to examine the messiness and unhappiness that characterized many conjugal unions.

Although scholars have been studying domestic violence for four decades now, it is only recently that domestic violence occurring in non-heterosexual relationships has received attention. The purpose of this study is to explore the interconnections between the experiences of survivors of lesbian intimate partner violence (IPV), the lesbian communities' beliefs regarding IPV, and available shelter services. The ultimate goal of this project is to describe how the experiences and practices of all three ultimately affect survivors of lesbian IPV. To accomplish this, members of the lesbian community were asked to complete an on-line survey, and qualitative interviews were conducted with both shelter employees and lesbian IPV survivors. While more than 50% of lesbians completing the online survey reported experiencing IPV in a lesbian relationship, most agreed that lesbian IPV was ignored in lesbian communities. Lesbians also agreed that survivors would not seek help from local DV shelters or police, but did believe there were appropriate services available in their area. DV shelters reported allowing lesbian survivors to access their heterosexually focused services, but offered no services specifically addressing the unique needs of lesbian survivors. Lesbian survivors reported feeling isolated, trapped and helpless due to the lack of acknowledgement and support in their communities and scarcity of available services. The findings of this study suggest that IPV is common in lesbian relationships. Despite this finding, denial in the lesbian community and the lack of appropriate shelter services continue the isolation and marginalization of lesbian survivors.

Victim offender overlap is a relatively new area of research with most studies having focused on applying this concept to the study of assault and homicide. Research in intimate partner violence has found that there exists a group of victim offenders or individuals who are involved in initiating, sustaining, and engaging in intimate partner violence as both victims and offenders (Johnson & Ferraro, 2000; Steinmetz, 1980). This Master’s thesis explored the concept of victim offender overlap in connection to intimate partner violence (IPV). Bivariate analyses were conducted using Paul C. Friday, Vivian Lord, M. Lyn Exum, and Jennifer L. Hartman’s (2003-2005) data, Evaluating the Impact of a Specialized Domestic Violence Police Unit in Charlotte, North Carolina. The findings suggest that there is a separate group of individuals involved in intimate partner violence who are both victims and offenders. Furthermore, the three groups (offenders only of IPV, victims only of IPV, and victim/offenders of IPV) were found to be different across gender, past criminal involvement, and future criminal activity as predicted. Suggestions for future research and the implications of the findings are discussed.

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No description available.

In November 2006 and July 2007, changes were made to the Social Services Law and the Criminal Injuries Law, defining children who have witnessed domestic violence as crime victims. The objective of our study is to examine if these changes have affected how social workers responsible for child protection inquiries interact with children who have witnessed domestic violence, and to what extent these children’s need of support are taken into account. Qualitative interviews have been carried out with five social workers, with the aim to evaluate how they meet and become aware of these children. Our problem-formulation is based upon the question how social services implement the recent changes to the law. The framework for analysis combines a social constructionist approach with a critical perspective. The study identifies shortcomings when it comes to the ways in which these children are encountered and the extent to which they are allowed to participate in the investigation process. The social workers interviewed have little knowledge about how children are affected by domestic violence, and also about these children’s need of help and support. The study further shows that children are not perceived as actors that have a right to participation and to be involved in the process. However, even if parents tend to be the focal point of child protection inquiries, there are also social workers who try to bring children’s rights to the fore and find ways to support these. The study thus supports the notion that it is important to see children as actors and individuals in their respective situation rather than as passive victims whose needs are overshadowed by those of the adults.