2. Background
Culture has a role in the definition of partner violence
Not limited to a husband and wife relationship
Common terms:
Battering-physical violence perpetrated by one person on
another
Abuse-general term that describes the unequal power
relationship within which the assault occurs
Assault-verbal and behavioral threats to others, pets, or
property
Domestic violence-any act of assault by a social partner or
relative, regardless of marital status
3. Incidence of Partner Violence
Bradley v. State of Mississippi, 1824
State of North Carolina v. Oliver, 1874
Domestic disturbance calls outnumber other types of
calls in which the possibility of violence exists to both
civilians and police
4. Incidence of Partner Violence Cont.
1.5 million women and 830,000 men were victims of
intimate violence in the United States
15.5 million children live in families where violence has
occurred and about 7 million have witnessed severe
violence
These rates are apparently decreasing
5. Emerging Approaches to
Partner Violence
Scream Quietly or the Neighbors Will Hear, 1974 (England)
National Organization for Women and Massachusetts
Coalition of Battered Women Service Groups (United States)
The Domestic Abuse Intervention Project in Duluth,
Minnesota (Duluth Model)
Police procedures, increased prosecution of partner violence, and
enhanced legal protection
Countywide coordinated community responses
Domestic violence units have been formed
The Violence Against Women Act of 1994
6. Psychosocial and Cultural Dynamics
Attachment/Traumatic Bonding Theory
Coercive control
Cultural reinforcement
Exchange Theory
Feminist Theory
Intraindividual Theory
Learned Helplessness/Battered Woman Syndrome
Masochism
Nested Ecological Theory
Psychological entrapment
Sociobiology
Stockholm Syndrome
System Theory
7. Dynamics of Partner Violence
Psychological factors
Behaviors of men vs. women
Stressors
Geographic and social isolation
Economic stress
Medical problems
Inadequate parenting skills
Pregnancy
Family dysfunction
Substance abuse
Education/vocational disparity
Age
Disenfranchisement
Rejection
Threat to masculinity
8. Dynamics of Partner Violence Cont.
Types of batterers
Family only
Dysphoric/borderline
Violent/anti-social
Low-level anti-social
The cycle of violence
Phase I: Tranquility prevails
Phase II: Tensions starts to build
Phase III: A violent episode occurs
Phase IV: The relationship takes on crisis proportions
Abuser is remorseful and the victim forgives them
Abuser is not remorseful and asserts control over the victim
The victim takes new action
9. Myths About Battering
Battered women overstate the case
Battered women provoke the beating
Battered women are masochists
Battering is a private, family matter
Alcohol abuse is the prime reason for spousal abuse
Battering occurs only in problem families
Only low-income and working-class families
experience violence
10. Myths About Battering Cont.
The battering cannot be that bad or the victim would leave
A husband has patriarchal rights
The beaten spouse exaggerates the problem to exact
revenge
Women are too sensitive, especially when they are
pregnant
Battering is rare
Battering is confined to mentally ill people
Violence and love cannot coexist
Elder abuse between partners is neither prevalent nor
dangerous
11. Realities for Abused Women
Victim has a fear of reprisal.
She is grateful that her children have food, clothing, and shelter.
She believes that she will suffer shame if her secret gets out.
Her self-concept is dependent on the relationship.
Early affection and prior love in the relationship persist.
If financially well off, the woman is unable to deal with a reduction
in her financial freedom.
In the cyclic nature of abuse, she may tend to forget the batterings
and remember only the good times.
Early role models of an abusive parent may lead her to believe that
relationships exist in no other way.
12. Realities for Abused Women Cont.
The woman may hold religious values that strongly discourage
separation or divorce.
The woman may be undereducated, have small children to raise, or
lack job skills.
She may be so socially, physically, geographically, or financially
isolated that she has no resources.
She may be so badly injured that she is unable physically to leave.
Love or sorrow at the mate’s professed inability to exist without her
may compel her to stay.
Because of previous negative experiences with the authorities, she
may believe she has no options.
Due to language barriers, she may be unable to communicate her
abuse.
Leaving an abusive relationship is one of the most dangerous
things the victim can do.
14. Shelters
Counseling women at shelters
Shelter dynamics
Grief
Depression
Terror
Those who have decided to leave
Follow-up
Counseling
Victim may relapse and re-unite with the abuser
Long-term follow support (6 months)
Going to a shelter without follow-up may increase violence
15. Intervention With Children
Art and play models of therapy
Treatment goals:
• Create an alliance with the parent
• Provide psycho-education to both parent and child
• Restore the parent’s self-esteem and confidence
• Establish a safe environment for the child to express thoughts
and feelings
• Relieve the child’s symptoms, including difficulty with living
transitions, sleeping, nightmares, and other trauma symptoms
• Reestablish the child’s previous level of cognitive functioning and
attachment with the caregiver
• Reassure that what has happened is not the child’s fault
• Help the child to regain emotional regulation
• Provide stress reduction strategies
16. Courtship Violence
Violence occurs in approximately 25% of courtship
relationships
Number of dating partners and dating frequency have
the highest positive correlation
Grade point average has the highest negative
correlation
25% of victims and 30 percent of offenders interviewed
interpreted violence in courtship as a sign of love!
The longer the abusive relationship continues, the
higher the degree of violence
Stalking
17. Gay and Lesbian Violence
Prevalence of violence
Complicating factors
Crisis intervention involving gay and lesbian
violence
Sensitivity
Precipitating factors
Specific issues
Severity
Safety and support
Treatment issues
19. A Typical 24-Session Anger
Management Group
Starting the Group
Making Choices
Support and Confrontation
Managing Stress
Understanding the Cycle of Violence
Costs
Intergenerational Issues
Feelings
Power and Control
Assertion
Alcohol and Drug Effects
Sex
Summing Up
Programs Success