La violence interpersonnelle n’a encore jamais été globalement étudiée pour l’Égypte antique. Elle a été examinée pour les époques lagide et romaine, mais à partir de la seule documentation grecque. Cette thèse a pour objectif l’étude de ce phénomène au Nouvel Empire et aux époques grecque et romaine. Cette approche comparative vise à souligner les spécificités propres aux deux grandes périodes, ainsi que les similarités dans l’expression et le traitement de la violence interpersonnelle. Pour mener cette recherche, tous les textes égyptiens des périodes envisagées mentionnant une agression physique dans un cadre quotidien ont été traduits et analysés. Le corpus de cette étude intègre des textes documentaires, littéraires, royaux et funéraires. Une analyse du vocabulaire de la violence a été menée, ainsi qu’une étude des mécanismes du règlement des conflits violents. Enfin, a été posée la question d’une spécificité de ces aspects en fonction de la nature des protagonistes de la violence. / Interpersonal violence in Ancient Egypt has never been subjected to a comprehensive study. Papyrologists examined it for the Hellenistic and Roman periods, though based on the sole Greek documentation. The objective of this dissertation is to study this social phenomenon for the New Kingdom, and the Greek and Roman periods. This comparative approach endeavours to highlight the characteristics and similarities of each epoch in the mechanisms of expression and treatment of interpersonal violence. For this purpose, every Egyptian text from the New Kingdom, and Greek and Roman periods that reports a physical assault has been translated and analysed. Therefore, this research includes documentary, literary, royal and funerary texts. A thorough analysis of the terminology of violence was carried out, as well as a study of the mechanisms of conflicts regulation. Finally, the issue of specificities according to the gender, the social status and the age of both victim and assailant was raised.

The purpose of this project was to improve support for victims of domestic violence. To that end, this project developed an evidence-based program to provide information about domestic violence including safe and confidential ways to seek assistance, rights as cohabiting intimate partners, and the resources available to community members. Several approaches were used to develop, validate, and plan for implementation and evaluation of this program, which was developed for 3 sites in Broward and Miami-Dade counties where the project is situated. The program logic model and the social ecological model, including the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels, were used to guide this project. In addition, scholarly works from 2000 to 2013 were selected from ProQuest, CINAHL, Ebscohost, Medline, and Ovid Nursing Journals to develop this program in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of 7 community stakeholders including a physician, advanced practice nurse, law enforcement officer, pastor, and 3 recovery center directors with knowledge in these areas. Content validation involved incorporating feedback from the project team. The target population for the project includes women and men aged 18 or higher who have experienced domestic violence, homelessness, and drug addiction. Community operationalization of the initiative will be facilitated by implementation and evaluation plans developed as part of this project. The project includes community education that may help organize events and campaigns, increase domestic violence awareness among community members, and influence policy regarding issues pertaining to domestic violence.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adequacy of the Stages of Change model in a group therapy treatment program for male batterers. The sample consisted of three groups with a total sample size of 22 participants. Data for this study were obtained by administering the Safe at Home Instrument and the Group Climate Questionnaire – Short Form. Results indicated the Safe at Home Instrument had limited clinical utility with involuntary male batterers. Independent of scoring method used, the majority of participants reached the action stage early in group treatment. Because the action stage is the highest stage attainable in this study, further growth was not measurable. The lack of variability in participants’ scores on the Safe at Home Instrument limits its clinical usefulness. Results from the Group Climate Questionnaire – Short Form indicate the groups did not progress according to a popular group development theory (MacKenzie & Livesley, 1983). The groups appear to enter the differentiation stage but do not successfully master the developmental issues needed to progress through the subsequent stages. The results from both instruments indicate that treatment groups with involuntary, male batterers did not progress as expected. Recommendations for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

This thesis examines the persistent widespread discrimination against widows in Uganda and Nigeria that results from mandatory observance of harmful widowhood rituals, interpersonal violence, disinheritance, and forceful deprivation of property in marriage, in violation of and contrary to the provisions of international and regional human rights conventions and domestic laws. The thesis argues that international, regional, and domestic laws have not been effective to address the violation of widows’ rights because the terms in which these laws are expressed are not meaningful at the grassroots level. The thesis proposes social, cultural, economic, and legal measures to address the use of widows as cultural tools. In this thesis, I use the term ‘cultural tools’ to refer to the use of widows in Uganda and Nigeria, as in many other sub-Saharan African countries, as embodiments of cultural identity, especially in most parts of rural areas. Widows are used as tools to perpetuate traditional cultural customs such as widowhood rituals, levirate marriages, disinheritance, and widow cleansing. Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) proclaims that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. This provision is complemented by various international and regional instruments on discrimination and gender equality. Using the Igbo tribe of the Eastern part of Nigeria and the Baganda tribe of Uganda as case studies, my thesis examines to what extent widowhood rites amount to an infringement of the human rights of the widows in most part of the sub-Saharan African countries. The thesis examines the various international, regional, and domestic laws as they apply to or affect Nigerian and Ugandan widows either as a consequence of their status as widows or as members of the community. Thus, in light of the gap between international and state laws, on the one hand, and cultures and customary law on the other hand, this thesis draws insights from the concept of “vernacularization”. This approach combines the views espoused in Sally Engle Merry’s work and argues that to change the cultures and practices of customary law on the ground, initiatives must be taken at the grassroots level.

In the United States Armed Forces, 30% of women in the military suffer physical assault each year; in 2009, there were 22 reported cases of sexual assault in the U.S. Central Command. Aggravated assault, gang violence, sexual assault, homicide, and suicide can damage the morale of military personnel at a deployed site and collectively cost millions of dollars over time. Interpersonal violence in the United States military is destructive to the military system and directly diminishes mission readiness. This study was designed to illuminate the environmental, cultural, and political influences that affect interpersonal safety among military women in the deployed environment of Afghanistan with the goal of discovering mechanisms to improve interpersonal safety for that population. Grounded theory was used to analyze data obtained from U.S. military women in Bagram, Afghanistan and their environment concerning interpersonal safety. This information was used to generate a relational social theory based on themes, patterns, and relationships; the theory of US Military Interpersonal Safety, Violence Prevention, and Response. This theory is intended to improve interpersonal safety as well as prevent and counter violence in the deployed setting. Applying this theory is expected to promote better assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of violence prevention and response healthcare programs meant to mitigate violence and assist military members who have been victims of violence. This study promotes positive social change by identifying precursors of interpersonal violence in a deployed environment and creating a strong foundation for understanding how to prevent interpersonal violence and create response programs to address this issue.

This dissertation examines the role of "acceptable" feminine violence in Restoration and eighteenth-century drama and fiction. Scenes such as Lady Davers's physical assault on Pamela in Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740) have understandably troubled recent scholars of gender and literature. But critics, for the most part, have been more inclined to discuss women as victims of violence than as agents of violence. I argue that women in the Restoration and eighteenth century often used violence in order to maintain social boundaries, particularly sexual and economic ones, and that writers of the period drew upon this tradition of acceptable feminine violence in order to create the figure of the violent woman as a necessary agent of social control. One such figure is Violenta, the heroine of Delarivier Manley's novella The Wife's Resentment (1720), who murders and dismembers her bigamous husband. At her trial, Violenta is condemned to death "notwithstanding the Pity of the People" and "the Intercession of the Ladies," who believe that although the "unexampled Cruelty [Violenta] committed afterwards on the dead Body" was excessive, the murder itself is not inexcusable given her husband's bigamy. My research draws upon diverse archival materials, such as conduct manuals, criminal biographies, and legal records, in order to provide a contextual grounding for the interpretation of literary works by women. Moving between contemporary accounts of feminine violence and discussions of pertinent literary works by Eliza Haywood, Susanna Centlivre, Delarivier Manley, Aphra Behn, Mary Pix, and Jane Wiseman, the dissertation examines issues of interpersonal violence and communal violence committed by women.

Most children exposed to interpersonal violence experience multiple forms of victimizations that are more predictive of trauma symptomatology than single traumatic incidents. This exploratory study seeks to extend research that suggests a child’s intrinsic strengths may help mitigate the development of serious psychiatric symptoms for children experiencing multiple interfamilial victimizations. Utilizing a diverse clinical sample (N= 106) of children 7 to 18 years of age who were exposed to multiple family traumas or to non-interpersonal traumas, path analysis models (moderation, mediational, and moderated mediational) were employed across potential explanatory or attenuating demographic factors (age, ethnicity, and gender) to ascertain the associations between multiple interpersonal maltreatment types experienced, childs’ behavioral and emotional strengths, and their posttraumatic stress symptomatology and/or behavioral and emotional difficulty symptoms. / text

This study generates a metatheory of interpersonal violence from an initial qualitatively highest scoring academic literature item and theoretically sampling over 200 additional literature items using classic grounded theory methodological analysis and synthesis. Danger emerged as the main concern of those experiencing interpersonal violence. Safetifying from interpersonal violence through the socio-psychophysical process of Phasic Protective Sequencing emerged as the resolution of the main concern. The metatheory of safetifying emerged in four parts: 1. The first was the socio-structural process of endangering with interpersonal violence through the interaction of the people and the elite resulting in endangerment (danger). 2. Danger precipitates the socio-psychological process of safetifying before interpersonal violence which involves awarenessing, setting up, and evaluating. 3. If the person is attacked, it precipitates the psycho-physical process of safetifying during interpersonal violence including resiliencing, finishing, and victoring. 4. The aftermath of an attack or the avoidance of an attack precipitates the psycho-social process of safetifying after interpersonal violence including reclaiming, relinquishing, and achieving. The metatheory of safetifying was shown to contribute uniquely to the field of interpersonal violence, to many related theories, and to have potential for therapeutic application. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Le mouvement féministe des années 1970 et 1980 a engendré des changements sociaux profonds en Amérique du Nord, notamment en ce qui a trait aux agressions sexuelles. Ces changements sociaux se sont traduits, à partir de 1983, par des modifications législatives importantes au Canada. Les études ayant suivi ces changements ont examiné la coercition sexuelle dans la population non délinquante. Une des conclusions notables de ces études est l’existence d’un chiffre noir important en ce qui concerne les agressions sexuelles. En effet, les études réalisées dans les années 1980 ne tenaient pas compte des femmes en tant qu’agresseurs, car le phénomène était perçu comme étant typiquement masculin. Ce n’est qu’à partir des années 1990 qu’un intérêt se forme concernant la coercition sexuelle commise par les femmes. Il est alors révélé que certaines attitudes et croyances soutiennent l’agression sexuelle tant chez les femmes que chez les hommes. Des similitudes sont également établies entre la coercition sexuelle des femmes et des hommes. Peu d’études existent sur la prévalence de la coercition sexuelle en considérant autant les femmes que les hommes comme agresseurs potentiels. Il est important d’examiner les attitudes et croyances par rapport à la coercition sexuelle dans la population non délinquante au Québec indépendamment du genre. Pour ce faire, nous avons construit un sondage en ligne via l’outil Survey Monkey. Ce sondage comprend quatre mesures afin d’examiner les attitudes en lien avec les croyances erronées entourant le viol, l’hostilité envers les femmes, l’acceptation de la violence interpersonnelle, ainsi que les croyances antagonistes et le conservatisme sexuel. Un cinquième instrument a été utilisé afin de mesurer les expériences sexuelles de victimisation et de coercition. L’échantillon comprend 354 étudiants(es) de l’Université de Montréal provenant de diverses associations étudiantes. Les principaux résultats montrent que les femmes rapportent moins de croyances antagonistes que les hommes. Toutefois, il n’y a aucune différence entre les femmes et les hommes en ce qui concerne les croyances erronées entourant le viol, l’hostilité envers les femmes, l’acceptation de la violence interpersonnelle, les croyances antagonistes et le conservatisme sexuel. En ce qui concerne les comportements sexuels, les femmes rapportent davantage de victimisation sexuelle que les hommes. Peu de coercition sexuelle est rapportée tant par les femmes que les hommes. Par contre, les hommes affirment avoir commis plus de coercition sexuelle que les femmes. Les résultats montrent aussi que l’hostilité envers les femmes prédit la victimisation sexuelle chez les femmes. Par ailleurs, les croyances erronées entourant le viol prédisent les comportements sexuels coercitifs chez les femmes alors que le conservatisme sexuel prédit la coercition sexuelle chez les hommes. En outre, les résultats montrent que la victimisation sexuelle prédit les comportements sexuels coercitifs tant chez les femmes que chez les hommes. / Feminist movements in the 1970s and 1980s brought about profound social changes in North America, such as the occurrence of sexual assaults. These social changes were translated into legislative modifications in Canada, as of 1983. The studies following these changes examined sexual coercion in non-delinquent populations. One of the notable conclusions of these studies is the existence of a significant dark figure with respect to sexual assaults. Indeed, studies done in the 1980s did not take into account female aggressors, as the phenomenon was perceived to be typically one attributed to males. Academic interest in sexual coercion committed by females is rooted in studies published in the 1990s. It was revealed that certain attitudes and beliefs are associated with the trivialization of sexual assault in women and in men. Similarities were also established between sexual coercion committed by males and females. Little studies on the prevalence of sexual coercion have considered both men and women as potential aggressors. It is important to examine the attitudes and beliefs related to sexual coercion in the non-delinquent populations of Quebec. An online survey was conducted using Survey Monkey. This survey contained four measures to examine attitudes associated to erroneous beliefs regarding rape, hostility against females, tolerance of interpersonal violence, as well as antagonistic beliefs and sexual conservatism. A fifth instrument was used to measure sexual experiences, both in terms of victimization and coercion. The sample contained 354 students of the Université de Montréal coming from various student associations. The main results showed that females report less antagonistic beliefs than males. However, no differences were found between females and males regarding rape myth acceptance, hostility toward women, acceptance of interpersonal violence, adversarial sexual beliefs and sexual conservatism. In terms of sexual behaviors, females reported more sexual victimization than males. Little sexual coercion was reported in females and males. Results, however, showed that males had committed more sexual coercion than females. Additionally, it was found that hostility towards women predicted sexual victimization in females. Further, erroneous beliefs on rape predicted coercive sexual behaviors in women, whereas sexual conservatism predicted sexual coercion in women. Finally, sexual victimization predicted coercive sexual behaviors in both females and males.

This thesis includes four studies investigating the experiences of abused women. According to ecological approaches different systems should be considered when conducting research into abused women and their experiences. The first study involved women who successfully left an abusive relationship. An ecological approach was used to investigate the experiences of the women in the different phases of their relationship, including the initial attraction to the partner, the development and sustaining of the abuse and her attempts to leave until her final decision to leave permanently. An important finding was the importance of considering and investigating all systems and levels when dealing with abused women, including those who have left and those who are contemplating leaving this relationship. The second study found that women who experienced physical abuse were often hurt in anatomical locations that were indicative of impulsive violence. The abuser used any object in the heat of the moment to attack the victim and no premeditated planning was evident in the type of injuries sustained. The women further reported that medical practitioners did not investigate the causes of injuries and that they were not referred to social services or organisations dealing with abused women, although they were recognised as suffering from abuse. The intersection of abuse of women and HIV was the topic of focus of the third study. A review of the records of abused women revealed that many abused women were subjected to risk factors for contracting HIV, with counsellors focussing only on abuse issues. Longitudinal case studies, of women exposed to both conditions, revealed that they lacked social support and were often secondarily victimised by the social welfare systems. An environmental scan found that social and health care services were not accessible to these women. The final study investigated intervention strategies to combat burnout in workers at an organisation dealing with abused women. The importance and effectiveness of creative exercises and art sessions were determined in combination with debriefing and supervision sessions. The studies all considered systems that are important in service delivery to abused women. A holistic and systemic investigation and treatment of abused women is shown to be essential, as is the importance of grass roots research. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)