Scenarios Of Violence Research Articles

A Second's Chance: Gang Violence Task Force Prevention Program

We describe a gang violence intervention and define targets for prevention. At-risk youths were identified through courts, public schools, and law enforcement regarding gang-related activities. They participated in "A Second's Chance," a true-to-life mock emergency department resuscitation and death of a gang member provided over an 18-month period. A questionnaire was completed by each participant. Forty-nine youths identified as at risk for gang involvement participated (37 male and 12 female, P < 0.001). Average age was 14.5 years (range, 10 to 19 years); 32 were black, 9 Hispanic, 6 white, and 2 other (P < 0.05). Seventeen (35%) had prior arrests (P = 0.059), 13 (77%) of whom had multiple arrests (P < 0.05). Forty-one (84%) reported a family member jailed (P < 0.001). Forty-two (86%) witnessed neighborhood criminal drug activity (P < 0.001). Household leadership was predominately maternal (24 [49%], (P < 0.05). Forty-four (90%) participants provided positive meaningful responses to the intervention (P < 0.001). Gang violence prevention should be channeled through maternal family members. History of incarcerated relatives, acquaintances, and neighborhood exposure to drugs and crime may represent additional risk factors for gang-related involvement. Demonstrations of gang violence scenarios raise awareness to consequences of gang-related activities. Family and neighborhood characteristics should be included in development of intervention scenarios.

Visão conceitual de modelos de gerenciamento de riscos à segurança organizacional

Throughout the evolutionary process world security consolidated as preponderant factor of success for the various segments, aggregating value to social development, economic and technological development. The demands arising from the scenarios of violence, common to major centers of population, promoted the allocation of efforts with a view to the protection of resources tangible and intangible, highlighting the need of reasoned planning for the management of risks which may to hit negatively in organizational environments. In this context, the objective of this research is to build a systemic analysis of a theoretical reference showing the academic and empirical knowledge more relevant in the area of risks management to security organization. With this purpose, from a process structured, held searches to access journals available through the portal of CAPES, reaching a theoretical composed for 17 publications aligned to this subject. The publications that integrate the theoretical this research were analyzed in 07 criteria: [1] the concept of risk; [2] the concept of risk analysis; [3] the dossiers submitted to identify the aspects to be taken into account in risk analysis; [4] the procedures used to measure the degree of risk; [5] the procedures used to determine the level of anchoring the scales of measuring the degree of risk; [6] the procedures used to integrate the scales to the degree of overall risk; and [7] the procedures to build actions of processing. With this, it was possible to identify the state of art for these seven aspects and for best practice propose referrals to promote their improvement.

Gender Role Attitudes and Attribution of Blame for Spousal Violence in Married Men and Women

The present research aimed at investigating the effects of gender role attitudes on attribution of blame for spousal violence in married men and women. Spousal Violence Blame Questionnaire (SVBQ) was developed which was based on 12 visual scenarios of spousal incidents; scenario opinion questionnaire; and background information/ story cards. A sample of 120 married participants (60 men, 60 women) with age ranging from 20 to 62 years (M=35.63) was administered by Gender Role Attitude Scale (Kamal &amp;amp;Saqib, 2004), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Naseer, 2000) and SVBQ. Experimental group was given the background story before presenting video clips, whereas the control group was shown the clips without the background story. Experimental group attributed significantly more blame towards the victim in a spousal violence incident as compared to the control group. Participants considered an incident as spousal violence in case of physical violence scenarios but they did not take it as violence in case of non-physicalviolence.

The Death Catchers (review)

Reviewed by: The Death Catchers Kate Quealy-Gainer Kogler, Jennifer Anne . The Death Catchers. Walker, 2011. [384p]. ISBN 978-0-8027-2184-6 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 6-9. Lizzy Mortimer is in danger of failing her freshman English class if she does not hand in some sort of final project. So, in one very long letter to her English teacher utilizing key curricular terms such as "foreshadowing" and "irony," Lizzy decides to tell the truth behind her missing assignment, starting with the moment that her grandmother informed her that she is a Death Catcher, a descendent of Morgan le Faye with both the ability and the responsibility to help the sisters of Avalon maintain the balance of life and death in the world. Currently, that balance is being threatened by Vivienne le Mort, a rogue sister intent on destroying the last of Arthur Pendragon's line and ushering in a Doomsday scenario of world chaos and violence. It just so happens that Arthur's last descendent is the über-hot and ultra-cool Drake Westfall, and Lizzy has the task of saving him from certain death while maintaining the illusion of being an ordinary teenager. The letter-writing device works quite well and makes for an effective blend of elegant mythmaking and genial, homey storytelling. The weighty nature of the subject matter is balanced nicely by Lizzy's affable, irreverent tone and her not-so-subtle pokes at [End Page 527] literary puffery. There's a thoughtful subplot involving Lizzy and her mom and the burgeoning troubles of adolescence, a plotline that would seem superfluous if it did not blend so seamlessly into a story about a girl coming into her own power both as a magical being and as an everyday mortal. The romance between Lizzy and Drake is sweet, and the promise for its development in the sequels, along with Drake's future role as king, will surely bring readers back to another visit to Avalon. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Undocumented bodies, burned identities: refugees, sans papiers, harraga — when things fall apart

Taking an anthropological approach, the author reflects on refugees and clandestine immigrants, and in particular on the fractured structure of their narratives. This attempt to grasp the sense of vagueness or silence we so often find in immigrants' stories is designed to draw attention to the psychological consequences of both traumatic past events and of the unpredictability and uncertainty often experienced in host countries. The author further argues that the attitudes of social workers involved in clandestine migration and refugee issues reveal unconscious attitudes characteristic of meeting with the Other which also convey the contradictions, racism, and hypocrisy of our policies and governments. The author finally discusses the scenarios of death, violence and apartheid that characterize the day-today life of many undocumented immigrants, and invites academic researchers not to take for granted such descriptive terms as `clandestine', `refugees', and so on.

Perceptions of Same-sex Domestic Violence Among Crisis Center Staff

Crisis center staff help form the frontline in the fight against domestic violence. Therefore, it is important that we understand any biases they may have when addressing cases of same-sex domestic violence. In this study, 120 crisis center staff members were given a vignette depicting a domestic dispute and asked to complete a questionnaire about their perceptions of the incident and the parties involved. We manipulated the sex of the perpetrator and victim. All other aspects of the vignette remained consistent. Because gay and lesbian relationships are often perceived as less serious than heterosexual relationships, we hypothesized that participants would perceive same-sex domestic violence as such. Consistent with this hypothesis, participants rated same-sex domestic violence scenarios as less serious than opposite-sex domestic violence and as less likely to get worse over time.

The Role of Alcohol in the Construction of a ‘Good’ Victim — The Attribution of Blame to Male Victims of Violence

This paper examines the attribution of blame in two hypothetical male-to-male violence scenarios. There are two main aims for the study: to study the effect of the victim's intoxication on the blame attributed to him; and more generally to study factors that determine how much blame a respondent attributes to the victim. 1,004 RDD quantitative telephone surveys were completed with Swedes aged 16-25. The response rate was 73.8%. Respondents were presented with vignettes, two of them describing male-to-male aggression. A number of variables were manipulated in the vignettes, for example the victim's drinking. The attribution of blame to the victim was analysed using multiple regression and ANOVA. The first analyses were stratified by sex. For male respondents, the victim's intoxication had no effect on the blame attributed to him. Female respondents attributed more blame to a drunken victim in a provoked male to male assault but not in the unprovoked scenario. When it came to understanding factors that determined the general attribution of blame, we found surprisingly few significant variables.

The responsive bystander: How social group membership and group size can encourage as well as inhibit bystander intervention.

Four experiments explored the interaction of group size, social categorization, and bystander behavior. In Study 1, increasing group size inhibited intervention in a street violence scenario when bystanders were strangers but encouraged intervention when bystanders were friends. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings to social category members. When gender identity was salient, group size encouraged intervention when bystanders and victim shared social category membership. In addition, group size interacted with context-specific norms that both inhibit and encourage helping. Study 3 used physical co-presence and gender identities to examine these social category effects. Increasing group size of women produced greater helping of a female victim, but increasing group size of men did not. Additionally, increasing numbers of out-group bystanders resulted in less intervention from women but more intervention from men. Study 4 replicated these findings with a measure of real-life helping behavior. Taken together, the findings indicate that the bystander effect is not a generic consequence of increasing group size. When bystanders share group-level psychological relationships, group size can encourage as well as inhibit helping.

Workplace Violence, Employer Liability, and Implications for Organizational Research

Organizations face potential liability whenever workplace violence occurs inside their boundaries. Focusing on violent behaviors between employees, the authors examine the major legal theories that apply most often in workplace violence scenarios—negligence (state law), sexual harassment law (federal law), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (federal law). The purpose is to highlight avenues for organizational research that arise because of the legal issues that employers face. For each source of liability, the authors identify major research questions that should be studied in organizational science, particularly by aggression and violence researchers.

The Impact of Officer and Agency Characteristics on the Likelihood of Arrest in Domestic Violence Situations among Rural Law Enforcement Officers

Domestic violence cuts across all demographic groups. The factors related to why police officers arrest in some domestic violence situations but not others have been often studied. Little research, however, has been conducted on the arrest views of rural police officers. One hundred seventy line officers in six rural Midwestern counties were surveyed to determine the impact of officer personal characteristics and agency type on arrest decisions in various hypothetical domestic violence scenarios. First, the same situational factors appeared to be important in shaping the arrest decision in domestic violence calls of rural officers as have previously been found with urban officers. Second, the characteristics of officers and the type of agency had some impact on the likelihood of arrest, particularly if there was evidence of a physical assault. Third, the presence of evidence of a physical assault helped shape the arrest decisions of rural officers. Fourth, situational factors were more important than officer characteristics and the type of agency.

Therapists’ Prototypical Assessment of Domestic Violence Situations

Prototypical perceptions by therapists have the potential to influence the therapeutic process of assessment. The purpose of this study is to begin to develop an understanding of how prototypes might affect marriage and family therapists' assessments of domestic violence situations. Participants evaluated one of three domestic violence scenarios that were identical in dynamics but different in terms of sexual orientation of the couple (i.e., heterosexual, gay, or lesbian). The most significant finding was that initial assessments of victim and perpetrator identification and power attribution differed depending on the sexual orientation of the couple. The "man as perpetrator, woman as victim" prototypical paradigm for heterosexual domestic violence emerged. In the same-sex scenarios, often "both" partners were perceived to be indicated both as victim and perpetrator.

Reactions to dating violence among Latino teenagers: An experiment utilizing the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations paradigm

Dating violence is a serious problem among adolescents and young adults. Understanding teens’ reactions to dating violence offers the potential to understand the factors that lead to perpetration of violent behavior and to elucidate prevention strategies. Knowledge concerning youth attitudes about dating violence is limited, and has largely come from self-report questionnaires to date. We utilized the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations (ATSS) paradigm to assessing Latino teens’ reactions to dating violence. Forty-one 9th grade students were presented with four simulated dating violence scenarios, and articulated their thoughts in response to them. Teens’ reactions to dating violence differed on a variety of dimensions as a function of their gender, the gender of the perpetrator, and familiarity with the perpetrator.

Is It a Fight or Are They Just Drunk? Attributions about Drunken Behaviour in a Hypothetical Male‐to‐Male Aggression Scenario1

Objective. This paper examines the excuse‐value of alcohol in a hypothetical provoked male‐to‐male violence scenario. There are two main questions. Does intoxication result in decreased blame? Does intoxication lessen the propensity to call the police? 1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 29th annual Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium, Kettil Bruun Society for Social and Epidemiological Research on Alcohol, in Krakow, Poland June 2003. Thanks to Robin Room for his guidance throughout the project and his comments on the paper. Funding for the project was provided by the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS), and Sandra Bullock was supported by a Post‐doctoral Stipend from the Swedish Public Health Institute (FHI). Methods. 1004 random digit dialing (RDD) quantitative telephone surveys were completed with Swedes aged 16–25. The response rate was 73.8%. Besides the aggressor's intoxication, severity of the outcome, the victim's intoxication and the respondent's hypothetical relationship to the aggressor or to the victim were also randomly manipulated. Whether the police should be called and the attribution of blame to the aggressor have been analysed using ANOVA in SAS. Results. Analyses were stratified by sex. For male respondents, the aggressor's intoxication interacted (four‐way) with all the manipulated variables in predicting the attribution of blame. In the more severe act, intoxication tended to reduce blame; the least amount of blame was assigned when both the aggressor and the victim were intoxicated. For female respondents, the aggressor's intoxication was involved in a three‐way interaction. For them also, intoxication decreases the blame for the severe acts but not for the less severe acts. The aggressor's intoxication had very little effect on whether the police should be called or not. Discussion. Intoxication provides some excuse from blame but only for certain acts and under certain circumstances. It also changes the way people perceive acts of violence.

“Oh, he was just drunk” – young adults' views on alcohol as an excuse for violent behaviours

Aim This article examines the excuse-value of alcohol in a hypothetical unprovoked male-to-male violence scenario. The excuse-value is conceptualised by two main questions. Does intoxication result in decreased blame? Does intoxication lessen the propensity to call the police? Method In the study, 1004 RDD quantitative telephone surveys were completed with Swedes aged 16–25. The response-rate was 73.8%. The aggressor's intoxication, the victim's intoxication, the severity of the outcome and the aggressor's state of mind were all randomly manipulated. The factors ‘should the police be called’ and the ‘attribution of blame to the aggressor’ have been analysed using factorial ANOVA in SAS. Results Analyses were stratified by sex. For male respondents, the aggressor's intoxication interacted with the victim's intoxication in predicting the attribution of blame. When the victim was drunk, the blame attributed to the aggressor decreased as a result of a higher level of intoxication; whilst there was no effect of the aggressor's intoxication when the victim was only slightly drunk. For female respondents, the aggressor's intoxication interacted with the severity of the outcome. Intoxication decreased the blame with the severe acts but not with the less severe acts. The aggressor's intoxication had no effect on whether the police should be called or not. Conclusions Alcohol intoxication provides some excuse-value for violence, but only for certain acts and under certain circumstances.

The Influence of Gender and Ethnicity on Judgments of Culpability in a Domestic Violence Scenario

The Influence of Gender and Ethnicity on Judgments of Culpability in a Domestic Violence Scenario

Intimate Partner Violence

This study examined the expectations to help victims of intimate partner violence held by potential informal helpers such as friends and family. A total of 157 college students viewed one of two videotaped domestic violence scenarios, which varied on victim “provocation.” The present study tested a specific model in which victim blame mediates the relationship between helper characteristics and the type of intervention helpers expect to use. The model accounted for 22% of variance in general victim blame,40% of variance in blame toward the victim's specific behavior/characteristics, and 27% of variance in the expectation to use specific helpful inter ventions. High perceived provocation and violence-condoning attitudes held by participants predicted greater victim blame, and general victim blame appeared to mediate the relationship between attitudes and intervention. Female participants demonstrated less general victim blame and provided more helpful interventions than males. Implications for educational programs and continued research are discussed

Law Enforcement Officers' Perceptions of Same Sex Domestic Violence

In 1994, California amended its domestic violence legislation to include same sex couples. It is commonly believed within the gay and lesbian community that homophobia induces law enforcement officers to respond differently to incidents of domestic violence involving same sex couples than to incidents involving opposite sex couples. However, the dearth of empirical research has precluded assessing the validity of this assumption, especially since the legal man date has changed. This study addressed whether the assumption of homophobia among police officers is supported through a survey designed to ascertain perceptions about same sex domestic violence. Results showed no differences in how police perceived a scenario of domestic violence based on the sexual orientation of the involved couple. To the extent that expressed perception reflects acknowledging a need to comply with the legal mandate, there is reason to be hopeful that homophobia need not deter appropriate law enforcement response to the problem of domestic violence among same sex couples.

Women's Attributions for Hypothetical Dating Violence: Effects of Partner Alcohol Use and Violence Severity1

We compared women's attributions for dating violence as a function of perpetrator alcohol use and violence severity. Female undergraduates in dating relationships (N= 144) reported attributions for hypothetical scenarios of verbal aggression, moderate violence, and severe violence. In the partner alcohol‐use condition, partners were described as intoxicated; in the control condition, the scenarios were provided without descriptions of intoxication. Severity of violence, but not partner alcohol use, was associated with causal attributions for violence. In contrast, women's responsibility attributions differed as a function of a Partner Alcohol Use × Violence Severity interaction. Women in the alcohol‐use condition held partners less responsible for severe violence than did women in the control condition. Women in the partner alcohol‐use condition also reported fewer intentions to take legal action in response to severe violence. Implications for dating violence prevention programs and future research are discussed.

The sexual games of the body politic: fantasy and state violence in Northern Ireland.

This article analyzes the practice of strip searching women political prisoners in Northern Ireland as a violent technology of control aimed at breaking the political identity of prisoners. Focusing on a controversial case of a mass strip search carried out in 1992, the article examines the phantasmatic investements pervading this seemingly rational technology of control. Using a psychoanalytic notion of fantasy against the backdrop of a Foucaultian theory of power, this article argues that strip searches constitute a gendered form of political domination driven by, and performed within, a phantasmatic scenario of sexual violence. In this scenario both the political and gender identities of prisoners are re-inscribed with the power of a state acting as a male body politic. The article argues that the phantasmatic support of rational technologies of control betrays the contingent and shifting character of domination as well as its ambiguous effects.

Domestic violence: Attributions, recommended punishments and reporting behaviour related to provocation by the victim

This study examined the influence of victim provocation on attributions in a domestic violence scenario. It was hypothesised that provocation by a wife (victim) towards a husband (perpetrator) would lead to greater attributions of responsibility to the wife than to the husband and less sympathy for the wife. It was also hypothesised that respondents with more conservative attitudes towards women would attribute more responsibility towards the wife and less responsibility to the husband. Recommended punishments for the offender and whether the incident should be reported to the police were also investigated. The sample comprised 134 community members, 68 males and 66 females. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four scenarios that varied in the level of provocation by the victim from no provocation to most provocation (verbal aggression and jealousy). Results indicated general support for the hypotheses. There was no consensus on what was an appropriate punishment or on whether the incident should be reported to the police.