A six-group randomized experimental study was used to investigate the factors that are associated with a marriage and family therapist's decision to work with clients individually or as a couple when they present with intimate partner violence (IPV). Investigated factors included the type of IPV experienced by the clients, the therapist's accuracy in identifying the type of violence experienced by clients, and the therapist's experience with IPV in their own romantic relationships, as moderated by levels of differentiation. Participants included 275 members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. A chi square test revealed that participants who received vignettes portraying situational couple violence were more likely to endorse couples treatment as the preferred treatment modality than participants who received vignettes portraying intimate terrorism. Additional chi square tests revealed that among participants who received vignettes portraying situational couple violence, those who were accurately able to identify the type of violence portrayed in the vignette were more likely to endorse couples treatment as the preferred treatment modality than those who did not accurately identify the type of violence. Additional analyses, however, suggest that accurate identification and appropriate treatment choice may be more difficult in situations in which intimate terrorism is taking place, especially when women are the perpetrators of this abuse. Logistic regression indicated that there was not a significant relationship between therapists' personal experience with IPV and endorsement of treatment type. In addition, differentiation did not moderate the relationship between IPV experienced in participants' own romantic relationships and their endorsement of couples treatment. The current study indicates that marriage and family therapists are likely to make IPV treatment choices primarily based on the type of violence experienced by the couple. It appears that IPV treatment choice is not influenced by personal experience with IPV, but rather by the therapist's accurate identification of IPV type and the gender of the perpetrator of abuse. These findings ultimately highlight the need continued education on IPV, IPV types, gender biases with regards to IPV, and the importance of taking safety into consideration when making treatment decisions. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / July 7, 2014. / Counseling, Differentiation, Domestic Violence, Family Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Marriage and Family Therapy / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank Fincham, Professor Directing Dissertation; Dina Wilke, University Representative; Wayne Denton, Committee Member; Lenore McWey, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185369 |
| Contributors | Cobb, Rebecca Ann (authoraut), Fincham, Frank (professor directing dissertation), Wilke, Dina (university representative), Denton, Wayne (committee member), McWey, Lenore (committee member), Department of Family and Child Sciences (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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