Female Abusers Research Articles

Finding Their Voice: Developing Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Congruence in Female Abuse Survivors through Equine Facilitated Therapy

Finding Their Voice: Developing Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioral Congruence in Female Abuse Survivors through Equine Facilitated Therapy

Characteristics of Callers to the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men

Reports an error in Characteristics of callers to the domestic abuse helpline for by Denise A. Hines, Jan Brown and Edward Dunning (Journal of Family Violence, 2007[Feb], Vol 22[2], 63-72). In the online and print publications the Acknowledgement as well as the address listed under the last author were incorrect. The correct address is as follows: E. Dunning, Family Interventions Project, 4300 Auburn Blvd., Suite 208, Sacramento, CA 95841, USA. And the correct Acknowledgment is as follows: In addition to thanking the members of the Family Research Laboratory for their comments on a previous draft of this article, the authors would also like to thank Mark Rosenthal for his help in preparing the data for analysis. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-00670-002.) Intimate partner violence (IPV) by women against men has been the subject of much debate. Feminists typically argue that IPV is committed only by men against women. Others argue that violence is a human problem and women also commit much IPV. To resolve these debates, IPV has been classified into two categories: common couple violence captured by population-based studies, and patriarchal terrorism, captured by studies of battered women. This typology ignores male victims of extreme IPV. The current study addresses this omission by describing 190 male callers to the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men. All callers experienced physical abuse from their female partners, and a substantial minority feared their wives' violence and were stalked. Over 90% experienced controlling behaviors, and several men reported frustrating experiences with the domestic violence system. Callers' reports indicated that their female abusers had a history of trauma, alcohol/drug problems, mental illness, and homicidal and suicidal ideations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Perceptions of Victims and Perpetrators in a Depicted Child Sexual Abuse Case

This study investigated the roles of respondent, perpetrator, and victim gender on attributions toward a 10- or 15-year-old victim and an adult perpetrator in a hypothetical sexual abuse case. It was predicted (a) that female respondents would be more provictim and antiperpetrator than men, (b) that 10-year-old victims would be deemed more credible than 15-year-olds, and (c) that men would deem a 15-year-old male victim more culpable when child sexual abuse is perpetrated by a female abuser. Three hundred thirty-seven respondents read a 350-word sexual abuse depiction in which victim age, victim gender, and perpetrator gender were varied between respondents. Respondents then completed a 14-item attribution scale, relating to victim blame, perpetrator blame, assault severity, and victim credibility. A series of ANOVAs revealed support for all predictions. Results are discussed in relation to gender role attitudes. Suggestions for future work also considered.

Race, Abuse, and Female Criminal Violence

Gender-specific research on the relationship between childhood abuse and delinquency in females is an important emerging topic in criminology. Feminist criminologists have pointed toward childhood abuse as a key turning point in young girls' lives that leads toward delinquency but have yet to empirically address how this relationship varies along racial lines. This study uses prospective cohort data to test for interactions among child abuse, race, and violent criminal arrest in females. In doing so, it addresses the differences in the effects of abuse across gender and across race in females. Results provide some support for feminist literature finding that although all abused children were more likely to be later arrested for a violent offense, the effects were significantly stronger for abused girls than boys. Still, race and gender interactions reveal no racial differences in the effects of abuse on females.

Childhood sexual abuse, attachment, and trauma symptoms in college females: The moderating role of attachment

Objective The present study tests a model linking attachment, childhood sexual abuse (CSA), and adult psychological functioning. It expands on previous work by assessing the degree to which attachment security moderates the relationship between a history of child sexual abuse and trauma-related symptoms in college females. Method Self-reports of attachment, childhood sexual abuse, and adult psychological functioning were obtained from 324 female undergraduate students attending a Southeastern U.S. university. Separate analyses were conducted examining the potential moderating role for close-adult, parent-child, and peer attachment styles. Results In this sample, 37.7% of participants reported sexually abusive experiences prior to age 16. History of child sexual abuse was consistently associated with higher levels of trauma-related symptoms and lower levels of attachment security in close-adult, parent-child, and peer relations. Additionally, attachment security was consistently associated with trauma-related symptoms. Close-adult, parent-child, and peer attachment differentially moderated trauma-related symptoms. Specifically, in peer relationships, the strength of the relationships between attachment measures and trauma symptoms were greater for CSA survivors than for non-abused participants. The opposite pattern of results was found for attachment in parental and close-adult relationships. Conclusion Results suggest that attachment security in peer and parent relationships protects against the negative effects of CSA, while only weak, marginally significant protective effects were observed for close-adult relationships. Only modest support was found for the conceptualization of attachment as a moderator of the relationship between CSA and trauma-related symptoms. However, the results suggest that attachment security at least partially protects against negative CSA outcomes.

Characteristics of Callers to the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men

Intimate partner violence (IPV) by women against men has been the subject of much debate. Feminists typically argue that IPV is committed only by men against women. Others argue that violence is a human problem and women also commit much IPV. To resolve these debates, IPV has been classified into two categories: common couple violence captured by population-based studies, and patriarchal terrorism, captured by studies of battered women. This typology ignores male victims of extreme IPV. The current study addresses this omission by describing 190 male callers to the Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men. All callers experienced physical abuse from their female partners, and a substantial minority feared their wives’ violence and were stalked. Over 90% experienced controlling behaviors, and several men reported frustrating experiences with the domestic violence system. Callers’ reports indicated that their female abusers had a history of trauma, alcohol/drug problems, mental illness, and homicidal and suicidal ideations.

Only Male Mice Show Sensitization of Handling‐Induced Convulsions Across Repeated Ethanol Withdrawal Cycles

Alcohol abuse, especially when experienced in multiple cycles of chronic abuse and withdrawal, leads to a sensitization of central nervous system hyperexcitability that may culminate in overt expression of seizures. In spite of the growing prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in females shown in recent epidemiologic studies, evidence of sexual dimorphism in the expression of alcohol withdrawal-induced seizures and the development of seizure sensitization following multiple cycles of ethanol (EtOH) exposure and withdrawal has not been examined in either animal models or in clinical reports. Subjects in these experiments were male and female C3H/Hecr mice. The female mice were intact or ovariectomized, with ovariectomized mice receiving 17-beta-estradiol or placebo pellets. All mice were exposed to 4 cycles of exposure to 16-hour EtOH vapor, separated by 8-hour withdrawal periods. During each 8-hour withdrawal, hourly assessment of seizure propensity was assessed as handling-induced convulsions. Additional assessments were taken up to 72 hours after the final EtOH withdrawal cycle. Male and female mice showed similar seizure propensity during an initial withdrawal from chronic EtOH. Across subsequent withdrawal cycles, however, male mice exhibited a robust increase in seizure severity beginning with the third withdrawal cycle. In marked contrast, female mice failed to demonstrate sensitization of seizure severity. The lack of seizure sensitization following up to 4 cycles of alcohol exposure and withdrawal could not be explained by hormonal status (presence or absence of estrogen) or by sex differences in blood alcohol levels. Male and female mice exposed to the same number of cycles of EtOH withdrawal demonstrate differences in expression of seizures. Males show the typical sensitization of seizures, or kindling response, which has been reported clinically as well as in animal models, but females do not. The reason for the lack of seizure sensitization in female mice remains to be elucidated, but may be related to sex differences in alcohol effects on excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmission, rather than to hormonal or blood alcohol level differences.

The scope of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse in a Bedouin-Arab community of female adolescents: The interplay of racism, urbanization, polygamy, family honor, and the social marginalization of women

Objectives This is an exploratory study of the abuse—especially sexual—of female adolescents in a conservative and traditional Bedouin-Arab community in southern Israel. The objectives were (1) to examine the rate of sexual abuse, (2) to examine the rate of physical and psychological abuse, and (3) to develop regression models to predict these forms of abuse. Methods : A self-administered survey that measured demographic characteristics and psychological abuse was distributed to 217 female high-school students (aged 14–18 years). Sexual and physical abuse were measured via the Finkelhor's scale [Finkelhor, D. (1979). Sexually victimized children. New York: Free Press]. Results Sixty-nine percent of the participants ( n = 149) reported no sexual abuse experiences, 16% reported one or two experiences, 11% reported three or four, and 4% reported more than four. Most participants indicated that they had been physically abused at least once by their father (37.1%), mother (43.7%), or siblings (44%) during the previous month. More than 50% of the participants reported being psychologically abused by members of their immediate families. Mother's age and closeness to mother significantly predicted physical abuse, and marital satisfaction and mother's age significantly predicted psychological abuse. Conclusion This study addresses a topic that has never before been fully investigated—the maltreatment of females in a conservative, tribal Arab community. Although this was an exploratory study, the results attest that female abuse is a serious social problem in this community, and that the rate of abuse exceeds that of other Palestinian groups. These findings demonstrate an immediate need for professional intervention and prevention to address this problem.

Sex differences in vulnerability to drug self-administration.

Recent evidence from both human and animal studies indicates that there are sex differences in all phases of the addiction process, including initiation and acquisition of use, patterns and levels of use, the progression to addiction, and relapse. This brief review summarizes a series of studies on sex differences in drug self-administration in rats on which the Wyeth Young Psychopharmacologist Award was based and relates these findings to human clinical data. Briefly, preclinical findings show that female rats acquire drug self-administration at a faster rate, work harder to obtain drug infusions, "binge" for longer initial periods of time and show a more diurnally dysregulated pattern of self-administration under extended-access conditions, and respond at higher levels under reinstatement testing conditions compared with male rats. Similar results have been reported in humans, suggesting a biological basis of sex differences in vulnerability to drug abuse. A number of biological mechanisms have been explored, and the results show that ovarian hormones play a critical role in modulating the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse in females. Preclinical studies, in conjunction with human studies, should further inform a sex-specific model for differences in drug abuse, and such a model may be useful for developing prevention and treatment strategies for drug abuse.

Sport and the sexually abused male child1

Through feminist research in the study of sport, the issue of child sexual abuse has been driven onto the agenda of sports organisations, resulting in considerable practical reform (Brackenridge, 2001). However, the flip-side to this development is that the experience of sexually abused males has been largely ignored. In 1990, Struve claimed, ‘a growing number of clinicians who work with sexual abuse are discovering that males probably are sexually victimized just as frequently as females’ (p. 3). Despite research on the ‘sexually victimized’ male reaching back over the last 15 to 20 years, researchers in sport have, so far, largely ignored the issue of the sexual abuse of males. Certainly, there has been no in-depth treatment of the abuse of males and sport researchers, to date, have been driven by the ‘male perpetrator–female victim’ paradigm. This focus has influenced the type of research that has been conducted and has inadvertently contributed to the further silencing of the sexually abused male. This paper focuses upon the absence of sexually abused male children in empirical research and theoretical analyses of sport. It notes issues, previously ignored within sport, surrounding the sexual abuse of males, particularly the under-identification of this group, as well as recognition of female perpetrators. Through reviewing literature from social work and therapeutic disciplines, this paper brings the sexually abused male into focus and facilitates a discussion of issues, distinct from the sexual abuse of females that have much relevance for sport. It concludes that if sport is to attempt to safeguard all children from sexual abuse, research in, and analyses of, sport, must reflect the highly complex nature of child sexual abuse, including the experience of male children.

Sexual Abuse in Families Today: Group Resonance as a Cure

This article focuses on the sexual abuse of females in families within a social context, as a social phenomenon which involves more families than we knew about or believed existed in the past, a phenomenon also involving ‘ordinary’ families we meet in everyday life and which is one aspect of the violence of the world in which we live. Problems arising from alterations in conscience of the victim and for the therapist in recognizing non-verbal communication are examined before the author identifies causes of feelings of self-guilt in the therapist. The therapeutic effectiveness of group resonance is demonstrated in a clinical case study, also showing how group therapy can help a victim of sexual abuse to work through past traumatic experiences.

Ambroise Tardieu: The man and his work on child maltreatment a century before Kempe

Ambroise Tardieu was an outstanding French forensic physician of the 19th century. A century before American physicians discovered child abuse as a pediatric and public health problem, Tardieu studied and described almost all forms of child maltreatment. In his Dictionnaire d’hygiène et de salubrité (Dictionary of hygiene and salubrity, 1862a, 1862b), Tardieu described the terrible working conditions of children in factories and mines. He also reported the ill consequences of theses conditions on the children's physical and mental health. In his Étude médico-légale sur les attentats aux mœurs (Forensic study on offenses against morals, 1857), he analyzed 632 cases of sexual abuse in females (mostly children) and 302 cases in males, describing physical signs according to the severity of the abuse. His Étude médico-légale sur les sévices et mauvais traitements exercés sur des enfants (Forensic study on cruelty and the ill-treatment of children, 1860) is a classical description of the battered-child syndrome. Thirty-two cases, 18 of which resulted in death, are described in detail. He also published Étude médico-légale sur l’infanticide (Forensic study on infanticide, 1868), a book of his observations on infanticide, based on the study of 555 cases, of which 60 are discussed in detail. Unfortunately, Ambroise Tardieu was unable to convince the physicians of his time of the prevalence of the maltreatment of children in their own family. Furthermore, his successors in forensic medicine did not believe children's allegations of physical and sexual abuse. Child victims were condemned to suffer abuse and neglect for another century without the support of the medical community, despite the fact that a clear-sighted and renowned physician devoted a significant part of his career to trying to open the eyes of physicians and society to this horrendous reality.

Gender differences in problems and needs among chronic, high‐risk crack abusers: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Objective: Aims of the study were to assess, among clients receiving an outpatient treatment program (OTP), whether female crack abusers have more severe problems and/or different service needs than men.Methods: A total of 63 chronic crack abusers (34 women) participated in the study at baseline. Follow‐up data were available for 33 subjects (21 women). Outcome measures included general condition at intake, and treatment compliance, outcome and satisfaction. Data were collected by means of monthly registrations, EuropAsi interviews and an evaluation form. OTP consisted of assertive outreach, a time‐out provision, and intensive case management.Results: The vast majority of women were involved in street prostitution and were extremely vulnerable to deterioration. Compared to men, women who entered treatment had poorer physical health, higher rates of previous physical/sexual abuse, and more anxiety symptoms. Women reported a longer episode of cocaine abstinence than men. At discharge from OTP men reported a significantly better treatment outcome than women. Both genders gained most improvement in general living conditions. No gender differences emerged in treatment compliance. Although both men and women were satisfied with the service items offered by OTP, an outpatient walk‐in service best served the needs of men, whereas women preferred a 24‐hour care service including medical treatment and motivational outreach.Conclusions: Due to the harshness of street prostitution, treatment for female crack abusers should address areas of severe impairment. Integrated treatment services, tailored to the lifestyle of these women, are required to improve their general situation and safety.

Chronic morphine exposure during puberty decreases postpartum prolactin secretion in adult female rats

Opiate use in teenage populations has been increasing in recent years. The potential impact of exposure to high levels of opiates at a time when reproductive systems are maturing has not been well studied, especially in females. The present study used an animal model of adolescent opiate abuse in females to examine the potential impact of high levels of opiates during puberty on several reproductive parameters, including suckling-induced prolactin secretion. Two groups of juvenile female rats were administered increasing doses of morphine sulfate or saline (s.c.) from age 30–50 days, beginning with a dose of 2.5 mg/kg and achieving a maximal dose of 50 mg/kg. As adults, these females were mated and reared either their own or foster pups. On either postpartum day 5 or 10, following a 4 h separation, suckling-induced prolactin secretion was measured. In addition, on postpartum day 5 maternal behavior latencies were determined. The results demonstrate reduced suckling-induced prolactin secretion on postpartum day 5 in females previously exposed to morphine during pubertal development. These effects were observed in females rearing either their own or fostered pups. These effects were not due to any differences in maternal behavior latencies, as retrieval or crouching latencies were unaffected. In summary, chronic morphine exposure during puberty results in changes in the regulation of prolactin secretion during early lactation, which are observed several weeks after cessation of drug treatment. These data suggest that prior opiate use during puberty can continue to affect the regulation of prolactin secretion into adulthood.

Childhood abuse and neglect and adult intimate relationships: a prospective study

Objective: The present study extends prior research on childhood maltreatment and social functioning by examining the impact of early childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect on rates of involvement in adult intimate relationships and relationship functioning. Method: Substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect from 1967 to 1971 were matched on gender, age, race, and approximate family class with non-abused and non-neglected children and followed prospectively into adulthood. Between 1989 and 1995, 1,196 participants (676 abused and neglected and 520 controls) were administered a 2-hour in-person interview, including a psychiatric assessment and a variety of standardized rating scales. Results: Male and female abuse and neglect victims reported higher rates of cohabitation, walking out, and divorce than controls. Abused and neglected females were also less likely than female controls to have positive perceptions of current romantic partners and to be sexually faithful. Conclusions: Although previous research on childhood maltreatment and adult intimate relationships has emphasized outcomes for female victims of childhood sexual abuse, present findings suggest that other forms of early maltreatment (physical abuse and neglect) also have a negative effect on both males’ and females’ ability to establish and maintain healthy intimate relationships in adulthood.

Female sexual abusers of children

In 1996, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) investigated more than two million reports alleging maltreatment of more than three million children. More than one million of these children were identified as victims of abuse. Of the one million children, 12% were sexually abused. The sexual abuse of children by women, primarily mothers, once thought to be so rare it could be ignored, constituted 25% (approximately 36 000 children) of the sexually abused victims. This statistic is thought to be underestimated due to the tendency of non-disclosure by victims. This paper examines the statistical data regarding sexual abuse by women, the psychological profiles of these women, how and why society excuses female abusers, the impact on the sexually abused children, and available treatments for the perpetrators.

Female sexual abusers of children

In 1996, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) investigated more than two million reports alleging maltreatment of more than three million children. More than one million of these children were identified as victims of abuse. Of the one million children, 12% were sexually abused. The sexual abuse of children by women, primarily mothers, once thought to be so rare it could be ignored, constituted 25% (approximately 36 000 children) of the sexually abused victims. This statistic is thought to be underestimated due to the tendency of non-disclosure by victims. This paper examines the statistical data regarding sexual abuse by women, the psychological profiles of these women, how and why society excuses female abusers, the impact on the sexually abused children, and available treatments for the perpetrators.

Neglect of Elderly Women in Feminist Studies of Violence–A Case of Ageism?

ABSTRACTUsing Sweden as an example, this article describes and analyzes the late and reluctant appearance of a feminist perspective on elder abuse. The lack of interest in elderly women is related both to a youth and mid-life centrist tendency of feminism and to the need for clarity within the feminist perspective. We argue that the appearance of male victims and female offenders in cases of elder abuse threatens feminist models that relate violence to a general subordination of women in society. The feminist perspective that has recently emerged may therefore not only provide new and important understanding about elder abuse. Due to possible anomalies there is a risk that a feminist perspective on elder abuse creates a theoretical blindness, where male victims and female abusers are regarded as irrelevant exceptions to the problem.

Comparison of Abuse Alleged by Same- and Opposite-Gender Litigants as Cited in Requests for Abuse Prevention Orders

Domestic violence is commonly portrayed as something male batterers do to their female victims. Much research excludes study of female-perpetrated violence. This study develops a two-gender measure of abuse as documented by requests for protection. All nonimpounded Abuse Prevention Orders (M.G.L. c. 209A) issued in Massachusetts' Gardner District Court in the year 1997 were analyzed by gender to examine the level and types of violence alleged by plaintiffs. The level and types of violence were categorized and measured by examining Abuse Claimed Checkboxes found on each Complaint for Protection and by applying quantitative scales to affidavits, or plaintiff statements, filed as part of each request for protection. Despite widespread misconceptions that tend to minimize female abuse, examination of these court documents shows that male and female defendants, who were the subject of a complaint in domestic relation cases, while sometimes exhibiting different aggressive tendencies, measured almost equally abusive in terms of the overall level of psychological and physical aggression.

Pseudoseizures And Epilepsy In Neurocysiticercosis: Some Advice For Family Doctors

We studied 32 rural patients from the poorest regions in South Africa, diagnosed as epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis presenting pseudoseizures. We found that the common clinical characteristics of this series and its psychological profile such as: duration of events, history of sexual abuse in females, absent of focal neurological signs, vocalization in the middle of the seizures, and lack of post-ictal symptoms were very useful for its differential diagnosis, and the possible difference between the clinical features and psychological profile of those patients and others without PS. Finally, some advices for the management of this condition by family doctors are suggested.