Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The News Media's (Re)Framing Of Intimate Partner Violence During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Its Implications For Policy Development In Canada: A Critical Content Analysis, Najibullah Naeemzadah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s unprecedented impacts, governments and public health authorities globally implemented various measures to control disease transmission, including lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, isolation, and social distancing. Although these strategies have been necessary to mitigate the spread of the virus, they have had unintended, but largely predictable, consequences for individuals and groups facing marginalization, including significant increases in the incidence and severity of intimate partner violence (IPV). Indeed, the “shadow pandemic” of IPV came to attention in mainstream news media coverage of COVID-19, bringing new attention to an issue that has rarely had that level of scrutiny.

While …

The Predictive Validity Of Intimate Partner Violence Warning Signs, Nicolyn H. Charlot

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is harmful and prevalent, but leaving abusive partners is often challenging due to investments (e.g., time, cohabitation). Identifying warning signs of abuse is one primary prevention strategy to help people avoid abusive relationships. The present research sought to identify thoughts, feelings, and behaviors which are not considered abusive (Study 1), appear before abuse occurs in relationships (Study 2), and predict abuse (Studies 3 and 4). Study 1 distinguished potential warning signs of abuse from abusive behaviors using the ratings of professionals with experience in IPV. Study 2 established a timeline of when violent behaviors and possible …

Identifying Intersectional Complex Practice Behaviours In Ipv Services For Marginalized Women, Amrit Kaur Gill

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study aims to identify the level of alignment between competent GBV work as identified in literature and by current service providers. Identifying areas of alignment and difference allows for developing theory-based practice informed by literature and highlights potentially unexplored areas of research. The study does this through thematic coding of interviews with GBV service providers across Canada, and coding of practice-based behaviour items constructed from current literature. Interview analysis revealed eleven themes of behaviour which were compared with ten themes developed from the coding of 140 literature documents. Triangulation from interviews and literature found that, of the eleven themes …

Impacts Of Covid-19 Related Changes In Income On Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence At Home, Cara Davidson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Introduction: Intimate partner violence (IPV) has increased in Canada due to COVID-19 and associated public health measures. Economic status may be responsible, but this must be validated during COVID-19.

Methods: An online survey was administered to 23 Canadian women to measure their income pre and during COVID-19 and their experiences of IPV in the past 12 months. Factorial ANOVAs and MANOVAs were used to explore the relationship between income and IPV.

Results: Of women responding to both timepoints, 56.5% (n=13) indicated an increase in IPV. Analyses did not suggest that income was significantly related to IPV, apart from the effect …

The Use Of Intimate Partner Violence Websites: Website Awareness, Visibility, Information Quality, Perceived Usefulness, And Frequency Of Use, Sze Hang Lee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study aimed to determine the information needs of the intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors, as well as the awareness, visibility, information quality, perceived usefulness, and frequency of use of the IPV websites in Canada. The data in this study were collected in four stages. Firstly, a group of 139 Canadian IPV websites were identified and categorized into 36 groups. Secondly, the visibility of the websites was measured based on the average value of three factors: (1) the inlink counts; (2) the search engine rankings; and (3) the number of social media mentions of the websites. Thirdly, the quality of …

"Man Up": Male Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence Through The Eyes Of Their Providers, Xavier S. Borsato

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a complex phenomenon that is often understood with women as the primary recipients of violence and men as the primary perpetrators. However, emerging literature on heterosexual relationships suggests that men also experience interpersonal violence, most often from their female partners. Drawing on research data gathered through semi-structured interviews with service providers (n = 4), this qualitative inquiry explores how gender, power, and the stigma associated with interpersonal violence impact men who have experienced abuse through the perspectives of the service providers who work with them. The findings from this study highlight how traditional constructions …

The Role Of Dark Personalities In Intimate Partner Violence, Rachel A. Plouffe

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an international public health concern that poses significant mental and physical health risks for affected individuals. To improve prevention and intervention efforts, it is imperative that researchers and government bodies understand risk factors for IPV. This dissertation sought to evaluate individual differences in personality and childhood experiences as risk factors for various forms of IPV. The first two studies in this dissertation assessed whether the Dark Tetrad personality traits moderated the relationships between participants’ and their partners’ levels of IPV perpetration. In these studies, we assessed whether the Dark Tetrad traits operated differently in their …

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 …

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 …

Conjoint Therapy For Intimate Partner Violence Among Aboriginal Couples: Service Provider's Perspectives On Therapeutic Content And Activities, Parisa Ghanbari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of the study was to identify characteristics of a conjoint therapy program for Intimate Partner Violence with Aboriginal couples. Participation in telephone interviews by professionals in a Canadian province included two questions: "How would you address content with Aboriginal men in couple counselling who use abusive behaviour toward their intimate partner?" and "How would you address activities with Aboriginal men in couple counselling who use abusive behaviour toward their intimate partner?” The results were analyzed using a structured conceptualization procedure called Concept Mapping. Six concepts emerged in response to the first question including: 1) Cultural, 2) Western, 3) …

Conjoint Therapy For Intimate Partner Violence Among Aboriginal Couples: Service Providers' Perspectives On Risk And Safety, Ellissa M. Riel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been studied at length and consists of different forms including emotional, physical and sexual, which in isolation or combination have significant effects on the health of those involved. While there has been research on conjoint therapy for the mainstream population, there is no current research on Aboriginal couples. Interventions for family violence in Aboriginal communities should take a culture-based approach and focus on healing for the whole family. The purpose of this research was to identify risk and safety issues from the perspective of service providers for couples therapy with Aboriginal clients for IPV. A …

Motherhood And Childbirth Experiences Among Newcomer Women In Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study, Fatmeh Ahmad Alzoubi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statement of the Problem: Motherhood and childbirth are very sensitive experiences and have a strong impact on family functioning, social identity, and cohesiveness. Although motherhood and childbirth have been discussed extensively in the scholarly and popular literature, much of this work has been conducted from a North American perspective, with little attention to how motherhood and childbirth are experienced by newcomer women from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.

Methodology and Theoretical Orientation: A critical ethnographic study using in-depth interviews with 16 newcomer women was utilized to explore newcomer women’s experiences and understandings of motherhood and childbirth in the aftermath of …