Intimate Partner Violence Aggression Research Articles

Agency and Paternalism: Balancing Acts Between a Domestic Violence Survivors' Task Force and a State Coalition.

This research explores the dissonance between feminist ideology and practice as it manifests in an activist group of intimate partner violence/aggression (IPV/A) survivors under a state coalition on domestic violence serving multiple stakeholders. A gendered organizations framework reveals the activist group resisting paternalism and colonization in their efforts to achieve their goals and maintain their identity. Two-and-a-half years of observational field work reveals a complex dynamic, simultaneously feminist and patriarchal, with the activist group experiencing growing pains and internal conflict, emotion regulation, as well as empowerment. We offer suggestions for further exploration of the ways survivor-activist groups and coalitions can pursue collaborative partnerships.

Alcohol Misuse and Women's Use of Aggression in Intimate Relationships: The Mediating Role of Motivations for Using Aggression.

The relationship between alcohol misuse and women's use of intimate partner violence (IPV) aggression has been well studied; however, there has been no research to date on women's self-reported motivations for use of IPV aggression (e.g., self-defense, control) as an underlying mechanism explaining this link. Accordingly, this study aims to examine whether the effects of alcohol misuse on IPV aggression vary as a function of women's motivations for using aggression. Participants were 412 ethnically diverse community women, between the ages of 18 and 65, in intimate relationships characterized by bidirectional IPV. The Motives and Reasons for IPV Scale was used to assess women's reasons for using IPV aggression. Results revealed that the tough guise motive (i.e., wanting to appear tough, intimidating, and willing to harm one's partner) explained the relationship between alcohol misuse and physical and sexual IPV aggression. Findings suggest the utility of incorporating the assessment of women's motivations for IPV aggression in an effort to provide better informed intervention addressing the underlying reasons women use IPV aggression.

Patterns of Resource Utilization and Mental Health Symptoms Among Women Exposed to Multiple Types of Victimization

Although the value of resources aimed to support women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) is clear, few studies have investigated how exposure to multiple types of victimization influences women's resource utilization. We applied latent class analysis (LCA) to a sample of 412 women who used IPV in their current relationships to test whether women's resource utilization is associated with different patterns of victimization, including current IPV victimization, past IPV victimization, and childhood victimization. Three classes of women were identified: the Low Cumulative IPV class (n = 121) included women with a low prevalence of past IPV victimization and low severity of current IPV victimization; The High Past/ Low Current IPV class (n = 258) included women with a high prevalence of past IPV victimization but low severity of current IPV victimization; and the High Cumulative IPV class (n = 33) included women with a high prevalence of past IPV victimization and severe current IPV victimization. Multiple types of childhood victimization were highly prevalent among women in all three classes. Women in the High Cumulative IPV class used a greater variety of resources, experienced a greater number of posttraumatic stress and depression symptoms, drug problems, and used more severe IPV aggression compared to women in other classes. These findings highlight the heterogeneity of resource utilization among women in relationships characterized by bidirectional IPV and underscore the potential clinical utility of adapting services to meet the specific needs of women with unique profiles of victimization.