Real social analytics: A contribution towards a phenomenology of a digital world

This article argues against the assumption that agency and reflexivity disappear in an age of ‘algorithmic power’ (Lash 2007). Following the suggestions of Beer (2009), it proposes that, far from disappearing, new forms of agency and reflexivity around the embedding in everyday practice of not only algorithms but also analytics more broadly are emerging, as social actors continue to pursue their social ends but mediated through digital interfaces: this is the consequence of many social actors now needing their digital presence, regardless of whether they want this, to be measured and counted. The article proposes ‘social analytics’ as a new topic for sociology: the sociological study of social actors’ uses of analytics not for the sake of measurement itself (or to make profit from measurement) but in order to fulfil better their social ends through an enhancement of their digital presence. The article places social analytics in the context of earlier debates about categorization, algorithmic power, and self‐presentation online, and describes in detail a case study with a UK community organization which generated the social analytics approach. The article concludes with reflections on the implications of this approach for further sociological fieldwork in a digital world.     

Feminist disability theory: domestic violence against women with a disability

Women with a disability continue to experience social oppression and domestic violence as a consequence of gender and disability dimensions. Current explanations of domestic violence and disability inadequately explain several features that lead women who have a disability to experience violent situations. This article incorporates both disability and material feminist theory as an alternative explanation to the dominant approaches (psychological and sociological traditions) of conceptualising domestic violence. This paper is informed by a study which was concerned with examining the nature and perceptions of violence against women with a physical impairment. The emerging analytical framework integrating material feminist interpretations and disability theory provided a basis for exploring gender and disability dimensions. Insight was also provided by the women who identified as having a disability in the study and who explained domestic violence in terms of a gendered and disabling experience. The article argues that material feminist interpretations and disability theory, with their emphasis on gender relations, disablism and poverty, should be used as an alternative tool for exploring the nature and consequences of violence against women with a disability.     

Development practice and violence against women

Development research and practice reflect three main approaches to violence against women (VAW). The efficiency approach emphasizes the deleterious impact of VAW on medical costs, women's labor force participation, and the need for police involvement. A second approach focuses on VAW as an obstacle to their full participation in development programs. A third perspective conceptualizes VAW as a contradiction to human development, whether in terms of human rights, bodily integrity, or the need to enlarge personal choices and control. Education, networking, and employment are of central relevance to the resolution of domestic violence. Awareness of the possibility that women are experiencing violence should be central to all development interventions, regardless of their focus or target group. There is a danger, however, of viewing VAW as merely a correlate of underdevelopment or poverty. The dominant risk factor is not poverty; it is being female. Policy approaches must recognize the endemic nature of VAW, support research into prevalence, and address the unequal gender power relations that create such violence.     

The continuum of violence against women: psychological and physical consequences.

This article expands on the author's earlier model for connecting acts of violence against women, ordering these along a continuum of intensity and hurtfulness. The author identifies links underlying elements on the continuum, including social myths and misunderstandings, and reviews literature concerning the psychological and physical consequences of violence. Finally, the author proposes a series of strategies for use in college health practice and suggests that the frequent and varied manifestations of violence against women require integrated, institution-wide responses from campus communities.     

Making a murderer: The importance of gender and violence against women in mass murder events

This article examines sex, gender, and gender violence (e.g., dating/domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking) as related to mass murder events. Specifically, the paper explores (a) sex/gender and mass murder and (b) violence against women prior to and directly associated with mass murder events. A multidimensional framework guided by critical feminist thought is presented to offer a nuanced approach to understanding offending. The paper argues that mass murder, a gendered phenomenon, is a way by which some individuals “do gender,” an expression of aggrieved entitlement and representation of toxic masculinity resulting from the collision of individual, relational, community, and cultural forces that impact perpetrator attitudes, decisions, and behavior. The paper advances knowledge by drawing attention to men's violence against women preceding mass murder events, one of the most common yet overlooked risk factors. Other gendered aspects are also discussed. In all, findings suggest that sexist beliefs/norms stemming from gender role expectations in patriarchal cultures are reinforced by male peer support and institutional failures that fuel violence against women and mass murder events. Thus, if we are to tackle the issue of mass murder, we need to take the lived experiences of women and girls more seriously and work on gendered‐oriented and gender‐informed solutions.     

Understanding intimate partner violence against women in the rural South

Most U.S. intimate partner violence (IPV) research to date has been limited to women residing in urban areas, with the small body of research focusing on rural populations being primarily qualitative. In this case-control study of Southern rural women, while many factors are consistent with those found in urban settings, unlike findings elsewhere, IPV risk appears to increase with age, and race showed no increased risk. Furthermore, in rural areas where guns are more acceptable than in other parts of the United States, partners of IPV victims are considerably more likely to carry weapons than partners of nonabused women. Given the geographic limitations to police and medical response to severe IPV in a rural setting, an improved understanding of IPV risk among this population can aid health care providers in ascertaining risk before it escalates further.     

A game of three monkeys: Kadazan Dusun villagers and violence against women

Based on detailed and long-term anthropological research among rural Kadazans, the paper sets out the social history of domestic violence in one Sabah village. In more than 30 per cent of the households, there is a woman who has experienced repeated spousal abuse during her life. Adding those men who abused earlier spouses, and adults who lived through the abuse of their mothers in childhood, it is clear that violence is and has long been part of everyday — yet secret — village experience. For various reasons, researchers appear to have colluded in ignoring the issue. To help those women and their children whose lives are blighted by fear and fearful memories, it would be wise to assume domestic violence is as present in rural as in urban settings.     

Getting the message out: Feminists,the press and violence against women

Dans cette communication l'auteur présente une étude de cas sur les relations entre les féministes, qui s'inquiètent de la violence faite aux femmes, et la presse torontoise pendant les six premiers mois de 1988. L'auteur emploie les données d'une analyse de contenu de la couverture de presse accordée à la violence faite aux femmes, ainsi que les entrevues avec les journalistes et les féministes. Globalement, l'auteur trouve que les vues des féministes ont été absentes de la couverture faite par la presse an sujet de la violence faite aux femmes. Mais, malgré cette absence, les féministes ont eu plusieurs occasions d'exprimer leurs vues sur le sujet. Ces données indiquent qu'il y a lieu d'ětre optimiste quant aux chances de succès qu'ont les mouvements sociaux lorsqu'ils utilisent la presse pour faire connaǐtre un point de vue opposé au point de vue dominant. This paper presents a case study of relations between feminists concerned about violence against women and the Toronto press during the first six months of 1988. Drawing upon a content analysis of press coverage of violence against women and interviews with both journalists and feminists, the study finds that on the whole, feminist views were absent from press coverage of violence against women, but there were also openings where feminists could achieve a significant amount of access to the press to express their views on the issue. This gives cause for optimism regarding the possibility of social movements using the press to disseminate knowledge of oppositional views of reality.     

"Calling a state a state": feminist politics and the policing of violence against women in Brazil

This document reports on a 1990 case study of one of Brazil's 80 police stations established for the protection of women in response to feminist pressure to address excessively high levels of violence against women. These police stations, staffed by women to respond exclusively to complaints lodged by women, are an unusual institutional response to such violence. The study examines the station established in Salvador in 1986 to reveal which interests were served by the creation of the specialized stations. The first section of the article addresses the fact that Salvador's policewomen have gained little from the creation of the specialized stations and continue to suffer job-related sexual discrimination. Next, conceptions of gender identity among policewomen are analyzed, and the ideologies of "femininity" and "feminism" in the Brazilian context are discussed. The final section compares views on the abuse of women with views on police brutality and relays incidences when the policewomen beat male prisoners. It is argued that certain forms of violence are actually considered necessary to maintain social order and enact justice. It is concluded that all of the involved parties, the state, the feminists, the female citizenry, and Salvador's female police, benefit in part from the existence of the specialized police stations but that there are serious problems also, especially the fact that the policewomen involved are given little or no special training and no career incentives.     

Interpersonal violence against people with disabilities: understanding the problem from a rural context

Interpersonal violence against people with disabilities is a significant social problem. Little attention has focused on the rural context and the relevance for understanding violence. Given the dearth of literature exploring interpersonal violence, disability, and rurality, a review of rural-focused literature on domestic violence, sexual violence, and elder abuse was conducted to identify themes that could provide insight into this problem for people with disabilities. Themes include geographic isolation, traditional cultural values and norms, lack of anonymity, lack of resources, and poor response of systems. Implications for understanding interpersonal violence against rural people with disabilities and for social work practice are discussed.     

Engaging men as social justice allies in ending violence against women: evidence for a social norms approach

The field of sexual assault prevention is shifting attention to educational interventions that address the role of men in ending violence against women. Recent studies document the often-misperceived norms men hold about other men's endorsement of rape-supportive attitudes and behaviors. The authors provide further evidence supporting the design of population-based social norms interventions to prevent sexual assault. Data from this study suggest that men underestimate the importance that most men and women place on consent and willingness of most men to intervene against sexual violence. In addition, men's personal adherence to only consensual activity and their willingness to act as women's allies are strongly influenced by their perceptions of other men's and women's norms. These findings support the proposition that accurate normative data, which counters the misperception of rape-supportive environments, can be a critical part of comprehensive campus efforts to catalyze and support men's development as women's social justice allies in preventing sexual violence against women.     

Understanding domestic violence against women: using evolutionary psychology to extend the feminist functional analysis

Evolutionary psychologists such as Wilson and Daly (1993b) hypothesize that one goal of male-perpetrated domestic violence is control over female sexuality, including the deterrence of infidelity. According to this hypothesis, domestic violence varies with women's reproductive value or expected future reproduction, declining steeply as women age. We tested this hypothesis with a sample of 3,969 cases of male-perpetrated partner-abuse reported to a single police precinct in a large urban area over a 14-year period. Results show that (a) rates of domestic violence decrease as women age, (b) younger men are at greatest risk for perpetrating domestic violence, (c) younger, reproductive age women incur nearly 10 times the risk of domestic violence as do older, post-reproductive age women, and (d) the greater risk of domestic violence incurred by reproductive age women is not attributable solely to mateship to younger, more violent men. Discussion addresses theoretical implications of these findings and suggests a refinement of the feminist hypothesis of domestic violence against women.     

Working with perpetrators of domestic violence to protect women and children: a partnership between Cheshire Probation Service and the NSPCC

Domestic violence is increasingly becoming recognized as a serious social problem with an enormous cost to society. While historically services have been established for women survivors, it is only recently that programmes designed to address men's violence towards women have become established, led predominantly within the criminal justice sector. This paper describes one such programme established in partnership between Cheshire Probation Service and the NSPCC. It identifies a number of factors considered to be essential in its successful implementation, including the importance of working in partnership, a sound and shared theoretical basis, the provision of a parallel support package for women and children and ongoing programme evaluation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Men's recognition of violence against women and spousal abuse: comparison of three groups of men

Our goal was to assess whether men in the following three groups differ in their ability to recognize and judge the severity of diverse forms of aggressive behavior: (a) men who reported being physically aggressive toward their spouses and who were entering treatment for domestic violence; (b) men who, after participating in a treatment program, were no longer physically violent; and (c) men who reported never having been physically violent towards their spouses (NPV group-non-physically violent). All 81 men in the study reported being verbally aggressive toward their spouses. Men who had been in treatment for spousal abuse and who had not been physically violent toward their spouses since finishing the program were better able than the other two groups to recognize emotionally abusive behaviors.     

SASA! Together: An evolution of the SASA! approach to prevent violence against women

One in three women globally will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) with devastating consequences for individual survivors, their families and communities. While prevalence remains high, violence against women is not inevitable and community mobilization approaches have emerged as particularly promising for transforming the gender inequitable norms and practices that underlie violence. The SASA! Activist Kit to Prevent Violence Against Women (SASA!), developed by Raising Voices in 2008, provides a theory-based approach for mobilizing communities to transform power imbalances between women and men through critical discussion and positive action. In this article, we provide the rational for revising SASA! after ten years of program learning and formal research. We aim to contribute to the knowledge base around what works to prevent IPV by describing the core enhancements in the revised version--called SASA! Together—and linking these changes to Raising Voices’ program learning and broader advancements in the field. In addition, we reflect on how current debates—such as how best to “scale up” violence prevention programs—were considered and resolved in SASA! Together. The paper concludes by sharing lessons learned that may provide guidance for future revisions development and revisions of evidenced-based programs.     

The economic toll of intimate partner violence against women in the United States

This study provides estimates of the economic cost of intimate partner violence perpetrated against women in the US, including expenditures for medical care and mental health services, and lost productivity from injury and premature death. The analysis uses national survey data, including the National Violence Against Women Survey and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, to estimate costs for 1995. Intimate partner violence against women cost $5.8 billion dollars (95% confidence interval: $3.9 to $7.7 billion) in 1995, including $320 million ($136 to $503 million) for rapes, $4.2 billion ($2.4 to $6.1 billion) for physical assault, $342 million ($235 to $449 million) for stalking, and $893 million ($840 to $946 million) for murders. Updated to 2003 dollars, costs would total over $8.3 billion. Intimate partner violence is costly in the US. The potential savings from efforts to reduce this violence are substantial. More comprehensive data are needed to refine cost estimates and monitor costs over time.