Crime in the Movies: Investigating the Efficacy of Measures of Both Sex and Gender for Predicting Victimization and Offending in Film

In the wake of several recent school shootings claims have been made that teens, particularly males, learn violence from the media. This paper investigates depictions of criminals and victims in film, specifically in reference to the gendered nature of violent crime, utilizing a content analysis of popular domestic movies in 1996. We develop a gender measure that is separate and distinct from sex in order to test the relationship between both variables and movie offending and victimization. In our sample, masculinity was significantly related to both movie offending and victimization, but sex was not. This pattern of results indicate that the media may be influential in establishing values that accept violence as one means to accomplish masculinity.     

Model Minority Demystified

Summary

This population-based study investigated the prevalence of domestic violence and other types of interpersonal victimization among a random sample of women of Japanese descent (immigrants from Japan and Japanese Americans) in Los Angeles. This study found a high prevalence of domestic violence, as well as other types of violence, perpetrated by non-intimates. Differences by country of birth were found in some, but not all, types of victimization; a larger proportion of Japan-born respondents reported experiencing contact and no-contact sexual violence perpetrated by non-intimates and witnessing their fathers' violence against their mothers. The severity of domestic violence experienced during the respondents' lifetimes was significantly associated with a higher degree of psychological distress. Findings question the commonly presumed image of the model minority and call for increased efforts to assess the history of domestic violence and other types of interpersonal victimization when working with women of Japanese descent.     

Partner Violence and Mental Health Outcomes in a New Zealand Birth Cohort

This study examines the prevalence and extent of domestic violence and the consequences of domestic violence for mental health outcomes in a birth cohort of New Zealand young adults studied at age 25 years. A total of 828 young people (437 women and 391 men) were interviewed about the domestic violence victimization and violence perpetration in their current or most recent partner relationship. Key findings of the study were (a) domestic conflict was present in 70% of relationships, with this conflict ranging from minor psychological abuse to severe assault; (b) men and women reported similar experiences of victimization and perpetration of domestic violence; and (c) exposure to domestic violence was significantly related to increased risks of major depression (p < .05) and suicidal ideation (p < .005) even after extensive control for covariates.     

The reporting and help‐seeking behaviors of domestic violence victims with criminal backgrounds

The decision to report domestic violence is often conditional on whether victims were satisfied with their prior treatment by the criminal justice system. One issue in reporting victimization is that victims of domestic violence may also be involved with the system as offenders. The current paper systematically reviews research on this overlap, finding that most research supports that victims who also have criminal backgrounds are significantly less likely to report subsequent experiences of domestic violence, and are less likely and able to seek out social services, particularly when they report prior negative experiences. The paper then identifies theoretical and policy‐based implications of the review findings.     

Problem gambling,familial violence and alcohol misuse: exploring the triad for treatment-seekers

Research into the co-occurrence of problem gambling, familial violence, and alcohol misuse is limited. While these issues have been considered in combination (i.e. violence and alcohol misuse, problem gambling and alcohol misuse, problem gambling and violence), within Australia, in particular, there has been an absence of exploration of this triad. The current research attempts to fill the gap in the literature, to establish whether there is any difference between problem gamblers with co-occurring violence and problem gamblers who had not experienced violence in terms of their alcohol misuse and gambling behaviours. Interviews were conducted with 81 treatment-seeking problem gamblers to explore how a history of victimization only, perpetration only, victimization and perpetration, or no history of family violence impacted on gambling behaviours (including baseline Victorian Gambling Screen), as well as alcohol misuse. Results indicated that in this treatment-seeking sample there were no significant differences for gambling behaviours or alcohol misuse between problem gamblers with issues of violence and those without. Males demonstrated (on average) a greater tendency toward hazardous drinking or disordered alcohol use. It would be prudent for treatment services to routinely examine problem gamblers' history of violence and alcohol misuse until research verifies the nature of this triad.     

Everyday terrorism: Campus sexual violence and the neoliberal university

This article investigates the ways sexual violence experienced on college campuses in the United States is situated within the neoliberal university. Feminist theories are utilized to explore the relationship between sexual violence and neoliberal ideologies. The authors evaluate how neoliberal tenets imbedded in higher education have contributed to, and exacerbated, an environment where sexual victimization is common. An institutional level of analysis is utilized to examine the neoliberal influence on campus sexual violence and investigate the utility of the term everyday terrorism. The authors also address “crimes of omission”, institutional betrayal, and the significance of institutional bravery/courage. The authors provide recommendations for future research in the areas of everyday terrorism and campus violence.     

Perpetrator or Victim? Relationships Between Intimate Partner Violence and Well‐Being

In national surveys, around half of intimate partner violence perpetrators are also victims of partner assaults. However, data on intimate partner violence victimization and perpetration are rarely examined together. This study examines the relationships between perpetration, victimization, and three psychosocial variables—depression, self‐esteem, and substance abuse—that have been constructed in prior research as both causes and consequences of partner violence. Results indicate that associations between substance abuse and self‐esteem and partner violence perpetration are mediated by controlling for victimization, but depression is associated with both victimization and perpetration. Associations between mutual violence and depression and substance abuse are greater among women than men, supporting the position that gender symmetry in reported violence perpetration does not imply symmetry in outcomes.     

Constructions of local culture and impacts on domestic violence in an Australian rural community

Studies of domestic violence in rural areas have predominantly focused on barriers that keep women trapped in abusive relationships. The literature has frequently suggested that rural culture influences the incidence of domestic violence, the forms it takes, and how it is experienced. Yet there is surprisingly little research on how rural culture plays out in relationships between women and men who experience domestic violence. The study described in this paper explored local culture in a South Australian rural community and how it affected women's experiences of, and men's perpetration of, domestic violence. It found several local cultural discourses that bore on the issue, including self-reliance, pride, privacy, belonging and closeness, family, and Christianity. The power and influence of these discourses made it difficult to name and challenge domestic violence. The paper concludes with the argument that it is important to acknowledge and understand the values and beliefs of rural women and men when developing effective and appropriate responses to rural domestic violence. There is a need to move away from universal understandings of a rural culture to acknowledge discourses that have power and strength within a community so that we can sensitively challenge discourses that silence domestic violence.     

Praise Is Not Enough

This article argues there is a need for a more encompassing understanding of the relationships between domestic violence and all forms of marginalisation in the Australian context. Specific attention will be given to the invisibility of class and poverty in contemporary discourse about domestic violence in the mainstream population. That there continues to be a higher prevalence of domestic violence, and more severe physical injury sustained as a result of domestic violence among population groups living with poverty, exposes the partiality of mainstream knowledges informing Australian domestic violence policy and practice. This article proposes prevention efforts must accommodate how class and the effects of poverty interlock with other aspects of social identity to shape the experience of domestic violence for people both victimised by, and perpetrating violence.     

Relationships between Early Life Victimization,Antisocial Traits,and Sexual Violence: Executive Functioning as a Mediator

ABSTRACT

Few research studies examine how the relationship between trauma and executive functioning can influence sexual violence among youth. Knight and Sims-Knight (2004) proposed a Developmental Etiological Theory (DET) connecting early life physical and sexual victimization to sexual violence via antisocial traits. Drawing from research that identifies a link between early life victimization and executive functioning, this study tests an adaptation to the DET by including executive functioning as an intervening factor. Using data on adolescents adjudicated of sexual and non-sexual crimes in a western state (N = 200), multiple structural equation models tested direct and indirect relationships between early life sexual, physical victimization, and other adversity, four differential forms of executive functioning, callousness, and sexual violence. Results revealed statistically significant direct pathways between variables of interest and a multi-meditational effect of certain forms of executive functioning and callousness in the relationship between victimization and sexual violence. Treatment and research implications are discussed.     

Child Sexual Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization in Adulthood: Sex-Differences in the Mediating Influence of Age of Sexual Initiation

Child sexual abuse is a major public health concern in the United States with devastating sequelae. Although the relationship between child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood is known, little is known about the mediating influence of the age of sexual initiation on the association, or whether sex differences exist. Using data from waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 1,163), we aimed to examine the mediating influence of age of sexual initiation on the association between child sexual abuse and intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood and identify sex differences. Findings reveal that in female survivors, age of sexual initiation partially mediated the association between child sexual abuse and physical intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood. In male survivors, no mediational effect was observed. Public health practitioners should be aware of sex differences in the effect of early sexual initiation on intimate partner violence victimization in adulthood among child sexual abuse survivors.     

Domestic violence and child protection: issues in safety planning

There is strong evidence for the link between domestic violence and child abuse. Agencies' policies regarding domestic violence and child protection are critical in determining the dimensions of practitioner intervention, including safety planning for women and children. This paper explores the issues identified in research around safety planning where there are domestic violence and child protection concerns which was conducted with practitioners in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in 2001. In particular, the paper focuses on three of the factors that influence practitioner intervention with women and children. These are: definitional understandings of domestic violence and child abuse; child protection legislative changes, including mandatory reporting and domestic violence as a child‐at‐risk category; and the NSW child protection statutory authority's response to domestic violence. The interplay between these factors results in complexities of practice for practitioners as they attempt to maximize women's strengths and minimize risks to children's safety. The resultant inconsistent response to domestic violence and child protection by government and non‐ government agencies suggests the need for domestic violence interagency guidelines. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Examining the relationship between Latinas' perceptions about what constitutes domestic violence and domestic violence victimization

Domestic violence is a serious issue for U.S. Latinas. Better understanding of the potential risk or protection that cultural perceptions about what constitutes domestic violence may convey can help strengthen interventions. Therefore, a convenience sample of 93 Latinas was surveyed about their current levels of domestic violence victimization, acculturation, and demographics, as well as about whether 5 behavioral scenarios constituted domestic violence. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to examine the relationships between the 5 perception items and domestic violence victimization. After adjusting for established risk factors, only viewing male partner stalking and female verbal aggression as domestic violence were significantly associated with decreased domestic violence victimization. Findings can be integrated into the development and implementation of culturally competent interventions targeting Latinas.     

Child custody evaluations and domestic violence: case comparisons

The literature indicates that witnessing domestic violence is harmful to children, that them is a high overlap between domestic violence and child abuse, and that safety is an important issue for separating women because separation from abusive partners is a particularly dangerous time for victims of domestic violence. Further, child custody is often a contentious issue in domestic violence cases. Child custody evaluations are typically used to assist courts in deciding custody when custody is disputed and when the best interests of the child are unclear. The concept of "best interests of the child" does not specify evaluation techniques or approaches, however, and while custody evaluation standards generally address the best interests of the child, they offer little guidance in high-risk situations such as parental domestic violence. In addition, there has been limited research focused on understanding the custody evaluation process or the degree to which practitioners differ in their procedures and reporting for cases with and without parental domestic violence. This study is one of the first to examine characteristics of disputed custody cases and their custody evaluation reports differences between domestic violence and non-domestic violence cases. This study selected a 60% random sample of cases with custody evaluations in Fiscal Year 1998 and 1999 (n = 82 cases). Out of the 82 cases, 56% (n = 46) met criteria for classification into the domestic violence group and 44% (n = 36) did not. In general, results indicated that although there were some important differences in court records between cases with and without domestic violence, there were only minor differences between custody evaluation reported process and recommendations for the two groups. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Sociocultural and epidemiological issues in the assessment of domestic violence

This paper presents alternative models for the integration of multicultural issues in research on domestic violence. Issues are discussed that illustrate ethnic specific strengths, concerns, and weaknesses of ethnic families and communities. These issues need to be incorporated in future research that more thoroughly examines ethnic and cultural issues in violence research. Alternative strategies for future research are also suggested which call for the incorporation of ethnic and cultural issues on an ongoing basis, so that commonalities across studies can emerge and we can begin to understand the cultural context of domestic violence.     

Disrupting the ‘life-cycle’ of violence in social relations: recommendations for anti-trafficking interventions from an analysis of pathways out of sex work for women in Eastern India

This article argues for the need to change the ways in which anti-human trafficking (AT) non-government organisations (NGOs) and their interventions in India frame and address violence in sex work. The article asserts that AT NGOs need to move beyond their ideological allegiances and infuse their interventions with a better understanding of the lived realities of women who are coerced into sex work. This argument is based on an analysis of women's pathways out of sex work in Eastern India, which include both finding independent routes, and also reliance on AT interventions. The research suggests that AT interventions need to acknowledge the centrality of social relationships in women's lives and experiences of violence. Social relations influence women's entry into sex work, affect their experiences within it, and shape their pathways out of sex work.     

A comparative study examining associations between women's drug-related lifestyle factors and victimization within the family

This study explores and compares the interrelationships between lifespan childhood and adult partner victimization and the drug lifestyles for 609 women, aged 18-65, from a drug-treatment sample, a women's domestic violence shelter sample, and community samples matched with the drug-treatment and shelter samples. Significant findings indicate that lifespan childhood and adult partner victimization were the strongest predictors of women's drug-related lifestyle activities. Three proposed hypotheses were supported to suggest that an association exists between the respondents' lifespan childhood and partner victimization scores and drug-related lifestyle activities scores, with these relationships modified by intervening variables, such as age, marital status, partner substance use, and parental substance use. Findings also indicate significant differences among the four sample groups in terms of victimization and drug-related lifestyle factors. Implications, limitations, and areas for future research are discussed.     

Conflict,Power, and Violence in Families

Research on conflict, power, and violence in families in the 2000s developed a promising focus on the interconnections between types of violence and between the experience of violence and locations in larger structures of power and inequality. I examine research on poly‐victimization, typologies of violence, dyadic research, and links between violence and inequalities of gender, race, class, and sexual orientation. Additionally, this review evaluates research on the connections between violence in families and other arenas of family study, including teen pregnancy, marriage formation, cohabitation, and divorce. The review concludes with a discussion of studies showing declines in rates of abuse within families in the 2000s.     

Factors Related to Domestic Violence in Asia: The Conflict between Culture and Patriarchy

While most research on domestic violence (DV) has focused on the West, there is an increasing interest in DV in Asian countries. This article explores the extent of DV against women in areas where most of the research has been conducted, including South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. The factors associated with DV in the Asian region is explored through the Heise model that considers four levels of analysis, including personal factors, the microsystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem. The analysis points to the importance of the patriarchal culture that is inextricably linked to culture that is resistant to change and must be addressed at a range of levels.     

Domestic violence: a priority in child protection in New South Wales,Australia?

Over the last several years there has been increasing awareness of the connection between domestic violence and child abuse, yet only minimal attention has been paid to the implications of this for child protection practice. This article begins to address this gap. Drawing on research undertaken in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, it examines child protection practice in relation to children and young people who have been exposed to domestic violence. The research involved analysis of the responses of the statutory child protection authority in NSW (the Department of Community Services or DoCS) to abuse allegations involving domestic violence. The data are drawn from observation and analysis of the initial responses to referrals to DoCS and the ‘tracking’ of a sample of these referrals over an 18 month period. From the data obtained, it is evident that domestic violence referrals are treated less seriously than other referrals, with more being confirmed as abuse but fewer resulting in follow up or intervention. The implications of this for child protection practice are teased out. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.