Violence In Close Relationships Research Articles

Dare to Ask! A Model for Teaching Nursing Students about Identifying and Responding to Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

The role of nurses in identifying and responding to family violence and violence against women has long been established. However, nurses' readiness to fully assume this role remains low due to various barriers and the sensitive nature of the subject. As part of capacity building to address this problem, an additional national qualitative learning target, i.e., to "show knowledge about men's violence against women and violence in close relationships", was introduced into the Swedish Higher Education Ordinance for nursing and seven other educational programs between 2017 and 2018. The aim of this paper is to describe how the national qualitative learning target is incorporated into the undergraduate nursing curriculum at the Swedish Red Cross University College. An overview of relevant teaching and learning activities and how they are organized is first presented, followed by the presentation of a proposed didactic model: Dare to Ask and Act! The model details a step-by-step progression from facts and figures, including the role of gender norms, to recognizing signs of abuse in complex clinical situations, as well as developing skills that enhance the courage to ask and act. Due to the sensitive nature of violence victimization, the proposed model reflects the importance of making the subject a reoccurring theme in undergraduate nursing education in order to boost nursing students' interests and confidence to "Dare to Ask and Act!". The model also shows that making the subject a recurring theme can be achieved with minimal disruptions to and without overcrowding an existing curriculum.

”Andra ögon idag?”

“Other eyes today?” ̶ Social services’ handling of child protection investigations in cases of violence Social work involving child protection investigations is extensive within social services. The largest proportion of investigations are initiated due to reports of concern. Between the years 2010 and 2021, national statistics indicates that reports of concern increased by 200 percent. This article analyses the social services’ handling of child protection investigations initiated due to concerns about violence. The article is part of a larger study of privatisation in child protection investigations in six municipalities, with comparisons between investigations carried out by municipally employed social workers and private consultants. A high proportion of the investigations examined were initiated due to concerns about violence. The article analyses child protection investigations regarding 70 children, where the reports of concern contain information about violence, either concern about violence against the child or concern that the child experienced violence in close relationships. The article is based on qualitative and quantitative content analyses of the investigations and interviews with professionals. The results show that violence could tend to disappear in the documentation during the investigation process. The investigator could reformulate the questions that guided the investigation and reformulate the statements about violence from one person (father) towards another person (mother) into parental “conflicts”. Instead of a focus on violence, the focus of the investigation could be directed towards the parents’ own problems or the child’s behaviour. One explanation could be that, according to the reports of concern, children who were exposed to violence did not always have the opportunity to express themselves in safe and secure ways during the investigation process. The study shows differences between investigations carried out by private consultants and employed social workers in terms of children’s participation and the extent to which investigations led to any intervention.

Social work practices with victims of violence among people with cognitive disabilities

ABSTRACT People with cognitive disabilities are exposed to significantly higher rates of violence in close relationships than the general population. However, social workers may find it challenging to identify victims among them, make risk assessments, and provide support. This study contributes to the field by describing and analysing social workers’ practices with victims of violence in close relationships among people with cognitive disabilities in Sweden. Analysis of five focus-group discussions including 20 social workers revealed four main themes that describe the practices used with these victims, ‘Competency’, ‘The system of collaboration’, ‘Protective and supportive measures’ and ‘Instruments and tools’. Sub-themes illuminate the differences in competency and resources offered to victims of violence in close relationships between mainstream victim services and disability services. Mainstream victim services have a lack of practices adapted for people with cognitive disabilities, and disability services have a lack of practices for victims of violence. Additionally, these services were found to have insufficient collaboration. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research and theory. We suggest that future research should investigate the prerequisites for services to collaborate.

Mellan rättslig reglering och professionell logik

Between legal regulations and professional logic - dealing with reports of violence in child protectionThis article analyses and discusses social workers’ perspectives on dealing with referrals concerning suspected violence and abuse in child protection within a legal setting guided by mandatory reports and mandatory child welfare investigations when children have been exposed to, or witnessed, violence in close relationships. The study is based on six group interviews with 15 social workers from six different municipalities of varying sizes. The analysis is based on professional theory and theories on discretion, with a focus on how social workers reason about their discretionary space and what strategies they use to cope with possible ethical and legal dilemmas in practice. Three main themes emerged in the analysis: social workers’ strategies within a limited discretionary space, unwarranted referrals, and a low threshold into social services but a high threshold for interventions. The study shows that most social workers consider themselves to have discretion to independently assess information on suspected violence in reports and to assess whether a child welfare investigation ought to be initiated or not. However, they also could feel a need to formally initiate a child investigation, and immediately close it after one meeting, as a strategy to correspond to legal demands. Social workers experienced a risk-oriented approach amongst other professionals, resulting in a mechanical approach to mandatory reporting, where referrals did not necessarily correspond to any actual concern for the child from the reporter. The social worker’s own possibilities to provide interventions was often perceived to be blocked if parents did not give their consent. The study shows and discusses how legal regulations urging professional action in vaguely defined situations must also provide necessary discretionary space for professional assessment to avoid, or cope with, ethical dilemmas related to the legal framework.

Psychology of Women Quarterly: Citation Network Analysis of Its Landscape and Evolution

Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ) is a leading outlet for feminist psychology research. To elucidate the interrelations of PWQ publications over time, we conducted a citation network analysis of its 2,747 articles and 4,517 citation links. Of the 16 citation clusters that emerged, many echoed key elements of PWQ's scope. These included Cluster 1: feminist consciousness and sexism; Cluster 2: body image and objectification; Cluster 3: feminist psychology, epistemology, and methodology; Cluster 4: gender and educational and occupational experiences; Cluster 5: rape and sexual assault; Cluster 6: power and violence in close relationships; Cluster 7: sexual harassment and workplace discrimination; and Cluster 8: women and power with attention to race and nation. Areas of citation disconnection revealed avenues for resisting citation silos and advancing pantheoretical feminist frameworks on the continuum of patriarchal violence. Small and discontinued clusters were areas ripe for feminist revisiting (e.g., reproductive justice). PWQ articles were cited in an increasing number and breadth of journals over time. These findings can inform authors, reviewers, and editors to advance the next decades of scholarship in PWQ in ways that resist citation silos, revive research on critical domains of women's lives, and foster the feminist edge of our scholarship.

Conceptualising Violence in Close Relationships: Discrepancies Between Police Conceptions and the Letter of the Law in Finland

Conceptualising Violence in Close Relationships: Discrepancies Between Police Conceptions and the Letter of the Law in Finland

Availability of attachment relations and safe school environment are associated with subjective well-being in 15-year-olds – with girls reporting less well-being and less equality

BackgroundUnderstanding young people’s subjective well-being, such as how they experience equality, safety, and supportive environments, is particularly important for identifying possible preventive interventions in the school context. AimThe aim of this study was to investigate similarities and differences between 15-year-old girls’ and boys’ subjective well-being, and its associations with psychosocial factors. MethodsThe study was explorative and cross-sectional. A total of 195 adolescent girls and 116 boys in Grade 9 from four Swedish junior high schools completed a questionnaire on subjective well-being; emotional support opportunities; gender equality; experience of emotional, physical, and sexual violence in close relationships; insecurity due to harassment in the school environment or on social media; and pornography consumption. ResultsCompared to boys, girls indicated worse subjective well-being and more harassment in school and on social media, and reported that boys received benefits based on gender. Boys reported higher pornography consumption compared with girls. Girls reporting decreased subjective well-being experienced more harassment on social media and in school, and more recent sexual violence. Among boys, with decreased subjective well-being, more psychological risks such as self-harm and suicidal thoughts was reported. Both girls and boys with decreased subjective well-being reported less availability of attachment and insecure close relations. ConclusionThe absence of a safe and supportive environment, such as feeling secure at school, and lack of close and trusting relationships are associated with 15-year-olds’ subjective well-being for the worse, regardless of gender. It is suggested that school personnel extend the relational possibilities in the school context.

Conceptualising Violence in Close Relationships: Discrepancies Between Police Conceptions and the Letter of the Law in Finland

The focus in this Finland-based study is on violence in close relationships—a term that partly overlaps with the more commonly used ‘domestic violence’, ‘family violence’ and ‘intimate partner violence’. We demonstrate how police officers’ conceptualisations of such violence differ from how it is defined in relevant legal documents. The data consists of the Government Bill and legal text on the subject issued as part of a legal reform enacted in 2010, and of a qualitative sample of freelist responses from 79 police officers. We examined both sets of data using theory-driven directed content analysis and deriving from prevailing theoretical frameworks reflecting the family- and gender-based perspectives on violence. The results expose the predominance of a narrow definition of ‘family’ in police understandings of close relationships, but also a notably broad spectrum of conceptualisations of both physical and non-physical forms of violence. In contrast, the legal definition of a close relationship is broader and encompasses multiple types of relationships, whereas forms of violence are more strictly defined. These findings could explain some of the discrepancies between legal policies on violence in close relationships and police responses to it.

Professional Knowledge on Violence in Close Relationship in Swedish Social Services

Violence in close relationships (VCR) is a major social problem, and calculations indicate that every third woman globally has been subjected to VCR at some point in her life. Given the extent of the problem, it is likely that many social workers will meet victims of violence in their daily work. Their knowledge on VCR are therefore of great importance. The aim of this study was to examine the professional knowledge on VCR among social workers in the Swedish social services. The results are based on a survey answered by 153 social workers in three Swedish municipalities. The results revealed that in social workers’ acquisition of knowledge, they value professional experience and education the most. Around 70 percent stated that they lack knowledge on several topics related to VCR, such as the special needs of targeted groups. In order for social workers to maintain a high professionalism in their work with VCR educational efforts are required, it is also necessary to provide time and conditions for supervision and critical reflection in ongoing work. An important area for future research is to examine how social work education addresses these issues, the conditions for continuing education and training in the social service.

Gränsytor under förhandling

Boundaries under negotiation – social services’ responsibility for support to women exposed to violence in close relationshipsThis article examines social workers’ perceptions of the social services’ mission and task as regards support for women who are subjected to violence in close relationships and where the social services are considered to be limited. The study is qualitative and based on interviews with 16 social workers in eleven municipalities. The interviews have been analysed with conventional content analysis. The analysis shows that the task or obligation of the social services can be formulated in two different ways: to offer support to women exposed or previously exposed to violence in close relationships, or to offer support to women who have left or intend to leave a relationship where they have been subjected to violence. In the analysis of social workers’ descriptions of support they offer, as well as the boundaries for what is beyond the social services’ responsibility, three levels can be identified. The first level, consisting of financial support, placements at women’s shelters and a social worker to talk to, forms a sort of core for the work in the social services, which most, albeit to varying degrees, offer. The second level describes forms of enhanced support, and the third level describes such support which only a few state that they work with or where responsibility issues are more diffuse.

Exposure to Family Violence as a Predictor of Dating Violence and Child-to-Parent Aggression in Spanish Adolescents

Witnessing intimate partner violence (IPV) and child maltreatment may place children on a lifelong trajectory toward violence. The primary aim of this research was to examine the associations between exposure to violence at home and two forms of violence in close relationships in Spanish adolescents: child-to-parent violence (CPV) and dating violence. A sample of 845 adolescents (13-18 years) completed measures of direct victimization and witnessing of IPV, as well as adolescent dating violence and CPV at Time 1, and measures of adolescent dating violence and CPV 6 months later. Findings indicate that direct victimization is more relevant for later CPV than is witnessing IPV against the mother. Namely, direct victimization by the mother and father predicted an increase in child-to-mother and child-to-father violence over time. Witnessing IPV and direct victimization by the father predicted an increase in dating violence victimization in girls at Time 2.

Models for violence by Turkish police officers toward romantic partners and police partners

Social learning theory suggests that displays of violence in close relationships would be increased for individuals exposed to family models of violence, especially from parents. Because police officers may regard their departments as a second ‘family,’ violence shown by the ‘father figure’ police supervisor may be a significant model for violence, as recent research has found for American police officers. The police supervisor might also be expected to be a powerful model for violence because Turkish police officers serve in a male-dominated workplace in a largely male-dominated society. This study examined how violence reported by Turkish police officers in their close relationships (toward romantic partners, toward police partners) was explained by parental models from the ‘home family’ (father-to-mother, mother-to-father, father-to-participant, mother-to-participant) and from the ‘police family’ (supervisor-to-participant). Study participants included 233 Turkish police officers (96% male; 66% under 30 years of age; 6.9 mean years of service) who completed anonymous questionnaires to report violence in each relationship using the six-item subscale of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the set of ‘home family’ and ‘police family’ parental models explained 42% of variance in romantic partner violence and 74% of variance in police partner aggression. Violence from the police supervisor was the most consistent and significant model, perhaps because the police supervisor was a new and powerful ‘father figure’ for the relatively young officers of the present study. Violence received from the mother was also associated with increased risk of police partner violence, perhaps because mothers were the officers’ primary caretakers during childhood, making their style of conflict resolution the most prevalent parental model. Employee assistance programs to encourage ‘Peace in the Family’ for Turkish police officers may require participation by police supervisors, who must model non-violent conflict resolution in their departments.

Implicit Theories of Relationships and Close Relationship Violence

People differ in what they think makes for a successful relationship, but it is unclear how these beliefs relate to the perpetration of violence. Four studies (N = 2,591) examined the relationship between growth beliefs and the perpetration of violence in close relationships. Specifically, the current work tested the hypothesis that growth beliefs mitigate against close relationship violence, possibly due to increased satisfaction with sacrificing one's own self-interest for the betterment of the relationship. Studies 1 and 2 provided cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence that growth beliefs predicted less perpetration of close relationship violence. Studies 3 and 4 showed that the relationship between growth beliefs and lower perpetration of violence was mediated by satisfaction with sacrifice within one's relationship. All effects of growth beliefs remained significant after controlling for destiny beliefs. Discussion centers on the importance of implicit theories of relationships for understanding the perpetration of violence in close relationships.

Children’s Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence: Causes, Consequences, and Coping

Children’s appraisals of conflictual and aggressive parental interactions mediate their effect on children’s adjustment. Previous studies have relied almost exclusively on self-report questionnaires to assess appraisals; consequently we know little about perceptions that occur naturally when children witness interparental aggression. This study employed a semi-structured interview to assess the thoughts and feelings of 34 children (ages 7–12) whose mothers were receiving services at domestic violence agencies, and mothers reported on interparental aggression that took place in the home. Children’s thoughts centered on consequences and efforts to understand why fights occurred. They generally viewed their mother’s partner as responsible for violence, though a significant number viewed both parents as playing a role. Sadness and anger were more common than anxiety, and children often attempted to stop or withdraw from fights or both. When asked why family violence occurs, most focused on perpetrators’ lack of control of anger or personal characteristics, but approximately one-third viewed victims as provoking aggression. These findings support the idea that children actively attempt to understand the causes and consequences of interparental violence and suggest that their perceptions and interpretations are important for understanding the development of beliefs regarding the use of violence in close relationships.

Social Policy, Feminism, and Research on Violence in Close Relationships

The history of research on intimate partner violence is reviewed, with a special focus on how my own work in this area has evolved. The role of researcher values in the research process is highlighted. Some of the issues emerging from this review are the need for better measures of intimate partner violence, reasons why women's violence has been ignored by many researchers, and a discussion of the conditions under which women display violence. Policy implications of this research are discussed.

Violence in close relationships: The role of emotion

Violence in dating, cohabiting, and marital relationships is examined in terms of emotion-related vulnerabilities. A systems-oriented theoretical framework is offered to explain the role that emotions play in common, less severe forms of violent couple interactions and in severe violent couple interactions. Emotions playing a protective role in close relationships are contrasted with emotions serving to enhance risk for couple violence.

Violence and Intimacy in Close Relationships

This study has two foci: identifying what is known about couples' dynamics and violence and presenting an empirical study of 283 upper level college students. The review of current studies concerning emotional factors that lead to violence (or foster safety) demonstrated how positive emotions inhibit couples' violence. The empirical study demonstrated how specific, emotional components serve as protections against dyadic violence (positive affective tone, listening and understanding). The data supported these variables as highly predictive of couples' violence. The results of the study also showed that self-disclosure is not protective against violence in intimate relationships. The authors have posited that the quality of the self-disclosure and the over all emotional state of the relationship (level of deterioration) are factors that affect the predictive and protective importance of self-disclosure. The study also introduced an innovative approach to the study of couples'violence, through the use and validation of a new methodology for gathering information on violence in close relationships.

Violence in close relationships—development of a research area: Comment on Archer (2000).

A brief history of empirical research on violence in close relationships is presented. Assumptions of and conclusions made by feminist researchers about the problems of battered wives are reviewed. It is argued that their focus on marital violence as a form of aggression against women by men and their concern for severely beaten wives may have caused them to ignore high levels of female violence in marriage and dating. J. Archer's (2000) meta-analysis of studies of marital and dating violence showed that both sexes display violence in these relationships, although women are more likely to be injured. An expansion of Archer's definition of heterosexual violence (or violence in close relationships) to include sexual aggression and stalking is suggested. Reasons for relatively high levels of female violence in close relationships relative to violence toward strangers are briefly discussed. It is argued that more attention needs to be given to male victims of violence from their partners.

Violence in close relationships--development of a research area: Comment on Archer (2000).

Violence in close relationships--development of a research area: Comment on Archer (2000).

Investigating the Causes and Consequences of Marital Rape

Marital rape is a concept that many find difficult to comprehend. Until the Oregon trial of John Rideout, who was accused of rape by his wife Greta, there was little discussion of marital rape by the general public or by researchers and counselors skilled in dealing with other types of rape cases. However, the extensive media coverage given the Rideout case has raised a number of questions about this subject. For example, what actions should be defined as rape when the acts involve husband and wife? When women are forced to have sexual relations with their husbands, do they accept this as part of their marital duties or does the use of force have long-term negative consequences for the marriage? And finally, in what types of marriages does forced sex or marital rape occur? This paper attempts to answer some of these questions based upon interview data gathered from nearly 300 women.