Magister Legum - LLM / In a country in which human rights feature prominently in our discourse about who we are, as well as in the South African constitutional and legal framework, so many wrongs continue to be perpetrated on women and children. However, children seem to be particularly affected by domestic violence, either physically, emotionally or socially. In order to adequately address these diverse experiences and understand what children say, an in-depth investigation into how children experience domestic violence, and what their views are, is required. The study will focus on those children who had been affected emotionally and socially in their homes. This study will make an attempt to expand on how children experience domestic violence, what the general reaction of a selected group of children, who have observed domestic violence, is and what their views of domestic violence are. Attention was given to the relevant literature as well to legislative and policy frameworks. The study employed a qualitative research method in order to obtain in-depth data from the children. Children were selected from three schools in a small Northern Cape town, which participated in the study and the schools were grouped as follows: one school from each area, which are Nonzwakazi, Sunrise and De Aar (town). Each high school had five participants. The participants‟ ages were between 12 and 17. All the participants reside at De Aar which is situated in Prixley kaSeme District about 300 kilometres from Kimberley, Northern Cape Province. Data was coded according to the themes that emerged from the study and were analysed. The results indicated that children are able to share their experiences when given the opportunity. It is further shown in the results that children view domestic violence as a wrong and that men are the sole abusers. It further indicated that children do not have confidence in the courts; they are of the view that the courts are being too lenient on the abusers and they further said that more protection orders should be issued in order to prevent domestic violence. They blame this on non-responsiveness of the police when they are called and the kind of punishments the courts impose when the abuser is brought before court.The majority of children expressed their wish to see justice being done. The study found that children are of the view that there is little support from the police and the courts. The study concluded that children, acting voluntarily and with appropriate ethical safeguards, can make a significant contribution to both describing their experiences of domestic violence, and to indicating the standard of services and other interventions that they can trust and use.

There is a need for understanding the stories behind domestic violence and HIV/AIDS in women. Many research studies focus on the interaction between domestic violence and risky behaviours for HIV/AIDS infection and have ignored the experiences of women who are caught up in these situations. This study aims at exploring the experiences of HIV-positive women who are victims of domestic violence and tries to understand their feelings regarding their HIV status and the violence. Factors that contribute to the spread of HIV in women are also explored. It is argued that domestic violence and other socio-cultural factors are the driving forces behind the high incidence of HIV/AIDS in women. These factors also contribute to the continuation of dominant themes of domestic violence. The emerging stories further indicate that cultural factors situate women in positions that limit their ability to make decisions in the relationship, including sexual decisions. In the context of domestic violence, it not only becomes difficult for women to cope with their HIV diagnosis, but their positive HIV status also leads to the continuation of domestic violence. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

This thesis analyses women’s stories and experiences of living in a relationship with domestic violence. The study is done in order to gain a deeper understanding of what the retaining mechanisms are that prevents women from leaving their partner. The research is carried out by the usage of qualitative textual analysis of autobiographical novels. With the support of the theories of shame and the normalization process it is possible to accentuate how women are staying in their relationships because of the mental degradation caused by the man. The retaining mechanisms are numerous and complex and both socio-economic and psychological factors contribute to that women stay in the relationship, which previous research also has concluded. This research concludes that the retaining mechanisms evolve and change throughout the relationship. The women’s reason for staying in the relationship is in the beginning their love for the man but later on in the relationship it evolves further into embracing the reality of the man and making the reasons for the violence legitimate

The issue of domestic violence continues to be of great concern to society. It is crucial counselors have an understanding of dynamics of domestic violence and the impact it has on victims. Even with heightened awareness of the past decade, the issue continues to be misunderstood, missed altogether by counselors, and sometimes misdiagnosed. This study was created to explore the level of understanding masters level counseling students have of domestic violence, battering behavior, victimization, socioeconomic preconceptions, and counseling victims. Masters level counseling students from the University of North Texas, Denton, TX and staff members of two battered women's shelters from the Dallas, TX area participated in a survey to identify the level of knowing and sensitivity to the issue of domestic violence. Upon completion, an independent t-test was conducted to measure differences in these areas between the two groups. Results indicate a need for counseling students to better understand this issue and implications for client/victims.

Masters of Art / This study examines the effects of domestic violence on adults who witnessed abuse as children in their homes. It seeks to ascertain if the childhood emotional trauma of domestic violence influences the growth and social adaptation of children in their later years. Despite the growing awareness of domestic violence worldwide, there is nevertheless an alarming number of women reporting abuse, and there are those who are reportedly beaten or inflicted with bodily harm at the hands of their abusers. However, most of these domestic or household conflicts take place in situations where children are involved. These children witness such abuse and grow up carrying emotional and physical scars that impact their functioning as members of society. The study adopts a life history approach to investigate 15 adult participants (five women and ten men) within evolving themes relating to their experiences of domestic violence and other life ordeals during their childhood that made them end up at the Elim Night Shelter in Cape Town, South Africa. The study is anchored on the explication of such key concepts as domestic violence, abuse and the physical, social, emotional and behavioural effects of abuse. Furthermore, the study identifies the social consequences of growing up in an abusive environment. The findings of the study reveal that people who witnessed acts of domestic violence as children experience negative consequences as adults. Recommendations have been listed which could assist the further study expansion on the topic, together with intervention strategies.

Domestic violence has long been studied as a factor in health issues, specifically chronic illness and mental health issues. However, less research has been conducted concerning domestic violence as a risk factor for certain infectious diseases. Mozambique has alarmingly high rates of both domestic violence and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. The object of this research is to ascertain if there is link between women who suffer from domestic violence and risk of being HIV positive. The data used for this analysis was obtained from a 2018 survey conducted in Mozambique by the Department of Health Surveys (DHS). The data was cleaned to remove any observations that did not contain responses to relevant questions surrounding domestic violence and HIV positivity. The final population used for analysis was 2125 individuals. During analysis, age was identified as a possible confounder, and was included in analysis as well as in the final logistic model. A chi squared test was performed which indicated that a relationship exists between Domestic Violence and HIV Positivity (p=.0003). A second chi squared test also indicated a relationship between Age and HIV Positivity (p=

This national survey reports the current state of batterer intervention programs (BIP) and the provision of batterer intervention services. BIP directors (N = 150) provide data regarding program structure, service characteristics, referral processes, client characteristics, evaluation activities, and recidivism. Results indicate that BIP have become more independent of parent agencies and two-thirds are completely selfsupporting from client fees. Current development of specific treatment tracks and the screening of clients for these tracks are judged to be inadequate. This survey is believed to be the largest to date and the first on a national scale in 20 years. Recommendation is made for national coordination of BIP efforts.

Introduction and Background: Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a growing global concern that affects patients encountered by nurses. DVA is defined as anything that is used to establish and maintain control over another person. The occurrence of DVA has ongoing negative consequences for patients related to their safety, especially if nurses are not properly trained to detect and control the situation. Purpose Statement: For all registered nurses, does ongoing training opportunities and implemented universal screening processes on DVA, as compared to inadequate training and generalized screening processes, lead to effectively detecting DVA and providing better emotional, physical, and safety interventions for patients? Literature Review: The process of our literature review included the use of searching the ETSU library scholarly database and comparing our findings from twenty different peer-reviewed research articles. In the search methods used, we chose to look at multiple studies that researched DVA globally. Findings: The major findings of our research as a team included: communication barriers that exist for patients who are victims of DVA, establishing rapport to build better trust with patients, the necessity of standardized screening tools to assess for DVA, the incorporation of the entire healthcare team to create a more supportive network that includes on-call domestic violence advisors, and continuing education for nurses. Conclusions: Key takeaways that were found in our research included eliminating communication barriers with patients, using developed tools to strategically screen for domestic violence and abuse, and the importance of ongoing DVA training for nurses.

This study investigated the impact of working with domestic violence victims on domestic violence shelter workers. Recent research has shown that working with trauma victims may have a profound impact on the worker, including levels of intrusive and avoidant PTSD symptoms as well as distorted beliefs about the self and others. This was the first study to examine secondary traumatization in the domestic violence worker population. Results suggested that domestic violence workers are experiencing levels of secondary traumatization slightly higher than sexual assault counselors, a group used for comparison due to their similar job demands and client population. Though this study attempted to ameliorate symptom levels by providing feedback, and feedback with suggestions for improvement to two treatment groups, no significant effects were found post-treatment. Various reasons were offered for this lack of effect, including the lack of adequate sample size at follow-up. Overall, several predictors of secondary traumatization were confirmed, the most notable of which was social support. Individuals with high levels of social support tended to have less symptoms of secondary traumatization, and individuals with high levels of social avoidance tended to have more symptoms of secondary traumatization. For this sample, trauma history was not found to predict secondary traumatization symptoms. These findings were discussed in relation to the vicarious traumatization model of indirect trauma. Clinical implications and implications for future research were also offered. This study was supported in full by the Agency for Healthy Care Policy and Research Grant for Health Service Dissertation Award, number R03 HS10036-01. / Ph. D.

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in the subject of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology (Faculty of Arts) at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2011. / Spousal abuse is a public health concern and is common in all races and ethnicities. It may take on various forms such as; physical beating, verbal/ emotional/ psychological abuse, sexual abuse, or financial abuse. Women often remain in abusive relationships for financial security, fear of further harm, and because of socials stigmatization. This study focuses on the psychological empowerment of female victims of spousal abuse through philophonetics. Philophonetics-counselling is a therapeutic intervention which appreciates the complexities of the human form. It is an approach that offers the possibilities of healing and experiencing the fullness of what life could be. Seven female victims of spousal abuse participated in the study and these participants reside in the Rustenburg area. A qualitative approach was utilized, with data being analysed applying hermeneutics. The results indicated the success and effectiveness of the philophonetics modality. Each participant disclosed and described significant shifts in their production of the imprints (IT) of abuse. Self help tools were given so as to ensure that participants could prevent further IT’s from entering their body, and thereby heal themselves. Findings in the current study show that the utilization of such a modality is effective in empowering the target population. It is therefore recommended that the process of empowerment through philophonetics be continuous.