The influence of victim gender and sexual orientation on judgments of the victim in a depicted stranger rape

This study investigated the impact of respondent gender, victim gender, and victim sexual orientation on judgments toward the victim of a depicted stranger rape. Respondents were required to read a scenario in which victim gender and sexual orientation varied between subjects, and to complete measures of behavioral blame, responsibility, and severity of the attack. Results revealed that male respondents made more anti-victim judgments than female respondents did. Male respondents judged gay male victims more negatively than they did other victims. Female respondents' judgments were pro-victim regardless of victim gender and victim sexual orientation. Results are discussed in relation to the feminist analysis of victim blame, and blame toward male rape victims. Implications for support services, particularly of male victims, are also considered.     

The parallels between undue influence, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault

The dynamics of undue influence (UI) have many similarities with domestic violence, stalking, and grooming behavior used by some sexual predators. This article will help practitioners-particularly law enforcement investigators and prosecutors-better recognize UI as a pattern of behaviors, not an isolated incident. Understanding the dynamics of UI will enhance professionals' appreciation of the responses of victims and the manipulative nature of exploiters. Strategies that have been used effectively with domestic violence, stalking, and some sexual abuse cases may provide remedies for victims of UI and criminal justice options for holding perpetrators accountable. Enhanced awareness of these dynamics should lead to improved investigations, more effective strategies when interviewing and working with victims, and more successful prosecutions of perpetrators who use UI to financially exploit an older person.     

The effects of domestic violence during pregnancy on maternal and infant health

The present study examined the impact of domestic violence on maternal and infant health by assessing maternal health during pregnancy and infant health at two months postpartum. Two hundred and two women (68 battered and 134 non-battered) were recruited from the community and completed both pregnancy and 2-month postpartum interviews. Results revealed that domestic violence during pregnancy was associated with numerous health problems for mothers and infants including more health problems during pregnancy, more likelihood of premature labor, later entrance into prenatal care, lower infant birth weight, greater utilization of health care resources, and more prenatal substance use. After income was controlled, the relationship between violence and timing of prenatal care and infant birth weight became nonsignificant. Maternal social support was found to protect against the effects of violence for several health outcomes. The current findings suggest the need for domestic violence screening during pregnancy, as well as clinical interventions for battered, pregnant women in order to prevent serious physical and emotional problems for both mothers and their infants.     

The gender asymmetric effect of intimate partner violence on relationship satisfaction

Our research examined the association between intimate partner violence and relationship satisfaction among victims. The negative association between victimization and relationship satisfaction was substantially stronger for females than for males. Comparisons between respondents reporting about same-sex relationships with those reporting about opposite-sex relationships provided evidence that the amplified victimization/satisfaction association among female victims is a victim-gender effect rather than an actor-gender effect. In other words, our findings suggest that aggression harms the quality of the intimate partnerships of females much more so than the partnerships of males regardless of whether a male or a female is the perpetrator. We supplemented dialogue about the direct implications of our findings with discussions about how these results may raise conceptual questions about the adequacy of the instruments scholars use to study partner aggression.     

Engaging men and women as allies: a workplace curriculum module to challenge gender norms about domestic violence, male bullying and workplace violence and encourage ally behavior

This post-hoc analysis discusses a replicable workplace behavior change module called Men and Women As Allies, that was designed and implemented by a team of labor, management and community anti-violence educators at a private sector telecommunications employer. A job site-specific educational seminar linked issues of domestic violence to male bullying and workplace violence. It challenged social stereotypes about gender, taught skills to engage ally peer behavior and provided information on how to seek assistance from union, workplace and external community resources.     

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.     

Family therapy of a domestic violence service delivery system

In this paper the author recounts how one agency in a community of agencies sought to integrate services to multiproblem families. The paper describes how the integration was attempted, conceptualizing the community of agencies as a multiproblem family itself. The advantages and limitations of applying the family metaphor to a larger social system are also discussed.Partial funding was provided by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Grant 90-C-1757.     

Safety segregation: The importance of gender, race, and ethnicity on workplace risk

Using micro data of the Bureau of Labor Statistics we examine the extent and the causes of workplace risk inequality in the United States. Far more men than women and far more blacks and Hispanics than whites are killed or injured at work. Occupational differences between men and women and among the races explain most, but not all, of the workplace risk inequality in the United States. After controlling for occupation, men experience twice as many workplace fatalities as women but fewer nonfatal injuries, while black and Hispanic males experience slightly more workplace fatalities than white males but fewer nonfatal workplace injuries. We find little evidence men choose higher risk jobs and women lower risk jobs because of differences in economic circumstances or risk preferences. But economic and taste factors explain large fractions of the fatal and the nonfatal injury rate differences by race/ethnicity. Workplace risk inequality among the races primarily reflects differences in educational attainment.     

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.     

The relation of violence exposure and ethnicity to intelligence and verbal-performance discrepancies in incarcerated male adolescents

Incarcerated populations have an estimated incidence of intellectual disabilities (IDs) far higher than national norms, ranging as high as 10%. In the present study, the relation between ID and violence exposure in 115 incarcerated adolescents was examined. Interpersonal violence exposure (IPV-E) predicted an average decrease in full scale IQ of 4.5 points, explaining approximately 5% of the difference in IQ. Child maltreatment increased the odds of having a verbal disability by three folds and explained 17% of the variance in verbal disability. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the relative contribution of ethnicity, poverty, and violence exposure to intellectual functioning. The literature on racial bias in incarceration and the implications for the present study are discussed.     

The gender wage gap,weather, and intimate partner violence

Review of Economics of the Household - Two theories of intimate partner violence (IPV) have differing predictions on how women’s bargaining power affects rates of IPV. If an abuser enjoys and...     

The effectiveness of intervention for adolescents exposed to domestic violence

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a 10-week group intervention for adolescents who were exposed to domestic violence in their home, and compare behavioral and emotional symptoms between adolescents with direct or indirect exposure to domestic violence. Participants of the group intervention (N = 32) reported an increase in knowledge of domestic violence based on quiz scores of pre- and post-tests. Compared to those without direct exposure to domestic violence, the participants that were directly exposed to domestic violence presented greater symptoms in the subscales of the Child Behavioral Checklist and the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale. Such findings are discussed along with previous literature. The study also discusses limitations related to internal and external validity threats and suggestions for future replication of the group intervention toward adolescents who were exposed to domestic violence and the related program evaluation.     

The gender structure of adolescent peer influence on drinking

The interactions of adolescent peers are the subject of both parental angst and scholarly attention. Peer influence is the most consistent predictor of adolescent drinking patterns when controlling for other background characteristics. This study extends these findings to incorporate a theoretical argument derived from status characteristics theory. Using 2980 best-friend dyads constructed from the National Longitudinal Study ofAdolescent Health ("Add Health"), I show that the peer influence process differs by the gender structure of the friendship. Adolescents in same-sex best friendships influence one another mutually, consistent with prior theoretical and empirical approaches to adolescent problem behavior: By contrast, boys in mixed-sex best friendships have influence over their female friends' drinking patterns, while the girls do not have any effect on their male friends' drinking behavior a finding consistent with status characteristics theory. The results indicate that peer influence models that do not take gender into account in the structure of the friendship misrepresent the unequal influence dynamics between boys and girls.     

Interview effects in the reporting of domestic violence

Victims of domestic abuse sometimes have the opportunity to discuss their experiences in interviews with researchers and subsequently to report their victimization. Beyond the reporting decision—a non-trivial information–revelation decision—they frequently must decide whether to have someone they know present at the interview and whether to conduct the interview in person or by telephone. Having an associate present at the interview may provide a respondent victim greater comfort or social support than she might have conducting the interview by herself, but perhaps only to the extent that the abusive partner does not pose a continuing household threat. Undertaking a personal interview may facilitate a greater degree of empathy or deeper understanding from the information gatherer likely unavailable over the telephone, but personal interviews generally take more time and incur more significant marginal opportunity costs. This paper examines conceptually and empirically how the parameters of these interviews, endogenously determined by victims themselves, affect the decision to report domestic violence.     

Temperature, routine activities, and domestic violence: a reanalysis

It was hypothesized that base rate differences in the number of complaints made during daylight and nighttime hours were responsible for a previously reported, nonlinear relationship between temperature and domestic violence. This hypothesis was tested by subjecting calls for service in 1987 and 1988 in Minneapolis, to moderator-variable regression analyses with controls for time of day, day of the week, season, and their interactions as well as linear trend, major holidays, public school closings, the first day of the month, and other weather variables. Temporal variables explained 75% of the variance in calls for service. As hypothesized, the base rate artifact was responsible for an apparent downturn in violence at high temperatures: Fewer complaints were received during afternoon hours, because they happen to be the warmest time of the day. The results were interpreted in terms of routine activity theory.     

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.