This study focused on the emotional abuse suffered by victims, who were professional women, within a marriage or a cohabitating relationship. Researcher made use of various sources to obtain data concerning the phenomenon of emotional abuse and its context within domestic violence. Several components of various theoretical perspectives were utilised to design an explanatory model, the Interactional model of the process of victimisation by an emotionally abusive partner, to direct the research and to interpret the data. Researcher made use of non-probability sampling strategy. All respondents were selected by means of the snowball and purposive sampling methods. The sample consisted of 11 professional women who came from professions that belong to a governing body, such as medical doctors, dentists, psychologists, attorneys, teachers and a veterinarian. The sample consisted of women of various age groups who were in abusive relationships for periods ranging from five to 27 years, therefore providing a wide range within the research sample. Researcher did case analyses of the different backgrounds of both the victims and their abusers, made possible from information obtained from the respondents during in-depth interviews. This was done in order to reach a holistic understanding of the dynamics within these relationships and the victimisation process throughout the duration of these relationships. Against this background, researcher was better able to analyse and interpret the data obtained from the respondents, with the use of the Interactional model of the process of victimisation by an emotionally abusive partner, and various other authors. A rich and insightful understanding of the phenomenon of emotional abuse within the lives of these professional women was reached. The research concludes with a number of recommendations for the healing process of the victims of emotional abuse and recommendations for further research. Researcher also makes several conclusions based on findings from the interviews conducted with respondents in this study. / Dissertation (MA (Criminology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

Domestic violence is a pressing issue in South Africa and has been the subject of much debate, activism and academic research. It is commonly argued that violence between intimate partners remains largely hidden and that women in marital and cohabiting unions endure much physical, emotional and sexual abuse. This qualitative study focuses on the experiences of a small group of women living in KwaMhlanga, in Mpumalanga. Although the women had been fearful of reporting their abuse and had spent years suffering silently, all had finally displayed much urgency in reporting the actions of their abusers. In reflecting on their circumstances, the women refer to the primary factors influencing their partners to become abusers: unemployment, financial hardships and poverty, alcohol and drugs, and factors such as immature attitudes, cultural beliefs and jealousy. It is also argued that the institutions of ‘marriage’ and ‘cohabitation’, whilst similar, introduce slightly different constraints and expectations. Married women suffered more abuse and were controlled than their cohabitant counterparts. The study makes no policy recommendations but emphasises the importance of doing substantive work to probe women’s experiences of abuse in intimate unions in all parts of South Africa. Copyright / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Sociology / unrestricted

This study aims to explore the experiences and coping mechanisms of black middle class women who remain in abusive marital relationships. The study also aimed to explore the reasons black women attach towards remaining in marital abusive relationships. Even though our current democratic Government has put efforts towards fighting against domestic abuse, South Africa is still characterised by high rates of domestic abuse. In South Africa a woman has about one in three chances of being violated in her life time, which puts it amongst the highest statistics of violence in the world, with one in six women standing a chance of being abused by her intimate partner in her lifetime (People Opposing Women Abuse, 2005). Domestic abuse does not just involve minor forms of physical assault, but, frequently, serious injury and even death. According to statistics from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation at Wits University, one woman is murdered by her partner every six days in the Gauteng province in South Africa. Qualitative approach, as well as literature review and in-depth interviews have been used in order to study the experiences of abused women in the Mpumalanga province at KwaMhlanga. The theoretical approach used was (i) Social Learning Theories which focused on the mechanisms whereby family members influences each other through modelling, reinforcement and coercion to behave violently, (ii) The feminist theory in which the origins of abuse included stereotyping and patriarchal values, (iii) the General Systems Theory which demonstrates that abuse cannot be explained by focusing on an individual level, but rather that systems interact and as they interact, they influence the reaction of others. General System’s theory was used as the backdrop of the study because it provided a broader understanding of how abuse occurs within a family system and hence allowed the researcher to explore the experiences and coping mechanisms of women who remain in abusive marital relationships. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants. The criteria included that the participants were currently in abusive marital relationships and had at least a tertiary qualification and were employed in middle management job position. Nine participants were interviewed using individual in depth interviews. The interviews were audio recorded and field notes were taken. Data was analysed qualitatively. Five broad categories formed a framework for the analysis. (i) The Experiences of abused women, (ii) the Impact of remaining in an abusive relationship, (iii) the Meaning attached to staying, (iv) the Coping mechanisms used by abused women, (v) and Social support. The themes were coded in form of numbers, counting the number of times the theme occurs in an interview, data was collected until a level of saturation was reached. The themes were then compared and integrated with the literature. The study concludes that abuse occurs in all social groups and that a complexity of factors contribute towards black middle class women resorting to remaining in marital abusive relationships, for example, culture and societal beliefs and structures, personality factors, and lack of support. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

This is an exploratory study on the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act No 116 of 1998 in South Africa. It is a case study of two townships in the Nkonkobe Municipality District, Eastern Cape Province. The study was conducted at Ntselamanzi and Upper Qhumashe townships in Nkonkobe Municipality District, Eastern Cape. Since this is a qualitative exploratory study, in-depth interviews were conducted on a sample of ten women in abusive relationships and focus group interviews were conducted on five service providers for a triangulation. A study of related literature focused on African women in battered relationships. An African women’s perspective on the experiences of abuse have been explored. Gender based radical feminist views were discussed and legislations and conventions were analyzed from a human rights perspective. The implementation of the Domestic Violence Act and the role of service providers were also looked into. The findings suggest that African women experience abuse in partner relationships. They sustain grievous bodily harm, psychological, emotional and financial abuse. The patriarchy system, alcohol abuse, infidelity, traditional practices and failure to maintain children have been cited as some of the reasons. The social networks and service providers assisted these women to some extent. However, there is need for ethnic sensitive interdisciplinary training approach on African communities on the Act and a legal system that is accessible to rural women in order to curb further abuse. Various recommendations have been put forward. The study indicated a need for ethnic sensitive empowerment programs for the abused, rehabilitative programs that take into cognizance human rights violations of these women and the abusers, and effective legal remedies to prohibit women abuse.

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.

While interagency collaboration among Children’s Aid Societies and violence against women (VAW) agencies have been mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Service, little is known about these local collaboration agreements. This study seeks to explore how the Ottawa CAS/VAW Collaboration Agreement mediates the work of VAW agencies to protect women and children. Using a purposive sample, a total of eight VAW informants were interviewed. Smith (1999) argued that people’s everyday experiences are organized, often unknowingly, by the actions of people located outside the local setting and that this organization is textually-mediated. This study used institutional ethnography and the listening guide approach to critically examine the collaboration process. The results explore the narratives and standpoints as they relate to the informants’ understanding of the agreement and their descriptions of doing collaboration. This study also adopts the mapping technique developed by institutional ethnographers to map social relations. The findings indicate that informants differed in their familiarity and knowledge of the contents of the collaboration agreement – only two informants indicated that they have reviewed and read the document. The findings also show that although most informants were able to describe positive experiences of collaboration, most also described negative experiences. This study concludes that the collaboration agreement has made VAW workers’ work with women more focused and specific to helping women address Children Aid Society’s concerns. The findings demonstrate that the collaboration agreement requires an update and further research is required to evaluate these collaborations and whether they improve outcomes for women and their children.

Domestic abuse is “the willful use of an intimidating action [physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern] to exert power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (“What Is Domestic Violence?”, 2016). For African American women in the United States, “some studies have found that negative racial and sexist stereotypes portray African American women as aggressors rather than as victims due to their perceived rough, aggressive, and outspoken characteristics. Because of these persistent stereotypes of African American survivors, police can mistake the victim as the aggressor, thus reducing the amount of legal action taken to aid them. The past and present domestic violence responses have little positive economic or social effects on African American survivors. This thesis argues for educational changes to improve the legal response from law enforcement agencies for African American survivors of domestic violence. Realistic solutions such as, changing the stereotypical image of African American survivors, having law enforcement agencies enforce laws in domestic violence cases, and incorporating mandatory implicit bias and cross cultural communication trainings in a variety of educational areas can help resolve the low amount of law enforcement being used for African American domestic violence victims, unconscious racism in courtrooms, and ineffective mandatory arrest policies.

Orientador: Marcelo de Castro Meneghim / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Odontologia de Piracicaba / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T10:37:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Faria_Carlosde_M.pdf: 4807344 bytes, checksum: 315ea61a8c3379ad98017a1e4f92728a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: A violência doméstica é um problema que atinge as famílias com uma abrangência global. As vítimas procuram a polícia com queixas de agressões de formas diversas e são atendidos nos serviços Médico-legais, muitos dos quais não contam com odonto-legistas, como é o caso do Departamento Médico Legal (DML) de Vitória. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as lesões localizadas no aparelho estômato-gnático e as marcas de mordedura humana localizadas em qualquer segmento corporal, resultantes de violência doméstica. Foram selecionados 906 laudos médico-legais de pessoas com queixa de violência doméstica, ocorridos no período de janeiro de 2002 a dezembro de 2003, que descreviam lesões de lábios, mucosa oral, gengiva, dentes, língua e região mandibular ou lesões de mordedura humana em qualquer local do corpo. Os seguintes aspectos foram analisados: idade, sexo das vítimas e sua relação de parentesco ou vizinhança com o agressor, momento em que ocorreu a agressão, gravidade das lesões, marcas de mordedura humana, quantidade de lesões em cada pessoa, ¿animus laedendi¿ dos agressores. Os resultados foram os seguintes: a mulher é a vítima mais freqüente; embora predominem agressões entre cônjuges os mais diversos parentes agridem-se entre si e ocorrem muitas agressões entre vizinhos; predominam lesões leves produzidas por ação contundente e as ocorrências concentram-se mais à noite e em finais de semana; as marcas de mordedura localizam-se mais freqüentemente nos membros superiores e têm aspectos variados. Conclusão: Todos os 906 casos apresentavam ferimento de boca ou região mandibular, ou marca de mordedura. Muitos casos apresentavam mais de uma lesão do aparelho estômato-gnático gerando um total de 1013 lesões e as marcas de mordedura representaram um total de 252 casos. Estando estas lesões no âmbito da odontologia legal, a presença do odonto-legista no DML poderia contribuir para a boa finalização dos laudos respectivos / Abstract: Domestic violence is a problem among families worldwide. Victims usually present at medicolegal services with complaints about several kinds of aggression. In most cases, these medicolegal services, just like the one in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, lack forensic dentists. The aim of this work was to assess lesions located at the stomatognathic apparatus, as well as human bitemarks found at any body segment resulted from domestic violence. Medicolegal reports (n=906) on domestic violence registered between January 2002 and December 2003 were selected. These reports comprised descriptions of lesions in lips, oral mucosa, teeth, tongue and jaw region, or even human bitemarks in any part of the body. The aspects analyzed were: age and gender of the victims; their relationship to the aggressor (a family member or a neighbor); when aggression occurred; lesion severity; human bitemarks; number of lesions in each person; and ¿animus laedendi¿ of the aggressor. Results showed that women are the most frequent victims; although aggressions between spouses predominate, violence is also widely observed among neighbors and relatives themselves. Minor lesions resulting from contusion also predominate; occurrences concentrate most frequently at night and on weekends; bitemarks with varied aspects are found in most cases at upper limbs. In conclusion, all cases (n=906) involved bitemarks or lesions in the mouth and jaw region. Many cases showed lesions (n=1013) in the stomatognathic apparatus; bitemarks were observed in 252 of the cases. Since these lesions involve Forensic Dentistry, the presence of a forensic dentist at a medicolegal service would be of great importance for a more accurate identification of cases involving domestic violence / Mestrado / Mestre em Odontologia Legal e Deontologia

The aim of this study was to examine the experience among women who have been victims for domestic violence in heterosexual relationships. More specifically the purpose of this study was to gain an understanding when it comes to how women manage to live with the violence and also to examine why some women are staying in the relationship despite being exposed to violence. Another purpose was to find out how women experienced support from authorities if they requested such support. The study was based on reading five autobiographies written by women who have been in a relationship with partner who was abusive both physically and mentally. The normalization process and emotions as a theory were used as theoretical perspectives. The results showed that the women of the study tended to get used to the violence over time and that they started to accept it as a part of their relationship. Another result of the study was that the women felt feelings of shame which resulted in the fact that they kept quiet about the violence and therefore stayed in the relationship. Lastly one of the main results of the study showed that women overall did not feel satisfied with the help and support that they gained from authorities.

The aim of the study was to investigate the social service's approach and handling of cases related to honor-related violence and oppression. Furthermore, we wanted to map the boundary the social service makes between honor-related violence and oppression and violence in close relationships. In order to provide a detailed analysis of the aspects and questions that shall follow, a qualitative thematic analysis method has been used by conducting four semi-structured interviews with social secretaries from a social office in Sweden. The results showed that social secretaries define and manage honor-related violence and oppression in different ways. There is also no clear boundary between the phenomena, however, there are certain factors / motives in the respondents' responses that are of great importance to the social workers when they define honor-related violence and oppression. Some common underlying factors / motives are the collective or the nuclear family, culture or sexuality. It was also found that respondents often associate problems of honor with people of foreign origin. Another interesting observation worth highlighting was that several of the respondents did not really have any direct action plan or special guidelines to follow. In addition, the interviews showed that the most common intervention is family therapy and thus it is the first intervention offered.