This study examined meditative practices among group participants and therapists, participating in the Domestic Violence Focused Couples Treatment (DVFCT) group using the phenomenology and systems frameworks. Specifically, this inquiry explored whether or not group participants and therapists experienced intrapersonal effects as well as relational effects from meditating, both within and outside of session. Little research examines the relational impact of meditating, or the use of meditation as a strategy for helping couples who experienced intimate partner violence. Systems theory and existing research regarding mindfulness meditation contributed to the development of interview questions. Five group participants and four therapists who facilitated the Domestic Violence Focused Couples Treatment group within the last two years were interviewed. The main theme that had emerged from the study were the differences between meditating during session versus out of session for all study participants. In the study, it was noticed that group participants also experienced more relational effects then were noticed by the therapists. While the experience for the therapists and group participants varied, some similarities were found consistently through their interviews. Also included are a discussion of the connections between these themes and the existing literature, the strengths and limitations of this study, and the implications for future research. / Master of Science

Partnervåld eller våld i nära relationer (IPV) är kostsamt för både individ och samhälle. Våldet tenderar att bli grövre ju längre tiden går och en normaliseringsprocess är påbörjad. Ett lidande uppstår hos den som blir utsatt och tidigare forskning visar att en av sex patienter som utsätts för IPV inte fångas upp av vården. Sjuksköterskan har ett ansvar att ge god vård till sina patienter vilket också innefattar att screena sina patienter för IPV. Hur upplever egentligen patienter att bli screenade för våld i nära relation och hur är deras upplevelse av vården? Syftet med denna studie är att belysa patienters upplevelser hur våld i nära relation bemöts av hälso- och sjukvården. Denna studie är en kvalitativ litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats som baseras på sju vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultatet presenteras under två teman, Modet att berätta och Omvårdnadens betydelse i mötet med IPV-utsatta. I resultatet framkommer det att patienter ser positivt på att bli tillfrågade och screenade för IPV. Men då vården upplevs nonchalant av IPV-utsatta patienter och att vårdpersonal upplever en tidsbrist kan det också bidra till negativa känslor hos de som är utsatta för IPV. Slutligen diskuteras vikten av att vårdpersonal ger relevant information till IPV-utsatta patienter, för att den inre förberedelsen ska infinna sig och en vårdande relation kan ta vid. För att skapa en vårdande relation behöver patienten känna tillit och förtroende, de vill bli respekterade även om de är IPV-utsatta.

In the United States, intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most common cause of non-fatal injury for women. The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is an evidence-based maternal and early childhood health program where nurse home visitors seek to develop therapeutic relationships and provide health promotion interventions with low-income, young pregnant women and first time mothers and their children, from early in pregnancy until the child’s second birthday. In this program, nurses have a responsibility to identify women exposed to abuse and provide supportive interventions. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of this work on nurse home visitors’ professional and personal selves. A secondary qualitative content analysis was conducted using a sample comprised of 27 nurses, 18 community partners, and 4 nurse supervisors from an original case study by Jack et al. (2012) for the development of a nurse home visitation IPV intervention. Conventional content analysis and constant comparative techniques were used to code 8 nurse focus group transcripts and 43 transcripts from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with the community partners and supervisors. Nurses identify that clients are exposed to multiple types of violence. These experiences increase the complexity of delivering the NFP home visitation program. Nurses also experience high levels of uncertainty related to how to respond to disclosures, and how to address IPV. The presence of IPV also significantly impacts many facets of the nurse-client relationship. At times nurses struggle with wanting to “fix” the client’s relationship with her partner; yet understand this is not a healthy response. Setting boundaries and clearly defining one’s role in this work is complex, and many nurses experience high levels of anxiety, worry and fear for their clients. Supervisors and community members confirm nurses’ experiences but also provide strategies for reflective supervision and community level support. Nurse home visitors are in a unique position to provide care for women exposed to IPV and recommendations are provided for nursing education, practice and research in this field. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

This systematic literature review was conducted to gather a better understanding of screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) among older adults. IPV affects millions of people every year. Many screenings are conducted with women of reproductive age in medical settings, not older adults. This study focused on ways to improve screenings for older adults by addressing topics including elder abuse and IPV and the lack of resources/knowledge for IPV survivors who are older adults. This study was a literature review conducted with the University of Central Florida’s PRIMO database to find articles on IPV among older adults over the last 20 years. The search resulted in 123, with only 14 meeting the criteria, including a focus on older adults, for the results. The results demonstrated ways to improve screening, screening barriers, and information about what should occur after screening, including providing resources to survivors of IPV. The data from this study can be used to help older adults who are experiencing IPV .

The purpose of this multiple case study was to gather information about female aggression in situationally violent relationship. The interviews and surveys of four African-American couples were coded and analyzed to gather information about the impact of female aggression on the relationship, the contextual factors surrounding female aggression, and the motivations for female aggression. The results indicated that female aggression impacts the couple relationship in several ways. First, female aggression is typically minimized by both partners. Another impact on the relationship is that it leads to further escalation of aggression, as well as leading the couple to question their commitment to each other. Female aggression also appeared to become part of the couples struggle for power. The study also identified substance abuse and a family history of abuse as two of the contextual factors present with female aggression. The motives for female aggression that were identified included frustration, wanting control over the relationship, abandonment and retribution. One couple identified self-defense as a motivation for female aggression. Implications for future research and for clinical practice are offered. / Master of Science

The focus of the current study was to determine if SIP biases and perspective-taking serve as mediators between parental intimate partner violence (IPV), aggression, and interpersonal dominance in emerging adults' romantic relationships. We analyzed archival data comprised of self-report measures and TAT stories administered to 84 undergraduate students (women n = 62, M age = 21.73) between the ages 18 and 35. To test our hypotheses, we modified the social information processing model by incorporating perspective-taking, as measured through Interpersonal Decentering. Overall, we did not find significant association between witnessing parental IPV and Interpersonal Decentering maturity in college students. However, women's father-to-mother IPV was significantly negatively associated with Interpersonal Decentering maturity. For our mediation model, SIP aggressive responding biases were significantly associated with Interpersonal Decentering (average of story average scores) and with the presence of aggression in current romantic relationships; however, Interpersonal Decentering was not significantly predictive of aggression in current romantic relationships. Gender differences, study strengths and limitations, and future research directions are discussed.

The aim of this report was to study how men abused by female perpetrators experienced intimate partner violence and the treatment they received from the society while seeking help and support. The report was based on qualitative research which included four interviews which have been analyzed with a hermeneutic research approach, through the theories of gender and masculinity, the normalization process, stigma, recognition and denial, forms of capital and the concept of codependency. The results of the study showed that intimate partner violence affecting men often consisted of psychological violence, which made it more difficult to report and led to great amounts of hidden statistics regarding its extent. This could also lead to difficulties for friends and family of the abused men, facing the problem and the ongoing situation, which led to difficulties for the men, receiving help from them. Another contributing factor to why the problem is unknown might be the lack of formal help where abused men can seek help, which may also lead to a lack of reports regarding the problem. This lack of help may contribute to the men distrusting the help that society can offer. / Syftet med studien var både att studera hur våldsutsatta män med kvinnliga våldsutövare upplevde våld i nära relationer samt det bemötande de erhöll från omgivningen när de sökte hjälp och stöd. Studiens empiri byggde på kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra informanter, detta material analyserades utifrån en hermeneutisk ansats och med hjälp av teorier om genus och maskulinitet, normaliseringsprocess, stigma, erkännande och missaktning, former av kapital samt begreppet medberoende. Studiens resultat visade på att våld i nära relationer som drabbar män till stor del utgjordes av psykiskt våld, vilket gjorde det svårare att rapportera och ledde till stora mörkertal gällande dess omfattning. Detta kunde även försvåra för de drabbade männens närstående att bemöta den situation som männen befann sig i, något som sannolikt komplicerade för männen att erhålla informell hjälp. En annan bidragande orsak till att problemets utsträckning sällan framkom kan berott på avsaknaden av formella stödinstanser som våldsutsatta män kunde vända sig till, varför våldets förekomst inte kartlades. Denna brist bidrog hos samtliga informanter till en sviktande tillit gällande samhällets sociala skyddsnät.

Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva och diskutera forskningen avseende partnervåld i samkönade relationer mellan män samt att undersöka faktorer som påverkade våldet, och analysera våldsutsatta mäns upplevelser av hjälpsökande. Metod: För att besvara syftet genomfördes en litteraturöversikt utifrån scoping-review metodik. Femton artiklar inkluderades och analyserades med innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet visade att forskningsfältet avseende våldsutsatta homo -och bisexuella män var framskridande. Fem teman identifierades; emotionellt våld, hjälpsökande, samhällsnormer och centrala begrepp, våldets processer, risk -och skyddsfaktorer. Emotionellt våld var vanligast, samhällsnormer såsom heteronormativitet och homofobi skapade stigma. Internaliserad homofobi och inlärda könsnormer skapade ytterligare hinder för män att ”komma ut” som homosexuella och som våldsoffer. Droger förekom, liksom andra riskfaktorer, såsom ålder och hiv-status. Slutsats: Genom tillämpande av ett systemteoretiskt perspektiv och nivåindelning, kunde växelverkan mellan olika faktorer belysas på ett sätt som klargjorde behovet av och betydelsen i tillämpandet av ett helhetsperspektiv i arbetet med våldsutsatta homo -och bisexuella män. / Purpose: The aim was to describe and discuss research about partner violence in same-sex relationships between men, together with exploring factors that influenced violence, and analyze the experiences of help-seeking. Method: a literature review was conducted based on scoping-review methodology. Fifteen articles were included and analyzed with content analysis. Results: Research on gay and bisexual men exposed to violence was progressing. Five themes were identified: emotional violence, help-seeking, societal norms and key concepts, processes of violence, risk -and protection factors. Emotional violence was most common, societal heteronormativity and homophobia created stigma. Internalized homophobia and gender norms created barriers for openness as gay and victim. Drugs, age, and HIV was mentioned as risk factors. Conclusion: Through a system theoretical perspective and level arrangement, interaction between factors could be highlighted in a way that clarified the need for and importance in the application of a holistic perspective in the violence preventive work.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur mäns våldsutövning i nära relationer beskrivs i tidigare forskning. Detta gjordes genom en litteraturstudie beståendes av elva artiklar. Empirin analyserades genom en tematisk analys. Innehållsanalysen pekade ut flera återkommande kategorier vilket resulterade i fyra huvudteman och flera underteman. Första temat vilka män representeras i forskningen följdes åt av underteman ålder, etnicitet, och socioekonomisk bakgrund. Andra temat våldsutövande mäns förklaringar till våld med underteman kontroll och makt och kontrollförlust. Tredje temat könsnormer med underteman mannens överordning och rättigheter och kvinnans underordning och skyldigheter. Fjärde temat våldsformer med underteman vilka våldsformer beskrivs i forskningen och vilka våldsformer beskrivs inte i forskningen. Studieresultatet pekar ut flera viktiga aspekter i forskningen kring mäns våldsutövande. Däribland att mätinstrumenten för att undersöka våld i nära relationer är begränsade och ger en alltför snäv bild av de former våld kan ta. Utöver detta lyfter studien sexism, tidigare trauman, PTSD, aggressionsproblematik makt- och kontrollbehov som riskfaktorer till att utveckla ett våldsamt beteende. Sammantaget bidrar gällande studie till att ge en fördjupad förståelse för de faktorer som bidrar till att män utvecklar ett våldsamt beteende i nära relationer, hur våldet definieras och hur männen representeras i tidigare forskning. / The aim of the current study is to examine how men's intimate partner violence is described in previous research. This was achieved by performing a scoping review containing eleven articles. The empirical data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. Analyzing the content determined several reoccurring categories resulting in four main themes with further sub-themes. The first theme which men are represented in previous research followed by the sub-themes age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. The second theme violent men's reasoning for violence with sub-themes control and power and loss of control. The third theme gender norms with sub-themes men's rights and superiority and women's duties and subordination. The fourth theme forms of violence with sub-themes which forms of violences are included in previous research and which forms of violence are not included in previous research. Several important aspects discerning men's violence were attained in the result of the study. The methods used for measuring intimate partner violence were limited and provided only a narrow view of the expressions of violent acts. Furthermore, risk factors such as male chauvinism, previous trauma, PTSD, anger issues and the need for power and control are linked with the possibility of developing a violent behavior. Finally, the current study provides an extended understanding of which factors may lead to the development of men's intimate partner violence, the definitions of domestic violence and the representation of these men in previous research.