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.     

Religion,male violence,and the control of women: Pakistani Muslim men in Bradford,UK

This paper examines Pakistani Muslim male violence in the public and private spheres in Bradford, UK. The article also explores the relationship between male violence and ideas of culture and religion. The material used was collected over a 4-year period from students and staff in further and higher education institutions; working women (prostitutes); survivors of domestic violence; police personnel who work with Asian women fleeing domestic violence or forced marriages; and staff of a children's society working with teenage prostitutes. Methodologies included lectures, seminars, focus groups, and interviews. Findings reveal that there is a difference between male and female attitudes towards Islam. Some men are using it to justify violence against women, while women of all ages and backgrounds are using it as a source of strength and to negotiate (with ingenuity and humor) the cultural and religious requirements which men try to impose upon them.     

Domestic violence research: Theoretical and practice implications for social work

Identified in the late eighties as the number one public health risk to adult women by the Surgeon General of the United States, domestic violence remains the leading cause of injuries to women, ages 15 to 44, more common than muggings, auto accidents and cancer deaths combined (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1992). Academics and practitioners have assessed the problem and its potential solutions using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Yet, how far have we come and how much do we really know? This paper will attempt to answer these questions by critiquing the “current state of affairs” of domestic violence research. Common theories of causation and their applications to social work theory and practice will be delineated and an ecologically based intervention for domestic violence will be proposed.     

Title lending as a predatory practice: Subprime populations and financial violence

The passage of the Dodd‐Frank Act in 2010 ushered in the most ambitious financial reforms since the Banking Act of 1933. The core of the Act centered on ensuring more consumer protections from predatory financial practices through the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which provided federal oversight of fringe lenders that profited off of high‐interest loans such as payday and automobile title loans. Yet the current deregulatory environment being promoted by the Trump administration is once again loosening the reins on fringe lenders that provide quick access to cash at triple digit interest rates. In this article, I provide an overview of the alternative finance service industry with a specific focus on one such instrument: auto title loans. Drawing upon governmental reports and the literature, I provide a comprehensive overview of the how the industry functions and who it targets. By focusing on the profit model that undergirds the title loan industry, I show how the profitability of the industry is directly tied to the extended vulnerability of its customer base. I conclude by offering suggestions for researchers to rethink predatory lending practices as a form of financial violence in order to reframe the discourse surrounding predatory lending.     

Provider dilemmas with relocation in assisted living: philosophy vs. practice

Support for increasing tenant frailty in assisted living (AL) is a complex and challenging issue. Philosophically, older persons, families, providers, and policymakers want to avoid unnecessary relocation. However, there is considerable opportunity for inconsistency in practice. We examined provider perspectives related to implementing aging-in-place, using information obtained from an evaluation of a three-year AL demonstration project in Illinois. We found differences in approaches to explicit move-out criteria, the actual application of move-out criteria, and provider willingness to develop flexible service plans. These findings raise questions for consideration in all states confronted with implementing the philosophy and intent of AL.     

Child abuse in the context of domestic violence: prevalence, explanations, and practice implications

This article addresses the following questions: (a) How common is child abuse among domestically violent families? (b) Are there specific patterns of child abuse among domestically violent families? (c) What may explain occurrences of child abuse in domestically violent families? (d) How might domestic violence affect treatment for child abuse? We review research on child abuse in the context of domestic violence. We discuss implications of this research for service-delivery programs for domestically violent families.     

Independent Living: gender, violence and the threat of violence

In what ways is independent living for young adults with disabilities compromised by violence and its threat? A qualitative study of 42 young adults with severe physical disabilities explored their perceptions and concerns about independent living, access to services and the meeting of needs. Young women especially experienced difficulties about leaving home, because of their own and their parents' fears about vulnerability; some who did leave home experienced highly restricted social lives because of anxiety about neighbourhood violence. Few had established partnerships, but violence and sexual abuse from partners emerged as an issue for which there is little policy. Control and abuse within caring relationships are serious issues for those who need personal care. Violence and lack of protection may undermine independent living, especially for women.     

Integrating intimate partner violence prevention into daily practice

Research on IPV has mainly focused on the identification of abuse, rather than on evaluating interventions that aim for long-term effects. Until there are well-designed studies to determine which prevention strategies are most effective, nurses can use their counseling and education skills to ensure that women are screened and that resources are made available to those who screen positive. Web-based resources and clinical practice guidelines that nurses can use are presented in the Sidebar.     

Religion and Migration around the Globe: Introducing the Global Religion and Migration Database

International migration is a global phenomenon involving nearly 215 million people, equivalent to 3% of the world’s population. Previous databases of global migration catalog international migration using a variety of variables (sex, education, age); however, religion is rarely addressed within these data sets. Representing nearly half a million data points, the Global Religion and Migration Database (GRMD) was constructed – the only global database estimating the global migrant population (stock) by origin, destination, and religious affiliation. This research note serves as an introduction to the GRMD, detailing the construction of the database and providing key findings from a global perspective.     

Child welfare workers' practice in cases involving domestic violence

This paper reports the findings of an exploratory and qualitative study of child welfare workers' practice in cases involving domestic violence. The research aimed to focus on child welfare workers' interventions with families experiencing domestic violence, elements influencing the child welfare workers' decisions, and the factors facilitating and creating obstacles for intervention. An analysis of the qualitative data showed that child welfare workers have different ways of intervening in cases involving domestic violence. Also, the interventions were especially centred on women victims of violence and they were held responsible for protecting their children. Finally, the dilemmas and difficulties which child welfare workers face in these cases are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Online Religion and Religion Online: Reform Judaism and Web-Based Communication

This study examines the online communication practices of American congregations associated with the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), the governing body of American and Canadian Reform congregations, through a content analysis of 252 American URJ congregational Web sites. Web site content was grouped into two categories, “religion online” and “online religion.” Religion online content promotes the organization and provides organizational information, including information related to organizational identity building, community outreach, and encouraging civic and social action. Online religion content allows the user to engage in spiritual activity via the Internet (Helland, 2000 Helland, C. (2000). Religion online/online religion and virtual communitas. In J. Hadden &; D. Cowan (Eds.), Religion on the Internet: Research prospects and promises (pp. 205–224). New York, NY: Elsevier Science. [Google Scholar]; Farrell, 2011 Farrell, J. (2011). The divine online: Civic organizing, identity building, and Internet fluency among different religious groups. Journal of Media &; Religion, 10, 73–90. doi:10.1080/15348423.2011.572438.[Taylor &; Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). ANOVA and MANOVA analyses were used to determine significant differences in content based on congregation size. Results revealed larger congregations were more likely to use Web sites for organizational identity building, mobilization of civic and social action, and the practice of “online religion,” lending support to the existence of a size-based digital divide among URJ congregations.     

A pattern of violence: analyzing the relationship between intimate partner violence and stalking

As the literature on stalking has grown, several studies have proposed a relationship between stalking and intimate partner violence (IPV). This study examines a clinical sample of intimate partner batterers to assess the stalking-related behaviors committed against the participants' intimate partners. The study examined the levels of severity between stalking-related behaviors and IPV, as well as identified differences between batterers who exhibited stalking-related behaviors and those who did not. A significant relationship between stalking-related behavior and IPV was found, with more severe stalking related to higher levels of IPV and more extreme psychopathology.     

Men who use violence: intimate violence versus non-intimate violence profiles

The current study examined the differences between three types of violent men based on Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart's (1994) tripartite typology and a group of non-intimate violent men. First, a cluster analysis was conducted on a sample of 91 domestically violent men, resulting in three clusters that approximated the tripartite model for psychopathology as measured by the MMPI-2, that is, non-pathological, borderline/dysphoric, and antisocial. Based on the violence variables (i.e., severity of violence, family-only violence, and exposure to family of origin violence) only severity of violence approximated what would be expected across the three clusters, that is, the less the psychopathology, the less severe the violence. The other two violence variables had approximate frequencies/percentages of occurrence that would be expected for individual typologies with some but not all three typologies. In comparing the three intimate violent typologies to the non-intimate violent group, the non-intimate and non-pathological groups were within normal limits and did not differ significantly on any of the MMPI-2 scales. These non-intimate and non-pathological groups differed significantly from the antisocial and borderline/dysphoric groups on all the scales that defined the psychopathology of these two groups. On the violence variables, the non-intimate groups reported significantly less severe violence than the borderline/dysphoric and antisocial groups.     

Beliefs and attributions of partner violence perpetrators: the physical and psychological violence of adolescent males

Partner violence is a crime of national concern. Understanding the cognitions of adolescent males who perpetrate partner violence is critical to develop appropriate interventions. One hundred and thirty-two partnered undergraduate males were assessed on gender beliefs, relationship beliefs, and partner attributions. More than 80% of males endorsed psychological or physical violence perpetration in the past year. Adolescent males who perpetrated psychological or physical partner violence were more likely to endorse hostile beliefs about women, negative partner attributions, and unrealistic relationship beliefs, as compared with nonviolent adolescents. Further, the relationship belief that partners cannot change and hostile partner attributions significantly predicted the frequency of psychological partner violence. The relationship belief disagreement is destructive predicted the frequency of physical partner violence, controlling for the influence of psychological violence. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.     

Responding to Disaster: Two Logics of Demands and the Politics of Hybridity

Two similar disastrous fires struck concert venues in the USA (The Station, 2003) and Argentina (República Cromañón, 2004). We explore similarities and contrasts in public responses to these tragedies to better understand two patterns of collective action. One pattern (‘insider’) revolves around the deployment of forms of action and organization aimed at working within the constraints and opportunities already available or easily attainable within prevailing institutional arrangements. The other (‘outsider’) involves a reliance on forms of action and organization that seek to gain leverage by challenging prevailing institutions, often by way of protest, direct action, and the threat to disrupt existing arrangements. These ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ patterns bear the imprint of accumulated repertoires of action and organization, are very often in tension, and involve trade-offs that participants in civil society organizations constantly weigh in considering alternative courses of action. Moreover, choices between the ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ strategies are made vis-à-vis complex arrays of constraints and opportunities embodied in prevailing institutional arrangements. We also argue that pure ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ patterns constitute theoretical constructs or ideal types, and that neither the ‘insider’ nor the ‘outsider’ modes of mobilization are inherently superior to one another in ensuring greater wellbeing or a stronger civil society. Moreover, in the actual terrain of collective action, such as in the two situations at hand, most often we find that actors deploy complex combinations of strategies, to constitute ‘hybrid’ modes of mobilization. To further illustrate this point, we briefly discuss populism as a form of mobilization that ultimately combines both ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ strategies, and is in fact defined by a conflictive relationship between both sets of strategies.