Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Child Protection Services In Preventing Child And Adult Domestic Homicides: Missed Opportunities And Barriers To Change, Laura Olszowy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation involves three studies exploring the risks children face living with domestic violence (DV) and the critical role of child protection services (CPS) in assessing risk in DV cases. The first study examined the involvement of CPS before domestic homicides cases as reviewed by the Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC). One in five of the homicide cases where children were present in the family system had prior involvement with CPS. The underlying themes of DVDRC recommendations directed to the child welfare sector highlighted the need for enhanced ongoing services to promote safety and hold perpetrators accountable, specialized …

Missed Opportunities For Saving Children From Domestic Homicide: Implications For Prevention, Intervention, & Community Collaboration, Katherine Reif

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation is comprised of three studies that explored the risks faced by children exposed to domestic violence, as well as systemic and agency-related recognition of, and responses to, these risks. Literature in the field has demonstrated that children living in these circumstances are at risk of significant adverse outcomes stemming from their exposure to domestic violence, and at its extreme, domestic homicides (Alisic et al., 2017; Jenney & Alaggia, 2014). In addition, these children are also at risk of becoming homicide victims in the context of domestic violence, either through being directly targeted in the homicide, or as a …

"Sometimes You Have To Be The Leader": A Minnesota Oral History On Fighting Sexual Exploitation, Trudee Able-Peterson

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Prostitution survivor Trudee Able-Peterson used oral histories to research and document the efforts of women and men to respond to the sexual exploitation of women and children in Minnesota. Her findings illustrate the leadership needed to overcome centuries of commercial sexual exploitation to obtain a beginning societal response. Respondents indicated the importance of their interaction with pioneer leaders in other locales. Their comments also illustrate the many issues and challenges still facing the community.

Prior Help-Seeking And Intuition Of Danger In Domestic Homicide Victims., Kristina Giacobbe

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Domestic violence and homicide can be reduced when victims seek effective and timely assistance or friends, family and community professionals offer support. One important factor in help-seeking is a victim’s intuitive sense of fear. Several factors related to this fear were examined including the presence of children in the home, perpetrator’s controlling behaviours, and mental health and/or addiction concerns of victims of DH. A retrospective case analysis was performed using domestic homicide case data reviewed by the Domestic Violence Death Review Committee (DVDRC) in Ontario, Canada. Victims who displayed an intuitive sense of fear were compared to victims who did …

Experience Of Resilience Among African American Women Who Left Abusive Relationships, Audrey L. French

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rate of DV for AA women is higher than other groups and often more severe; however, some AA women are successful in leaving the violence for good. Researchers continue to examine how victims move beyond their former life and into an abuse free environment by directing more attention on positive dynamics of victims of DV. One area is the study of resilience; however, little is known about the lived experience of resilience. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of resilience in AA women who successfully abandoned an abusive relationship. The interview questions were …

Risk Factors For Domestic Homicide: Immigrant & Canadian-Born Populations, Sakthi Kalaichandran

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Domestic violence is a critical human rights issue that can escalate to cases of domestic homicide. Globally, approximately 30% of women in relationships have reported experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner. In Canada this pattern is echoed, as over 25% of police-reported violent offences were from victims of domestic abuse. Recent research has revealed that immigrant & refugee victims experience unique risk factors that may render them more vulnerable to this form of violence. Yet, despite this burgeoning research area, and Canada’s diverse population of 6 million immigrants, there is a dearth of research pertaining to domestic …

Exploring Dimensions Of Vulnerability In Victims Of Domestic Homicide, Natalia Musielak

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gender-based violence is rooted in a network of multidimensional constructs encompassing personal, situational, social and cultural elements, as well as the intersectionality of these elements. Current research on victims of domestic homicide has not incorporated the use of this lens and has had a tendency to focus on a singular construct as independent and autonomous. The present study explored 20 dimensions of victim vulnerability. Cases from the Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee were analyzed to examine the presence and frequency of these dimensions within the sample. Using two-step cluster analysis, different profiles of vulnerable victims were determined. Relationships between …

Survivors' Experiences Of Pet Abuse Within The Cycle Of Domestic Violence, Taylor Chastain Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence is a pervasive issue that impacts all members of a household, including pets. There is comprehensive quantitative evidence to suggest that domestic violence and pet abuse commonly co-occur; however, as the personal accounts of pet-owning survivors have started to emerge through qualitative investigation, more research is needed to understand the unique experiences of pet abuse that take place alongside instances of domestic violence. This phenomenological investigation utilized control balance theory and a feminist framework to uncover the experiences of survivors who entered their pets into an animal care program specifically designed to help during times of domestic violence …

Long-Term Survivors' Coping And Resiliency Strategies After Leaving An Abusive Relationship: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Denise Monet White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious social problem and a noteworthy health issue internationally. In the United States, approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men experience a combination of cruel and violent treatment by an intimate partner. This phenomenological study used lived experiences from both men and women ranging in various ages from 40-70 years to understand their coping and resiliency strategies post-separation from an abusive relationship for 10 or more years. The conceptual framework was guided by Lazarus' transactional theory of coping and psychological stress and the theory of psychological resiliency, which is linked to understanding the ways …

Estimating Costs And Benefits Associated With Evidence-Based Violence Prevention: Four Case Studies Based On The Fourth R Program, Claire Crooks, Jennifer Zwicker, Lana Wells, Ray Hughes, Amanda Langlois, J.C. Herbert Emery

Education Publications

Teen violence in dating and peer relationships has huge costs to society in numerous areas including health care, social services, the workforce and the justice system. Physical, psychological, and sexual abuse have long-lasting ramifications for the perpetrators as well as the victims, and for the families involved on both sides of that equation. An effective violence prevention program that is part of a school’s curriculum is beneficial not only for teaching teenagers what is appropriate behaviour in a relationship, but also for helping them break the cycle of violence which may have begun at home with their own maltreatment as …

Extending The Aces Framework: Examining The Relations Between Childhood Abuse And Later Victimization And Perpetration With College Men, Laura A. Voith, Raeann E. Anderson, Shawn P. Cahill

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research has revealed that forms of violence are interconnected, but less work focuses on the interconnection of victimization and perpetration, particularly with men. Subsequently, our understanding of the complexities of violence exposure in men’s lives and related policies and treatments remains limited. The present study utilizes a sample of at-risk for violence involvement, college men, to examine the relationships between childhood victimization, adulthood victimization, and adulthood perpetration. Participants are 423 college men receiving course credit who completed a battery of standardized questionnaires via an anonymous web survey. Logistic regression is used. Results indicate that 27% of the men report polyperpetration …

Returning To Abusive Relationships: Related And Predictive Factors, Rachel Leanne Swadley

MSU Graduate Theses

Domestic violence and interpersonal abuse affects one-third of women and can have extreme negative consequences on the victim's psychological and physical health and well-being. Recently, the related area of a victim's choice to return to an abusive relationship has been studied more thoroughly, although the body of literature in this area is still relatively small and only provides limited evidence for factors predicting return to abuse. The current research examined the possible risk factors of victims of interpersonal violence in leaving and returning to abusive situations. 40 participants were recruited from a domestic violence shelter and completed a questionnaire packet …

Emotion Regulation Moderates The Relation Between Family-Of-Origin Violence And Intimate Partner Violence In Men Arrested For Domestic Violence, Grace Bomar

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Professor Breaks Ground With Journal On Sexual Violence And Exploitation, Joseph Essig, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Barbie Doesn't Have Bruises: Gendered Images Of Anxiety And Avoidant Attachment Relationships In Film, Claudia G. Chiang-Lopez

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Viewers’ interpretations of romantic relationships portrayed between those with anxious and avoidant attachments can affect their opinions on what constitutes appropriate relationship behavior. I conducted a literature review on media impacts and offer an interpretation of the implications of the language used to describe characters, relationships and characters’ ends. The films studied - Sunset Boulevard, Sid and Nancy, and The Hustler - showed a pattern where in a relationship between an anxious and an avoidant character, the anxious character was punished, absorbed by their relationship, abandoned, trapped in their life, and cut off from the world. Viewers watch films to …

Familial Factors Predicting Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence In African American Adolescents, Cassandra Clarke-Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teen dating violence is more prevalent among African Americans than any other racial group in the United States leading to serious health consequences for victims. However, limited data exists on how African American adolescents' attitudes and perceptions regarding dating violence are formed, and whether they are influenced by family members. The purpose of this nonexperimental correlational study was to determine whether nonverbal or verbal communication from family members predicted adolescents' attitudes and perceptions toward dating violence. Survey data from 84 African American men and women ages 18 to 24 were collected using the Normative Beliefs About Aggression Scale, the Acceptance …

An Exploration Of Emotional Intelligence In Victim-Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Terri L. Ratliff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite decades of preventive education and services for intimate partner violence, such violence continues. Studies have shown mixed evidence regarding the effectiveness of current treatment options and prevention remains paramount. If victims seek therapy, the focus is typically on a single diagnosis, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, rather than cause-and-effect. Emotional intelligence in abusers of intimate partner violence has been tested and studied. There is literature on victims, but they are rare, regional, and examined only female participants resulting in conflicting findings. There is a gap in research in the review of the nuances of emotional intelligence in …

Empirical Investigation Of A Model Of Sexual Minority Specific And General Risk Factors For Intimate Partner Violence Among Lesbian Women, Robin J. Lewis, Tyler B. Mason, Barbara A. Winstead, Michelle L. Kelley

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: This study proposed and tested the first conceptual model of sexual minority specific (discrimination, internalized homophobia) and more general risk factors (perpetrator and partner alcohol use, anger, relationship satisfaction) for intimate partner violence among partnered lesbian women.

Method: Selfidentified lesbian women (N = 1,048) were recruited from online market research panels. Participants completed an online survey that included measures of minority stress, anger, alcohol use and alcohol-related problems, relationship satisfaction, psychological aggression, and physical violence.

Results: The model demonstrated good fit and significant links from sexual minority discrimination to internalized homophobia and anger, from internalized homophobia to anger and …

Adolescent Perceptions Of Dating Violence: A Qualitative Study, Sarah Taylor, Carrie A. Calkins, Yan Ruth Xia, Rochelle L. Dalla

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Scholars have identified dating violence as a public health issue among adolescents. Yet, minimal research has detailed adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, specifically gender differences in perceptions. Research suggests that in order for dating violence prevention and intervention to be effective, services need to be delivered in a manner that is understood by adolescents. Therefore, this study used a qualitative phenomenology study to investigate adolescents’ perceptions of dating violence, including gender differences in adolescents’ perceptions. Thirty adolescents between the ages of 14 and 19 from a Midwest public high school participated in focus groups. Focus group participants were asked semistructured …

Prosecuted But Not Silenced: Courtroom Reform For Sexually Abused Children By Maralee Mclean, Barry Goldstein

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Of Reflective Functioning To Parent Child Interactions In A Sample Of Fathers With Concurrent Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration And Substance Abuse Problems, Carla Smith Stover, Erica Elizabeth Coates

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

This study is the first to examine reflective functioning (RF) and direct parent-child interactions of fathers with concurrent intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and substance abuse (SA) problems. Twenty-four fathers, with children between the age of one and seven, completed a structured interview to assess RF, self-report measures of hostile-aggressive parenting behaviors, IPV perpetration severity, SA severity, and a coded play session with their children. Results of three simultaneous multiple regressions revealed that RF in fathers was not associated significantly with observed parenting behaviors. However, fathers' SA severity emerged as a significant predictor for child avoidant behavior and dyadic tension, …

The Impact Of Prior Experience Employees’ Perceptions And Beliefs About Workplace Policies And Practices, Michael D. Saxton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Domestic violence (DV) is associated with negative consequences for victims, children, families, and even national economies. More recently, research has demonstrated that DV also has a serious impact on workers and workplaces. Less is known about Canadians’ beliefs toward the impact DV has on workers or the extent to which individuals are able to identify co-workers’ experiences of DV. Using data from a pan-Canadian sample of 7,834 men and women, the current study examined: 1) how prior experiences with DV relates to beliefs toward the impact DV has on workers, 2) how gender and age relates to beliefs toward DV’s …

Who Is Helpful?: Examining The Relationship Between Personality Factors And Supportive Responses And Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence Victims, Christina Elisabeth Riley

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic violence perpetrated by men against women persists as a major human rights issue in the United States and around the world with some estimates showing that one in four women will be victimized in their lifetimes. Victims face many obstacles when they try to leave their abusive partners. A major barrier faced by victims is secondary victimization. Secondary victimization is the process in which informal (e.g., family, friends, etc.) and formal (e.g., police officer, judges, etc.) supporters re-victimize the victim by questioning the validity of the abuse, excusing the perpetrator, and blaming the victim. Because most victims seek help …

Factors Associated With Disclosure Of Domestic Violence At The Workplace, Laura Olszowy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Workplaces have been increasingly recognized as an important venue for supporting and building safety for domestic violence victims. It is important to understand factors that are associated with disclosure of domestic violence at the workplace. This study utilized data from a pan-Canadian online survey on domestic violence and the workplace as the basis for an analysis of sociodemographic variables and situational variables that may be associated with the likelihood that a victim discloses domestic violence at their workplace. Results revealed that over 40% of victims disclosed in the workplace, with varying disclosure rates according to sociodemographic characteristics and the experience …

Vicarious Battering: The Experience Of Intervening At A Domestic Violence-Focused Supervised Visitation Center, Tracee Parker

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This descriptive phenomenological research illustrated the experience of women who worked in a supervised visitation program (SVP) specifically developed to address safety concerns related to allegations of domestic violence. The SVP policies and procedures were designed not only to prevent physical assault and abduction but also to intervene in vicarious battering—a term introduced to describe the attempts by men who battered to exert control over, undermine, and/or intimidate the mothers of their children via interactions with their children and the visitation staff. The results of this research demonstrated the challenges of intervening in the context of court-ordered supervised visitation. Data …

Incarcerated Men And The Etiology Of Intimate Partner Violence, Roxanne Swogger

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explored the lived experiences of 15 incarcerated men with a history of intimate partner violence.This qualitative grounded theory study revealed the impact significant loss in childhood, the most critical being the loss of a parent, had on these men.The results showed a significant loss set in motion a series of adaptive and maladaptive interpersonal behaviors with significant others, primarily parents and intimate partners that continued through adulthood and incarceration.The grounded theory dimensional analysis revealed five primary dimensions that described the dominant social processes described by the participants.These processes were:seeking, overcoming, blaming, controlling, and disengaging behaviors.The consequences of these …

Predictive Factors Of Gender, Attitudes Towards Sec, And Relationships On Signs Of Dating Violence In Japan, Joshua Murphy, Niwako Yamawaki

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Domestic violence is on the rise and poses serious societal and health concerns. Studies have shown that between 21% and 34% of all women in the United States will be physically assaulted by an intimate partner (Browne, 1993). Shockingly, 1 of every 5 female high school students have reported physical and/or sexual assault by her date (Silverman, Raj, Mucci, & Hathaway, 2001). Furthermore, in Japan a study done by Nakata (2007) found that 30% of female high school participants reported they had experienced unwanted sexual activity. It is important that this study occurs given the lack of investigation in adolescents’ …

A Phenomenological Study: African American Clergy Response To Violence Against Women, Milicia Antoinette Tedder

Doctoral Dissertations

Violence against women and religious participation are two phenomena that are pervasive across many African American communities. African American women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at a rate higher than the majority of racial groups in the U.S. Although many African American women highly depend on their faith and church to navigate their experiences with IPV, scant attention has been given to the role that Black clergy have in responding to IPV against women. As a result, clergy leaders’ responses to IPV were examined in this study. This study utilized a phenomenological method to understand African American clergy leaders’ responses …

Prevalence And Correlates Of Suicidal Ideation Among Court-Referred Male Perpetrators Of Intimate Partner Violence, Caitlin Wolford-Clevenger

Masters Theses

Despite the documented association between intimate partner violence perpetration and suicidal ideation, few studies have examined the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation in men attending batterer intervention programs. This cross-sectional study examined the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation in 294 males court-ordered to a batterer intervention program. Twenty-two percent of the sample reported experiencing suicidal ideation within the two weeks prior to entering the batterer intervention program. Multiple linear regression indicated that depression and borderline personality disorder symptoms, but not intimate partner violence perpetration, victimization, or antisocial personality disorder symptoms, accounted for significant variance in suicidal ideation. These …

Witnessing Parental Domestic Violence And Young Girls' Dating Relationships, Brinda Kay Mckinney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Domestic violence afflicts people regardless of ethnicity, socio-economically status, age, or gender. Too often, girls enter and remain in abusive relationships, despite the trauma and risks of doing so. Using Roy's theory of adaptation, this study explored the effect of witnessing inter-parental violence on girls' experiences of physical violence or sexual abuse in their dating relationships. Original data collection occurred at a Midwestern U.S. university via e-mail using questions adapted from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey Surveillance System. The study used 526 responses from female participants who self-disclosed if they had or had not witnessed inter-parental violence for categorical …