Journal of interpersonal violence
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J Interpers Violence · Aug 2010
Comparative StudyFuture law enforcement officers and social workers: perceptions of domestic violence.
This study compares perceptions of domestic violence for college students planning to work in law enforcement with students aspiring to careers in social work and non-law-enforcement criminal justice (N = 491). The study involves students attending four public universities across one Southern state who completed a survey (spring of 2006) measuring whether various scenarios were (1) related to domestic violence, and (2) worthy of being reported to law enforcement. ⋯ Findings reveal that (1) graduate students, (2) female students, and (3) White students (compared with African American students in general) attending majority White universities were more likely to identify domestic violence and its worthiness of being reported. The data in this study indicate that criminal justice programs produce graduates who are reasonably sensitive toward the importance of appropriate domestic violence response but could still improve using the techniques employed within social work programs.
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J Interpers Violence · May 2010
Help-seeking behaviors and reasons for help seeking reported by a representative sample of women victims of intimate partner violence in New Zealand.
Efforts to understand and support the process of help seeking by victims of intimate partner violence are of considerable urgency if we are to design systems and responses that are capable of actively and appropriately meeting the needs of victims. Using data from the New Zealand Violence Against Women Study, which drew from a representative general population sample of women aged 18 to 64 years, the authors report on the help-seeking behaviors of the women who had ever in their lifetime experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner (n = 956). More than 75% of respondents reported that they had told someone about the violence, indicating that it is not necessarily a "secret and private" problem. ⋯ Women's reasons for staying in or returning to violent relationships included perception of the violence as "normal/not serious," her emotional investment in the relationship, or staying for the sake of the children. The findings suggest that broader community outreach is required to ensure that family and friends are able to provide appropriate support for women in abusive relationships who are seeking help. Continued improvement in institutional responses is also required.
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This study investigated homicide-suicide in Durban, South Africa, for the years 2000 to 2001. The incidence was 0.89 per 100,000, higher than the international average. A majority of perpetrators (91%) and victims (87%) were Black African, proportional to their representation in the population. ⋯ A firearm was used in 87% of the homicides and 80% of the suicides. The individuals involved in homicide-suicides in Durban are similar to homicide-suicide perpetrators and victims in industrialized countries. The fact that homicide-suicides in South Africa, as in most countries, involve almost exclusively men killing female intimates confirms the importance of examining and challenging social norms enabling male violence against women.
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J Interpers Violence · Mar 2010
Does powerlessness explain the relationship between intimate partner violence and depression?
The current study aimed to test whether relationship power could act as a mediator of the relationship between intimate partner violence and depression. The proposed mediation model was based on the theory of gender and power and on previous research of intimate partner violence and depression. ⋯ Results revealed that women who felt powerless had higher rates of intimate violence victimization and higher levels of depression; a mediation analysis revealed that sexual relationship power mediated the relationship between intimate partner violence and depression. Future interventions targeting the prevention of intimate partner violence among young women may want to utilize an empowerment approach to decrease their likelihood of experiencing dating violence victimization and their subsequent risk for depression.
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J Interpers Violence · Dec 2009
Comparative StudyMutual partner violence: mental health symptoms among female and male victims in four racial/ethnic groups.
This study examines racial/ethnic and sex differences in the prevalence of mutual intimate partner violence (IPV) and mental health symptoms. The authors asked 676 university students in heterosexual relationships if they had experienced IPV, coercive victimization, and/or perpetration as well as symptoms of depression, anxiety, hostility, and somatization. ⋯ Additionally, experiencing higher partner and coercive violence was significantly related to increased mental health symptoms for all groups except Asian American men. Taken together, these findings suggest that the majority of couples experience mutual violence that elicits mental health problems for both members of the couple.