Significant Predictors Of Violence Research Articles

The Elevated Risk for Non-Lethal Post-Separation Violence in Canada

The purpose of the study was to shed light on the potentially differing dynamics of violence against separated and divorced women by their ex-husbands and violence against married women by their current husbands. Using a nationally representative sample of 7,369 heterosexual women from Cycle 13 of Statistics Canada's General Social Survey, available risk markers were examined in the context of a nested ecological framework. Separated women reported nine times the prevalence of violence and divorced women reported about four times the prevalence of violence compared with married women. The strongest predictors of violence against married women, namely, patriarchal domination, sexual jealousy, and possessiveness, were not significant predictors of violence against separated and divorced women. This suggested that post-separation violence is a complex phenomenon the dynamics of which can be affected by much more than domination and ownership.

The State of Contemporary Risk Assessment Research

The focus on assessing dangerousness in routine psychiatric practice developed when relatively little was known about factors related to violence, and the accuracy of predicting violence was distinctly below chance. Since the 1990s, however, significant research attention has been directed toward factors related to violence and mental illness, as well as toward factors related to the accuracy of risk assessment techniques. Sociodemographic and environmental variables have been identified as significant predictors of violence, as has the presence of substance abuse. However, the data on specific mental health variables are somewhat mixed. Many studies point to a modest increased risk of violence associated with major mental illness and psychosis, whereas other noteworthy studies have failed to confirm such findings. Studies of the accuracy of risk assessments indicate that both actuarial and clinical methodologies perform better than chance, although the former achieve greater statistical accuracy. Despite ongoing controversies, risk management strategies that encompass the strengths and limitations of our present knowledge are available to clinicians.

Violence and People with Mental Illness Served in the Public Mental Health System

• Although the findings cannot be said to be definitive, it does not appear that people with mental illness are more likely to be perpetrators than victims. • Moreover, they do not appear to be substantially more likely to be involved in such incidents than their neighbors, unless they also have significance sub stance abuse problems.2 • People with mental illness have a much higher rate of involvement in violence if they also have a significant substance abuse problem. 3, 5 • However, among people with mental illness who do not have co-occurring substance abuse problems, the frequency of violence is only modestly higher than that of people who are not mentally ill and live in similar neighborhoods.2 Thus, mental illness by itself may not be a significant predictor of violence. • People with severe mental illnesses (e.g. schizophrenia) are less likely than people with less severe disorders such as depression to be involved in violent incidents.3 • Most violent incidents are fights between two people rather than clear perpetratorvictim situations 4 which suggests that treatment of the individual's mental illness is unlikely to be a complete solution. • There are several different effective methods of distinguishing which people with mental illness are most likely to be involved in a violent incident.3, 6 C M H SR Violence and mental illness are inextricably linked in the public mind. It takes only one dramatic news story to reinforce that conception. There is considerable evidence much of it collected through work done at CMHSR that suggests that the public picture is incorrect. Although violence is a significant problem in the lives of people with mental illness, they do not appear to be significantly more involved in violent incidents than their neighbors and others of similar social backgrounds. Nonetheless, a program that would significantly reduce the amount of violence in their lives would be a major benefit to both people with mental illness and their friends and families. Unfortunately, there is as yet no evidence that clearly demonstrates programmatic success.

Levels of Differentiation and Marital Egalitarianism in Men who Batter

This study examined male-to-female partner violence using the concepts of Bowen's theory of differentiation and Feminist theory. Participants in this study included 133 men from various men's groups. The findings support the hypothesis that lower levels of self-control, less marital egalitarianism and higher levels of partner fusion are associated with an increased use of violent conflict tactics. Further regression analyses were conducted in which anger management groups were compared to all other participants. A low level of marital egalitarianism emerged as a significant predictor of violence for the Anger Group, but not for the Comparison Group.

The relationship between drinking and violence in an adolescent population: does gender matter?

While many studies have examined the relationship between alcohol and violence in adult populations, little research has examined this relationship in adolescent populations. Using a large nationally representative sample of older adolescents from the Monitoring the Future Survey, this article found heavy alcohol and polydrug use to increase the likelihood of violent offending even after controlling for other variables like home environment, grades in school, and race. When separate models predicting violence were examined for both males and females, alcohol and polydrug use continued to increase the likelihood of violence for both sexes. Attaining high grades in school decreased the likelihood of violence for both males and females. Several differences did emerge across gender-specificmodels for other variables, however. African-American males were more likely to engage in violence compared to White males, but race was not a significant predictor of violence in the female sample. In addition, residing in a two-parent household significantly decreased the likelihood of violence only for females.

The Effect of Children's Presence on Alcohol Use by Spouse Abusers and Their Victims

The Effect of Children's Presence on Alcohol Use by Spouse Abusers and Their Victims* Key Words: alcohol, child witnesses, spouse abuse. The relationship of children's presence to alcohol use by male batterers and their female victims is examined in a study of 419 women interviewed after a domestic assault which resulted in a call to the police. Children were present and witness to the abuse in the majority of homes. Children's presence had slight impact on the heavy drinking patterns of the batterers and generally no effect on victims ' much lower alcohol use. Although alcohol is occasionally seen as a direct cause of family violence (Bushman & Cooper, 1990; Flanzer, .1993), research has more generally concluded that it is a contnbutor in a vanety ot complex ways tcr. Hayes & lmsnott, 1993; Martin, 1993; Pernanen, 1991; Reiss & Roth, 1993). Collins and Schlenger (1988) found that acute drinking episodes-excessive drinking immediately before incidentswere significant predictors of violence, but that chronic patterns were not. The majority of the research on alcohol and woman battering has focused on such issues as prevalence, severity, and injury with relatively little attention to the impact of children in such situations. Although Gelles (1976) found that the presence of teenage children in the home increased the likelihood that abused women would call the police or seek agency help, other research has shown that the presence of children has little impact on incidents of spouse abuse (Hutchison & Hirschel, 1996; Moore, 1997). While children are frequently present during incidents of battering, and these events are often marked by heavy alcohol usage, there is very little research which addresses the influence that children's presence might have on the characteristics of the event. Are batterers more likely to be drinking because children are an added stress, or less likely because they are conscious of setting a bad example for the children? If they are drinking, do they consume more or less if children are present? In the interest of the children, is either the batterer or the victim less likely to get drunk? This article addresses whether the presence of children has a deterrent effect on alcohol use by batterers or victims before or during incidents of spouse abuse. Background Child Witnesses to Spouse Abuse The issue of children witnessing abuse has emerged relatively recently in the study of family violence. In an effort to untangle the causes of family violence, researchers have investigated the relationship between childhood socialization and subsequent adult predispositions toward abusive relationships. In Hotaling and Sugarman's (1986) review of marital violence research, only one factor emerged as a consistent predictor of a woman being in an abusive relationship: whether she had witnessed or experienced abuse as a child. Evidence of intergenerational transmission, that child witnesses to abuse will later replicate the experience as either perpetrator or victim, has also been found by others (Cappell & Heiner, 1990; Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980). There is considerable evidence for a general association between witnessing domestic violence as a child and maladaptive behavior (Davis & Carlson, 1987; Fantuzzo & Lindquist, 1989; Wolfe, Jaffe, Wilson, & Zak, 1985). However, families may be dysfunctional in multiple ways and the effect on children of witnessing parental abuse is seldom straightforward (Barnett, Miller-Perrin, & Perrin, 1997; McGee, 1997; Widom, 1989). Arroyo and Eth (1995) examined the consequences to children of witnessing violence from the standpoint of post-traumatic stress and developmental stage. Infants may exhibit hypervigilance, regression or clinging behavior; young children (e.g., 3-5 years old) manifest withdrawal and attachment problems; school age children may suffer from developmental regression and also experience distorted moral development; adolescents reflect behavior more comparable to adult PTSD, including antisocial behavior, sexual acting out, and substance abuse (Arroyo & Eth, 1995). …

Psychopathy and violent behaviour in abused and neglected young adults

AbstractThe interrelationships among early childhood victimisation, psychopathy and violence were examined in a sample of previously abused and neglected individuals (n = 652) and a matched control group (n = 489). Measures of psychopathy, assessed utilising Hare's Psychopathy Checklist (PCL‐R), and violence (based on official arrest and self‐report information) were included in a series of multivariate analyses. Victims of childhood abuse and/or neglect had significantly higher PCL‐R scores than persons in a matched control group, despite controls for demographic characteristics and criminal history. PCL‐R scores predicted official and self‐reported violence. Childhood victimisation was a significant predictor of violence; however, when PCL‐R scores were introduced, childhood victimisation was no longer significant. Findings demonstrate a clear connection between early childhood victimisation and psychopathy and suggest that the relationship between childhood victimisation and violence in some individuals may be mediated through psychopathy. A number of potential mechanisms are suggested to explain these linkages. Copyright © 1996 Whurr Publishers Ltd.