Typology of reactions to intimate partner violence among men and women arrested for partner violence

This study examined behavioral and emotional responses to partner-initiated violence reported by men and women court-ordered to domestic violence counseling. Respondents provided Likert-type ratings of behavioral and emotional responses to their partners' initiated violence. Cluster analysis to determine heterogeneity of emotional and behavioral responses resulted in a three-cluster solution. The profile for Cluster 1, predominantly male, showed no specific behavioral or emotional reaction pattern. Cluster 2 respondents, evenly split between males and females, but comprising a high proportion of all of the female participants, reported frequently doing what the partner wanted and attempting to escape. Emotional responses experienced by Cluster 2 respondents were anger, insult, and fear. Cluster 3, predominantly male, reported a frequent tendency to use force in response and escape when their partners initiated physical violence. Emotionally, Cluster 3 participants reported experiencing high levels of anger and insult, and relatively low levels of fear and low levels of amusement. Implications of these findings for development of gender-based intervention strategies will be discussed.     

Men's and women's use of intimate partner violence in clinical samples: toward a gender-sensitive analysis

Early research with nationally representative samples suggested that women reported initiating violence as often as men. Such research has been criticized as focusing only on participation rates, and not assessing gender differences in impact, context, and motivation for using partner violence. Furthermore, research with nationally representative samples has been largely a-theoretical and may lack relevance to those working with clinical samples. Research with clinical populations has begun to address gender similarity and differences in the commission and experience of partner violence. The present article reviews research on men's and women's partner violence using a model for examining such gender differences that incorporates key elements of partner violence, including initiation of the overall pattern of partner violence, proportional initiation rates of violent episodes, physical and mental health impacts of partner violence, behavioral and emotional responses to partner-initiated violence, motivations for using partner violence, and fearfulness of partner-initiated violence. The review concludes that, within and across clinical samples, women are disproportionately victimized by partner violence compared to men. Implications for research, clinical programs, and policy development are discussed.     

Matrimonial circuits in kinship networks: Calculation, enumeration and census

The article presents a series of new methods for analyzing the morphology of kinship networks via the study of matrimonial circuits (closed chains of kinship and marriage ties). The article gives a simple definition of matrimonial circuits in mixed graphs and introduces the technique of representing matrimonial circuit types by characteristic vectors. This technique is used to develop (1) an arithmetic approach to the algebra of circuit composition, (2) a method for the complete enumeration of matrimonial circuit types, and (3) an algorithm for finding and counting matrimonial circuits in empirical kinship networks. All methods have been implemented in the software Puck (Program for the Use and Computation of Kinship Data).     

Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and Experience of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland

Two studies used random sample surveys to test the "contact hypothesis" on intergroup attitudes of Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. In Study 1, archival data from two different surveys in 1989 ( N = 310 Catholics, 422 Protestants) and 1991 ( N = 319 Catholics, 478 Protestants) showed that contact was positively related to attitudes toward denominational mixing. Study 2 ( N = 391 Catholics, 647 Protestants) explored predictors of intergroup forgiveness, and also showed that intergroup contact was positively related to outgroup attitudes, perspective-taking, and trust (even among those who had a worse experience of sectarian conflict). These studies indicate that research in peace psychology can provide a deeper understanding of the conflict in Northern Ireland and, in due course, contribute to its resolution.     

Random alliance networks

The morphological properties of kinship and marriage alliance networks, such as circuits, are typically considered as indicators of sociological phenomena — yet, they may also be partly coincidental. To assert the contribution of chance to these morphological features, we develop a standardized method where empirical alliance networks are compared with a random baseline. We apply our framework to a variety of empirical cases and show that some corpuses are remarkably well reconstructed by our random model, while others still feature significant divergencies which may be partly connected to field-based experience. On the whole, our approach may be used to scrutinize the matrimonial role of social groups as asserted by native or ethnological theory.     

Urban bird conservation: presenting stakeholder-specific arguments for the development of bird-friendly cities

Following the call from the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity “Cities & Biodiversity Outlook” project to better preserve urban biodiversity, this paper presents stakeholder-specific statements for bird conservation in city environments. Based upon the current urban bird literature we focus upon habitat fragmentation, limited habitat availability, lack of the native vegetation and vegetation structure as the most important challenges facing bird conservation in cities. We follow with an overview of the stakeholders in cities, and identify six main groups having the greatest potential to improve bird survival in cities: i) urban planners, urban designers and (landscape) architects, ii) urban developers and engineers, iii) homeowners and tenants, iv) companies and industries, v) landscaping and gardening firms, vi) education professionals. Given that motivation to act positively for urban birds is linked to stakeholder-specific advice, we present ten statements for bird-friendly cities that are guided by an action perspective and argument for each stakeholder group. We conclude with a discussion on how the use of stakeholder-specific arguments can enhance and rapidly advance urban bird conservation action.     

Domestic violence among male and female patients seeking emergency medical services

Gender differences among a cohort of injured patients seeking emergency medical services were examined with respect to their experiences as perpetrators and/or victims of domestic violence. Contextual issues, including violence initiation, emotional and behavioral responses to partner-initiated violence, and injury frequency and severity were analyzed. Women reported male partner-initiated violence more frequently than men reported female partner-initiated violence. Behavioral responses to partner initiated violence varied. Women were more likely to report using force back and to involve law enforcement. Women were more likely to be injured in a domestic assault over their lifetime, within the last year, and at the time of recruitment. Comparison of injury severity revealed that women reported higher rates of injuries than men in all possible severity categories. Women also reported experiencing more fear than men during partner-initiated violence, as well as being subjected to larger numbers of dominating and controlling behaviors, and greater intimidation secondary to their partner's size. Understanding contextual differences in partner violence for women and men has significant implications for policy development, identification, treatment, and referral of patients identified as living in violent relationships.