Research results gbv

With financial support from the
European Union through
International Alert.
RESEARCH RESULTS:
“SPECIAL ASPECTS OF A WOMAN’S PSYCHOLOGICAL
EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE OF HER OWN LIFE”

Theoretical and methodological basis
for the methods of social-psychological research
of special aspects of a woman’s psychological emotional experience of her own life
As of today, mental well-being of a woman is actual direction of social-and-psychological study and social
support. As a matter of fact, a rule of thumb states that a woman is the most defenseless link in intra-familial
relationships. The modality of the woman’s psychological emotional experience of her own life largely depends
on the state of the actual intra-gender and intra-familial relationships. The presence of any form of violence in
the structure of complex structured intra-family relationships directly affects the quality of life of a woman and
her psychological emotional experience.
Traditionally, the phenomenon of violence is associated with physical actions of an aggressive nature. Such
form of violence is the most obvious and easily traced by external physiological parameters. However, in a
situation of violence as a kind of aggressive behavior directed at another person, alongside with actions of a
physical nature, such forms of violence can take place as sexual, economical and psychological. They are
often not obvious to both the external observer and the object of the violent impact himself/herself.

The difficulty in diagnostic assessment of the fact of violence against a woman is stipulated by the following:
firstly, unobvious psychological violence accompanies any other form of violent impact; secondly, signs of
violent impact for a long period of time may be latent, and its consequences are extremely severe; thirdly, the
conscious desire of the victim of violent actions to suppress the fact of violence on different motivational
grounds; and, finally, an unconscious denial of the fact of violence or psychological condonation of the
actions of aggressor.
Taking this into account, the main psychological instrument for studying the presence or absence of violence
against woman is the study of the specifics of psychological emotional experience of her own life. After all,
psychoemotional markers of existing violence (in any form) are: tension, anxiety, diffidence, adynamy,
addiction, despair, sense of guilt, fear, deprivation of rights, helplessness, perplexity, inferiority.
Consequently, the urgency and acuteness of the problem of domestic violence against woman, as well as
ambiguousness and complexity of the phenomenon of violent impact, dictate the need for creation of a social
and psychological diagnostic instrument.

The purpose of developed multiple-factor
questionnaire “Special aspects of a woman’s
psychological emotional experience of her own life”
is revealing of direct/indirect forms of existing/hidden
violence against woman in the structure of intra-
familial relationships.

The content of the questionnaire and the structure of tasks are aimed at
solving the following diagnostic problems:
Determination of special aspects of personal assessment and modality of the
woman’s experience of various spheres and contexts of her own intra-familial
relationships as a projection of subjective well-being or ill-being.
Identification of certain spheres of intra-familial relationships, which are the source
of stable negative experiences and emotional states of respondents.
Qualitative analysis of actual experiences of the woman related to spheres of her
life in a family, definition of available problems and contradictions in each of them.
Analysis of possible contradictions in respondents’ answers as a projection of a
conscious/unconscious suppression of the fact of intra-familial violence.

With the financial support from the European
Union through International Alert.
Theoretical and methodological basis for developing the submitted
questionnaire is:
definition of violence as social and psychological phenomenon (W. Benjamin, Sh.
Burn, D. Myers, P. Pavlienok); study of the specifics of domestic violence (A.
Giddens, A. Kwaśniewska, O. Kochemirovska, T. Sнdorenkova); psychological
definition of the essence of complex experiences of personality (F. Vasiliuk, F. Bassin,
O. Kocharian, L. Kitaiev-Smyk); studying the phenomenon of mental well-being of the
individual (А. Argyle, R. Veenhoven, A. Waterman, E. Deci, E. Kolohryvova, O.
Kronik, M. Norman, O. Osadko, E. Pozdniakova, R. Ryan, C. Ryff, P. Fesenko,);
analysis of psychological aspects of social work (Yu. Shvalb, N. Maksimova, S.
Horuzhii, I. Myhovych); validation of the person psychodiagnostics methods (B.
Ananiev, F. Berezin, L. Burlachuk, V. Nikadrov, O. Kernberg).

With financial support from the European
Union through International Alert.
The poll was conducted among 500 respondents in Donetsk region
(Druzhkivka city and Druzhkivka district, Kostiantynivka city and
Kostiantynivka district) and 500 respondents in Luhansk region
(Shchastya town, Stanytsia Luhanska urban-type settlement, Novoaidar
urban-type settlement, Polovynkove urban-type settlement).
Attached reviews testify to the effectiveness, accessibility and quality of the
developed questionnaire.
Authors: Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Practical Psychology Associate
Professor at Mariupol State University L.A. Varava, Candidate of Psychological
Sciences, Practical Psychology Associate Professor at Mariupol State University
L.V. Tyshchenko.

13%
4%
83%
17% of women have or have had sexual
violence in their lives
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Luhansk
Region

11%
8%
81%
0
19% of women have or have had sexual
violence in their lives
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Donetsk
Region

Sexual violence is a deliberate manipulation of another person’s
body as of a sex object. It is accompanied by the victim’s
involvement in sexual activities in order to obtain sexual
satisfaction or any other benefit. In addition to sexual seduction,
this form of violence includes the victim’s involvement in
prostitution or pornography. A forced abortion is also the type of a
sexual violence.

11%
22%
67%
33% of women have or have had physical
abuse
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Luhansk
Region

16%
13%
71%
29% of women have physical abuse
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Total respondents
Donetsk
Region

Physical abuse is a deliberate physical body manipulation as of an
object that leads to injuries of various severity levels. It is important
that this form of violence includes not only bodily blows, but also
food rationing and restrictions in sleep, bringing to alcohol ingestion
and drug taking.

3%
36%
61%
39% of women have restriction of liberty
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Luhansk
Region

13%
28%
59%
41% of women have restriction of liberty
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Total respondents
Donetsk
Region

5%
47%
100%
52% of women have financial restrictions
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Total respondents
Luhansk
Region

8%
38%
46%
46% of women have financial restrictions
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Total respondents
Donetsk
Region

Economic (financial) violence manifests itself in an attempt to
exert economic pressure on another person. In the conditions
of the family, this is an attempt to deprive the family member of
the opportunity to manage the family budget, to have the funds
and the right to use them at his/her sole discretion.

3%
46%51%
49% of women have threat of violence
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Luhansk
Region

8%
45%
47%
53% of women have threat of violence
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Donetsk
Region

11%
86%
3%
97% of women have psychological violence
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Luhansk
Region

16%
82%
2%
98% of women have psychological violence
Recognize (realize)
this as violence
Do not recognize
(realize) this as
violence
Level of well-being
Donetsk
Region

Psychological violence (psychological aggression, emotional
abuse) is a deliberate manipulation of another person as of an
object with disregard for his/her personal-subjective
characteristics, rights, freedom, accomplishments and interests.
It is important that psychological violence is the “core” of violence
as such, its initial form, on the basis of which all other forms of
violence (physical, sexual, economic) arise.

0 20 40 60 80 100
relationships with husband /
partner
relationships with parents
relationships with children
relationships with close
relatives
no answer
negative
positive
Qualitative analysis of
the characteristics
provided by respondent
makes it possible to
identify the leading
modality of her
experiences in each of
the five types of
relationships in family.

As a result of qualitative analysis of the characteristics provided by the
respondents, the leading negative emotional modality in the respondents’
relationships with other family members is separated, this makes 51%
(relationships with the husband/partner), relationships are emotionally
characterized as being annoyed, sad, accusive, execrable. It is also important
to note that negative emotional modality of 3% of respondents appear for
relationships with children emotionally characterized as being annoyed,
disparaging. The presence of negative emotional modality directly affects the
quality of life of a woman and her psychological experiences.

0 50 100
economic and financial
sexual
psychological
leisure
household
body contacts and
mutual relationships
How far the event is
desirable
How far the event is
unpleasant
32 cases proposed to
respondent reflect special
aspects of her experiences
related to the following
spheres of her life in
family:

A qualitative analysis of the respondent’s experiences related to each of the six spheres of her life in the
family creates the opportunity to identify the presence of negative feelings and problems in the following
spheres: leisure, that is, joint rest, time spent together with family, attention to hobbies of partner in 63%
of respondents are treated as negative experiences, psychological sphere, that is, emotional closeness,
mutual help, health concerns in 51% of respondents are marked as negative experiences. Economic
and financial sphere, namely cash costs for necessary goods, cash costs for education, unbudgeted
cash costs, cash costs for look in 48% of respondents are marked as negative experiences. In sexual
sphere, 37% of respondents are defined as ones that had or have negative experiences related to
sexual activities or offers of the partner, indication of a partner’s interest in another woman, physical
betrayal of a partner. In the sphere of body contacts and mutual relationships, 39% of respondents are
defined as ones that had or have negative experiences related to the control of the actions or time of the
respondents, the physical actions of the partner oriented to the respondent, the partner’s threats
addressed to the respondent. Analysis of indicators of negative experiences in the household sphere
shows that 34% of respondents experienced or experience negative feelings related to the allocation of
family obligations, cooking and eating, as well as alcohol ingestion.

48
24
13
7
8
Presence of negative experience
Husband/partner
Children
Parents
Relatives
No negative experience
totality of negative feelings
about an individual
member of the family
diagnosed in respondent
may indicate the presence
of psychological violence.

Respondents were asked to remember how often they have experiences
(stress, anxiety, fear, deprivation of rights, inferiority, helplessness, etc.) and
emotional states in mutual relationships (interaction/communication) with
members of family. A qualitative analysis of total negative feelings about an
individual member of family may indicate the presence of psychological
violence. In relation to husband/partner, 48% of respondents have negative
experiences, and namely tension, anxiety, loneliness, despair, insult. In
relation to parents, 17% of respondents have negative experiences, and
namely sense of guilt, neediness, deprivation of rights. In relation to children,
5% of respondents have negative experiences, and namely anxiety, fear,
irritation.

83%
17%
Respondent’s frankness degree
frankly
secretive

Based on the analysis of the study, the following spheres of further work are outlined:
1. Comparative analysis of types of violence in different regions of Ukraine.
2. Comparative analysis of types of violence in different inhabited localities: villages,
cities, megalopolis.
3. Taking into account the data received, development of a psychocorrective program
aimed at changing the social situation, according to the “Special aspects of a woman’s
psychological emotional experience of her own life”, and reducing the level of emotional
experience about violence.

Thank you
for your
attention!

Research results gbv

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