FINAL EXAM

Chapter 10: Abused and Abusive Partners in Understudied Populations: Cross-Cultural, Immigrant/Ethnic/Racial, Rural, Same-Sex, and Military Groups

Lecture Outline

I. Cross-Cultural IPV

a. Important Terms

i. intersectionality

1. intersection (place of meeting) of important sociodemographic variables that influence behavior (i.e. gender, race, and class). Example: Where do culture and patriarchy intersect?

2. goal of intersectionality is to improve the understanding of certain marginalized groups

ii. cultural relativism

1. the position that one culture cannot justifiably judge the practices of another culture

2. conclusion that there could never be an authoritative universal standard for judging other cultures

b. Organizations Combating MFIPV: Have undertaken surveys documenting the general violence against women

1. Amnesty Internal: focuses upon the human rights aspect of the violence

2. World Health Organization: focuses upon the multiplicity of health problems caused by male violence against women (i.e. disability and even death)

a. multi-country assessment reported that 10% to 52% of women had been physically abused by an intimate partner

b. marital rape rates were 10% to 30%

c. Africa – MFIPV

i. polygamy

ii. wives’ inability to make unilateral decisions about contraception

iii. men’s sexual encounters with multiple partners expose their female partners to HIV

iv. society expects women to remain silent about their victimization by male intimates and to accept the abuse

1. Sierra Leone: forced early marriages

2. Ghana risk factor for male-to-female intimate partner violence (MFIPV)

a. witnessing parental violence and experiencing physical violence during childhood

b. imbalance theory: when one partner has more resources (e.g., income) and power (male dominance or female dominance) than the other, partner violence will increase

c. egalitarian decision making and equal economic contributions to the household are associated with reduced male battering in Ghana

d. Asia – MFIPV (Table 10.2)

i. Korea: power structure and partner violence

1. incidence of husband-to-wife and wife-to-husband violence is very high in male-dominant marriages

2. high wife-to-husband IPV incidence reflects wives’ fighting back

3. male-dominant and divided power marriages are highly associated with conflict, and conflict is highly associated with husband-to-wife partner violence

4. as norm consensus (i.e., agreement on dominance) increases, partner violence decreases

5. male dominance first, followed by conflict, are the most highly correlated predictors of husband-to-wife IPV

6. conflict followed by male dominance is the most highly associated predictors of wife-to-husband IPV

7. decisions to stay with patriarchal husbands

a. family members should stick together

b. it is a wife’s duty to care for the family and sacrifice her own desires

c. it is unnatural for women to have a position of authority in the family

d. a woman’s first priority of marriage is obedience to husbands

e. women should never talk back to husbands

ii. India - MFIPV

1. young women must obey all male family members and older women in the family

2. husbands and his family may beat younger wives at will and employ other cruel practices

3. women say they have lived in a state of prolonged captivity their entire lives

4. dowry murders are frequent

a. a dowry murder occurs when a husband and his family set fire to a bride in her kitchen and claim it was an accidental kitchen fire

b. the reason is to free the husband to marry again to have access to another dowry

5. risk factors for MFIPV

a. being in a love marriage, instead of an arranged marriage

b. having one’s husband and in-laws ask for more dowry resources

6. A protective factor: risk factors for MFIPV

a. participating in social groups

b. having vocational training

iii. Nepal - MFIPV

1. attitudes toward women seem medieval

2. dowry murders, acid throwing into women’s faces, customs requiring menstruating women and those giving birth to live in a cowshed because they are unclean at such times

3. most nutritious and tastiest food is to be given to men in the family first, and women get the leftovers

4. newly empowered women are establishing nongovernmental organizations that are providing some of the services so badly needed

iv. Southern Asia - MFIPV

1. Bangladesh- MFIPV

a. disfigurement of women’s faces by men who throw acid at them

b. laws against acid throwing are only ornamental

i. offenders are seldom arrested, much less prosecuted and convicted

ii. government has failed to provide any satisfactory medical treatment or meaningful legal redress for this horrible crime

2. China - sexual jealousy

a. disfigurement of women’s faces by men who throw acid at them: sexual jealousy impacts IPV by both genders

b. unusual victim/perpetrator IPV report split

i. men: 11% said they hit a partner, and 5% said they were hit by a partner

ii. women: 7% said they hit a partner, and 5% said they were hit by a partner

3. Hong Kong

a. 28% of the participants had no intention of reporting an act of maltreatment

b. traditional Chinese believe that families have a right to privacy and that others should not interfere in family matters

c. informing authorities is difficult in Hong Kong

d. people may not believe social services would be effective in helping the victim

4. Vietnam – Gender Attitudes

a. both genders supported inequitable gender norms with men being privileged; wives approved of these norms more than men did

b. men’s IPV increased with age

c. more male partner violence occurred if husband’s or wife’s educational level was low or if the husband’s educational level was less than the wife’s

d. IPV was highest among wives whose attitudes toward gender were the most inequitable and for women in marriages with the greatest discrepancy of attitudes

e. Pacific Islanders – Samoans, Tongans, Maori: Risk factors

i. being marginalized because of membership in an immigrant group

ii. cohabitation rather than marriage

iii. no formal education

iv. low income

v. exposure to abuse in childhood

vi. family of origin dysfunction and adversity

vii. conduct problems in childhood

viii. alcohol dependence

f. Afghanistan, Pakistan, & Tajikistan

i. Afghanistan: Women living under the Taliban

1. may not leave their homes without their husband’s permission and only if accompanied by a close male relative

2. they may not work outside the home or attend school

3. they must wear head scarves and long veils (burkas), long robes, and keep every inch of skin covered no matter how hot the weather

4. they may be beaten by religious police roaming the cities if deemed insufficiently covered

5. laws regarding male behavior if a wife does not meet his sexual requirements

a. wives may be legally raped

b. as of July, 2009, the law was “improved” to say a husband may deny food to a wife who does not his sexual requirements

6. there are high rates of female suicide where women have no rights

g. Middle East IPV and Denial of Women’s Human Rights

i. In Muslim countries: fathers have total custody over children; if a woman divorces or leaves her husband, she must also leave her children

ii. Saudi Arabia: women must still abide by archaic rules (i.e. forbidden to drive a car, cannot leave the country without written permission from their husband or father) [law about driving cars lifted in 2010 for some women]

iii. In Afghanistan it is not unusual for parents to pressure a girl as young as 12 into marrying a man in his forties or fifties

iv. In poverty-stricken countries (e.g., Afghanistan) parents may even sell very young girls (under 10) to men who want them as brides

v. parents in these cultures rush to have their daughters marry as soon as possible, partially to maintain the daughter’s virginity

vi. Honor Societies are noted for their twisted thinking about Islamic tenets

1. women can be killed for virtually any offense, even a rumor

2. Honor societies believe these killings are necessary to preserve the family’s honor because a man’s honor depends upon a woman’s public behavior, not the man’s

3. these beliefs allow brutal violence against wives and proscribe extreme violence toward any women in the family whose behavior dishonors the family

a. teenage daughters are most at risk for male violence

b. men kill 5,000 women annually for dishonoring their families

vii. Egypt - IPV

1. husbands’ violence toward wives in Egypt is most often ascribed to Islamic beliefs, even though the real cause is cultural tradition

2. Muslim women, as well as men, believe that wife beating is justified

3. women who are younger, less educated, and who are living in rural areas are at the greatest risk for abuse

4. reporting abuse to the police accomplishes little and judges are reluctant to punish wife beaters severely

5. shelters in Egypt rarely allow IPV victims refuge

6. reasons for IPV

a. a belief that beating is justified

b. economic issues

c. refusing sex

d. spending too much money

e. any presumed inadequacies of the victim

7. 2000: laws allowed women to divorce, but they are not entitled to any money or property and must give back the dowry price - Her choice:

a. she can be free of beatings and be pauperized

b. she may stay married and be subjected to beating that may cause disability or even death

viii. Israel - IPV

1. men (23.4%) and women (17.8%) subscribe to the acceptability of wife beating for infidelity

2. men (14.9%) and women (13.0%) approve of wife beating if a wife does as she pleases, rather what is proscribed

3. 25% of both genders believe that a woman should not break up a marriage even if the husband uses force against her

4. 16% think a wife can be happy even if she is beaten

5. in the Kibbutzim where gender equality is the norm, violence against women is almost unheard of

ix. Palestine: strong approval of wife-beating by both men (60.1%) and women (61.8%)

x. Health professionals in Arabic countries: medical personnel deny reports of abuse, tell the woman she is delusional, interpret her behavior as masochistic, and downplay the consequences of abuse

h. Europe - IPV

i. Contributions & challenges

1. initial theorizing about wife abuse originated in England with the writings of R. E. Dobash and R. P. Dobash (1988),

2. Erin Pizzey (1974) opened the first shelter for battered women

3. theoretical frameworks from the United Kingdom (e.g., patriarchal explanations) have greatly impacted the field of family violence

4. research, advocacy efforts, and responses to intimate partner violence across the European continent have lagged behind those in the United States

a. individuals in European countries seem to believe that women can and should simply leave their abusive partners

b. arranged marriages of young girls remains a problem in Romania

ii. Scottish Battered Women’s Survival (qualitative research)

1. women usually have to experience several episodes of male violence directed at them before they recognize their male partner’s behavior as battering

2. MFIPV victims felt it was their responsibility to improve the relationship

3. many women hoped a dialogue would enable their partner to reconsider his male IPV for what it was and stop it, but it did not stop the abuse

4. some women adopted various cajoling strategies (e.g., agreeing with the partner about everything), but the MFIPV persisted and the women’s fear increased

5. number of women discontinued these ineffective tactics and challenged the men’s use of aggression, which seemed to induce some men to stop their violence at least for a time, but it antagonized other men even more

6. many women decided to go public about their partner’s violence, but if women were criticized and blamed by the community, rather than understood and helped, they often did not seek assistance again

7. some women left their homes or called the police to have their partners forcefully removed, but many women returned only to be battered once more

iii. Russia - MFIPV

1. Russia is behind many other countries in adopting legislation protecting women and in providing other assistance such as shelters

2. battered women in Russia suffer from a lack of employment caused by gender bias, lack of political power, an unresponsive police force, and the alcoholism of their male partners

3. less than half of one group of research participants evaluated MFIPV as a serious problem

4. a small number judged violence to be permissible/ justifiable

5. risk factors for IPV in Russia

a. alcohol misuse (Please align)

b. male partner’s exposure to his father’s physical abuse of his mother

c. living in a separate area emphasized the notion that partner violence is a private family matter

6. protective factor: living in a communal-style apartment where families shared bathrooms and kitchens; the presence of others may have inhibited male partner violence

i. Latin America - IPV

i. Latin countries often endorse the cultural value of machismo (exaggerated masculinity, male supremacy; sexual prowess; important responsibilities)

ii. alcoholism rates are high among Latin partner-violent men

iii. family structure of Latin America is often authoritarian with the father making all the decisions and controlling everyone in the family

iv. the culture expects wives to sacrifice their lives for the well-being of other family members

v. Latin-Americans also blame women for their partners’ violence

1. Mexican pregnant women risk factors

a. Being unmarried

b. Not living with her partner

c. Having a lower income

d. unemployment

2. A rapist in 12 Latin American countries can be exonerated if he offers to marry the victim and she accepts - the family of the victim frequently pressures her to marry the rapist to restore the family’s honor

3. Mexican social ties

a. women’s social ties represent a negative feature of their lives

b. they foster women’s victimization

c. a wife becomes a focus of in-laws’ negative evaluations of her character as morally deficient and blameworthy

d. her parents respond unsympathetically

e. messages from her family are harmful because they help to justify her husband’s violence against her

j. North America - IPV

i. Canada and Greenland have recognized male-to-female intimate partner violence as a social problem

ii. alcohol is associated with sexual assault in 63% of the cases reported to the police in Greenland

iii. Greenland researchers believe male IPV is attributed to rapid social change and/or men’s desire to be dominant

iv. research output of Canadians has become closely intermingled with that of Americans

II. Immigrant and Ethnic/Racial IPV

Some scientists claim that race as a psychological variable cannot predict anything

Geneticists have not been able to tie genetic markers to any behavioral traits

Ethnicity is a better predictor of behavior than race

i. 54% of the population will have diverse ethnic backgrounds by the year 2050

ii. ethnicity implies a psychological and social identity based on one’s heritage or cultural allegiance

iii. over time, less inclined to classify people on the basis of race and more inclined to group them by their cultural identification

a. Immigrants - Stressors

i. feeling oppressed and marginalized by their minority status

ii. acculturation demands

iii. isolation from their families

iv. having to send money home to poverty-stricken families

b. Ethnic/Racial Minorities

i. It is painful being a minority in the US – little stings have a cumulative effect

1. name-calling

2. unequal work opportunities

3. feel shamed by the actions (e.g., high rate of out-of-wedlock births) of other members of their own minority group

4. unconscious biases of other racial groups

5. grouping all minorities together as if they were like-minded

6. minorities themselves hold prejudices against other minorities causing serious frictions

ii. There are within-group variations related to various advantages (e.g., higher income) and disadvantages (lower level of education)

c. Laws Affecting Immigrant Women

i. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 and reauthorization in 2000 to assist FIPV victims

1. called for the assessment of levels of partner abuse in marginalized groups, such as Native Americans

2. called for the improved coverage of ethnic minority groups in general

3. attempted to rectify immigrant women’s legal dependency on husbands: called for legislative changes that made it possible for undocumented abused women to self-petition (on their own, not through a sponsor) to obtain a green card and to stay in the U.S.

4. Mandated that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service must provide linguistically appropriate services that enable battered wives to access legal remedies

5. Mandated issuance of a U-visa that allows victims of a crime (e.g., trafficking) who have been helpful in the crime’s investigation to apply for a nonimmigrant visa and a work permit

ii. Cultural insensitivity and the law

1. courts must address crimes committed in US that are not crimes in other countries

2. unfairness of penalties for behaviors that are legal in the immigrants’ home countries but outlawed in the United States

3. defense attorneys for immigrants may try to represent their clients by using cultural defenses

d. Prevalence of IPV Among Racial/Ethnic Groups

i. General observations

1. surveys do not usually uncover major differences in partner abuse between various ethnic groups

2. minority groups are likely to show significant variations within their own group

3. significantly higher IPV rates for Blacks relative to Whites and members of some other racial groups

ii. Federal government’s previous classification systems

1. American Indian/Alaska Natives reported the most male partner violence (30.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islanders reported the least (12.8%)

2. Black female victims have a rate 35% higher than that for White females and 2.5 times higher than that for other races

3. Native American Indians: 58% lifetime male-to-female IPV; 30.1% past year; 9.3% while pregnant; 12.2% sexual assault lifetime; 42% on welfare past year

4. The Hispanic rate for IPV was 21.2% and for mixed races was 27%

5. four times as many Hispanic women and three times as many White women reported sexual abuse

6. no large Black/White differences appeared in the National Violence Against Women Survey

7. partner victimization rates of South Asian men/women were 16.4%

8. sexual coercion among 292 Latinas including migrant workers was 20.9%

e. Distinctive Features of Immigrants and Minority IPV

i. African Americans – IPV

1. higher rates for both African American men and women

2. risks for IPV among African Americans:

a. poverty

b. economic distress (including male joblessness)

c. alcohol/drug misuse

d. residency in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods

ii. Arab Americans – I{V

1. severe physical abuse: 73%

2. severe sexual coercion: 40%

3. minor physical abuse: 100%

4. severe injuries: 40%

5. more than half the women disagreed that a woman should divorce her husband as a solution to partner abuse

6. 88% agreed it is very important for a woman to be a virgin before marriage

7. nearly all the women disagreed that a man has a right to have sex with his wife when he wants, even though she may not want to

8. 25% considered wife beating to be justifiable when a wife challenges a husband’s manhood

9. 25% agreed that killing a woman for sexual infidelity was justified (e.g., the “honor” imperative)

10. 88% did not believe battered wives are responsible for their abuse because they intended it to happen

11. 31% endorsed that a battered woman is solely responsible for being beaten because she obviously did something that irritated her husband

12. 87% disagreed with the ideas that in most cases it is the woman’s fault that she was beaten by her husband

13. women seeking help were most likely to go to an Arab family service organization or seek legal services

14. Arabs are the least likely to seek mental health services or mainstream social services

iii. Native American Indians - IPV

1. Native American Indians are the most victimized ethnic/racial group of women in the United States

2. Native American Indian women thought partner abuse was rare, rather than just hidden

3. historical trauma caused by oppression that is passed down across generations affects this group like learned helplessness

4. face legal inequality, poverty, racism, and continuing Federal neglect

5. Native American Indians encounter haphazard law enforcement and lack of treatment/shelter-like facilities

6. few perpetrators are convicted and penalties are extremely lenient

7. Native American women endorsed the ideas that

a. if a person hits you, you should hit him/her back

b. it’s okay to beat up a person for badmouthing her or her family

8. They are less likely to endorse

a. if someone tries to start a fight with you, you should walk away

iv. Asian Americans – IPV

1. Asians have strong cultural beliefs that do not merge easily with those of the majority culture

2. They may not define a partner’s violent behavior as abusive

3. They tolerate partner abuse in a way that makes their victimization invisible

v. Haitian immigrants

1. likely to have experienced and witnessed acts of violence on the street or even suffered torture themselves

2. wife beating is normal and occurs openly (on the street)

3. primary goal of most Haitian battered women immigrants is basic survival (food, housing)

4. they are confused about the role of police and services such as counseling

5. they are misinformed about women residing in shelters and hence they are reluctant to go to shelters

vi. Latinos

1. Latinas face barriers of language, fear of deportation, and poverty associated with disclosure of IPV

2. Latinos who are not well acculturated suffer stress and stress led directly to male partner violence

f. Disclosure of MFIPV Patterns

i. acculturated Latina patients at health clinics were significantly more likely to report IPV victimization

ii. African American women have an especially difficult time reporting male partner abuse

g. Trait Comparisons of Individuals Involved in IPV

i. Gender trait comparisons

1. Among African Americans gender comparisons

a. Men were more likely than women to have had prior conduct disorders

b. African American women were more likely than men to have attempted suicide

c. More women than men witnessed severe interparental IPV

d. More women than men experienced corporal punishment

2. Differences among Latina FMIPV offenders

a. Spanish speakers were significantly less likely to be citizens of the United States and therefore less likely be acculturated

b. English-speaking Latinas perpetrated a greater frequency of FMIPV than the Spanish speaking Latinas

c. There is less acceptability of female aggression in the Hispanic culture

d. 94% of FMIPV Latinas said that their male partner committed physical assaults against them

e. male partners also used significantly more control tactics than the female partners used

f. 89% of the women had called the police for assistance, and over 50% had separated from their partner because of the violence

g. 19% of sought medical treatment compared with 3.3% of their male partners

h. Hispanic females were primarily victims rather than perpetrators

h. Immigrant and Ethnic Batterers – Motives for IPV

i. African American and Mexican American women more than White women reported childhood experiences were a motivating factor

ii. African American and Mexican American women more than White women rated motives for IPV were to Increase Intimacy and for Retaliation significantly higher

iii. no two groups had similar patterns

iv. African American women in a female-primary-perpetrator group committed significantly more female to-male IPV than did women in either the male-primary-perpetrator or in the mutually violent groups

v. African American FMIPV offenders’ motives for FMIPV

1. female victim’s abuse instigated anger may function as the motivation for her violence against her male partner

2. female victimization was a cause of female offending

3. female victimization was related to female offenders’ PTSD and depression

i. Differences in Attitudes toward the Criminal Justice System

i. Calling the police

1. 67% of Black women compared with 50% of White women made reports to police

2. Latinos were marginally more likely to call the police than non-Latinos

3. Asian battered women indicated that they are especially unlikely to ask the police for assistance

4. Of 73% severely battered Arab Muslim women, 72% had called the police and 40% had obtained protective orders

5. White women are more likely to favor prosecution than Latinas and African American women

ii. Police behavior ratings by immigrants

1. 84% to 94% minorities felt police were responsive to their concerns

2. 51.4% Latinas asserted that the police treated them badly; they believed that the police ignored the self-defensive nature of the women’s actions

j. Consequences of Male-to-Female IPV

i. Physical health problems of MFIPV Victims

1. African American victims have significantly more health problem, more health problems per medical visit, and more emergency room visits

2. 44% Latinas reported having poor to fair health compared with 21% of non-Latinos

3. Asian male partner violence victims suffered from burns and scalding, and an increased number of miscarriages, broken bones, and other injuries

4. Immigrant and minority battered women (Arab, Asian, Black and Latina) are at greater risk for HIV infection than nonminority battered women. 22% physically and sexually abused married Indian women tested positive for HIV

ii. Mental health problems

1. Vietnamese women who were abused experienced significantly more fear of their partners than did nonabused Vietnamese women

2. victimization contributes to depression

a. half of a sample of African American victims attempted suicide and had significantly higher depression levels

b. the greater the amount of abuse suffered by African American and Latina women, the greater the extent of their depressive symptoms

c. stress and feeling powerless were related to more frequent depressive symptoms

d. family support was related to fewer depressive symptoms

iii. Helpseeking for MFIPV among ethnic women

1. African Americans, Hispanics, and other races: having a support network was the most significant predictor of seeking help

2. White, African Americans, and Latinas: the most frequently cited rationale for not disclosing abuse was that the women thought health care issues and partner violence issues were separate concerns

3. Arab women: participants who did not justify wife beating and who did not blame wives for MFIPV were significantly more likely to seek help from shelters, hotlines, and safe homes

4. Latinos compared with. non-Latinos

a. Latinos and non-Latinos were not significantly different in seeking help from informal sources

b. Latinos were significantly more likely than non-Latinos to disclose their abuse to a family member and to be asked about partner violence by a professional

c. Latinos were significantly less likely to have knowledge about community resources, and to disclose their abuse to a health care worker or clergyman

d. Latinos were less likely than non-Latinos to seek help from a shelter

k. Social Support for MFIPV Victims Among Ethnic Groups

i. African American and White women’ social support

1. satisfaction with social support was equivalent across races

2. African American and White women had a similar number of available kin

3. African American women had a smaller number of available friends

4. assumptions that African American women can rely on a strong kinship network for support appear to be unfounded

5. support networks were most likely to advise African American and Hispanic women to leave the abuser

ii. Asian women’s social support

1. social support is virtually nonexistence

2. support networks were most likely to advise South Asian women to stay

3. it is extremely important to maintain the family’s honor

4. Asian women may not be able to seek refuge with a relative, neighbor, or friend because the entire community will know where she is and expose her whereabouts. The husband can easily find her and force her to return

5. Asian sources of support are most likely to be medical doctors

iii. Latinas’ social support

1. abused Latinas were significantly more likely to lack social support compared with nonabused Latinas

2. 25% of abused Latinas said they had no friend or family member nearby who could help them

3. the primary agents of social support for Latinas are their family and kinship/friendship networks

4. many immigrant Latinas may be separated from their families and thus unable to take advantage of this resource

l. Differences in Leave/Stay Decisions Among Ethnic Groups

i. African American women’s leave/stay decisions

1. attempts to leave were cyclical in nature with several returns before leaving permanently

2. women who left experienced significantly more harassment (e.g., stalking), more efforts by the batterer to control them, and better physical health

3. being a homemaker was a significant hindrance to leaving

4. cuts in welfare services appeared to endanger the lives of Black women

5. overall, women of color were significantly more likely to leave an abusive relationship than Anglo women

ii. Vietnamese women’s leave/stay decisions

1. those who escaped abusive husbands had been able to seek help from a variety of sources compared with those who did not escape

2. those who did not escape were more likely than those who did to place a high value on maintaining a family and living in a patriarchal family

3. those who did not escape were also more fearful of their partner

4. factors such as age, education level, extent of MFIPV did not significantly impact their leave/stay decisions

iii. Mexican-American women’s leave/stay decisions

1. 96% needed welfare because of victimization by their abusive partners

2. surveys of women on welfare show that minority women experience three times as much battering as nonminority women

3. welfare programs may reduce the level of MFIPV suffered by some victims

III. Rural MFIPV

a. Influences on IPV

i. rural abused women live in a cultural enclave of patriarchy

ii. close-knit families, kinships, and friendship networks typical of rural communities greatly diminish rural abuse victims’ ability and willingness to seek help

iii. isolation, such as lack of phones and transportation

iv. lack of confidentiality

v. little, if any, social support

vi. lack of medical care and medical screening

vii. greater gun use

viii. inadequate or no criminal justice response

ix. little or no legal representation

x. low unemployment linked with significantly higher crime rates than found in urban areas

xi. social problems such as teen pregnancies, single-parent households, low educational achievement, and high school drop-out rate

xii. low economic growth

xiii. the above factors negatively impact the delivery of criminal justices system services

b. Law Enforcement in Rural Areas

i. police often must answer calls for service across vast distances and the total number of law enforcement personnel is sparse

ii. police often participate in the “good ol’ boys” network that oppresses women – that is, officers know the offenders, socialize with them, and may sympathize with them more than with the female victims

iii. anti-woman/anti-victim bias typical of the criminal justice system as a whole is more apparent in rural settings

c. Male-to-Female IPV in Rural Areas tends to be intimate terrorism because of patriarchal control of women and the fear it generates

d. National Crime Victimization Survey: homicides in rural areas exceed those occurring in urban and suburban areas

e. Sociodemographic Comparisons: Rural Compared with Urban or Suburban Areas

i. Victims of MFIPV

1. rural women were significantly more likely than urban women to be White and married

2. they were less likely to have a high school education, to be employed, and to have an income over $15,000 a year

3. severely abused rural women were significantly less educated, less likely to be financially stable, and had an abusive family of origin

4. risk of male partner abuse increased with age – This is unusual because abused women are nearly always younger than nonabused women

ii. Perpetrators of MFIPV

1. had significantly more drug problems

2. were significantly more likely to carry a gun or knife

3. experienced more fighting over money and the female partner’s family

f. Helpseeking and Services Available for Rural MFIPV Victims

i. Helpseeking

1. lack of funding by the Violence Against Women Act and the Victims of Crime Act

2. urban services receive more funding than rural services

3. geography of rural areas requires comparatively more of advocates’ time. For instance, an advocate might need to drive a female victim to a shelter that is 100 miles away

4. service providers assisted

a. 18.3% of MFIPV victims in rural counties

b. 43.9% of MFIPV victims in urban areas

5. urban women were more likely than rural women to make use of these resources

a. support from friends

b. alcohol and drug treatment programs

c. victims’ advocates

ii. Coping strategies

1. urban women: sought more emotional support, used more positive self-talk, and participated in more exercise/meditation

2. rural women: significantly more often relied on denial as a coping strategy and were more likely to seek help from an attorney

3. women in either group who made use of problem-focused coping sought out a significantly greater number of resources

IV. Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence (SSIPV)

a. Same-Sex definitions of IPV

i. homophobia—irrational fear, anger, hatred, contempt, or intolerance towards LGBT

ii. homonegativity—negative attitude towards LGBT

iii. heterosexism—negative attitudes, biases, discrimination favoring opposite-sex sexuality because they are normal and therefore superior

iv. minority stress refers—attributions of inferiority and defectiveness toward various categories of people, even though people may have no control over their status

v. same-sex IPV—a means to control others through power, including physical and psychological threats (verbal and nonverbal) or injury (to the victim or others), isolation, economic deprivation, heterosexist control (threats to reveal homosexuality), sexual assaults, vandalism (destruction of property), or any combination of methods

vi. same-sex IPV tactics

1. threatening to out the partner (i.e., disclosing the partner’s homosexuality to family, friends, and employers)

2. using heterosexist control or convincing the victim that he/she is a mutual batterer when their IPV is self-defensive

3. threatening to infect a gay partner with HIV

b. Protective Orders for Victims of Same-Sex IPV

i. severe restrictions when it comes to obtaining protective orders following same-sex IPV-related crimes

ii. gay males subjected to a sexual assault are unable to obtain needed assistance from the courts unless force is used

c. Genesis of Homosexuality and Causes of SSIPV

i. birth order effects among latter-born sons, wiring of lesbians’ brains, and brain structure disparities all infer a genetic/biological basis for homosexuality

ii. social learning theory: gays and lesbians learn to be violent through modeling

d. Estimating the Prevalence/Incidence of Same-Sex IPV

i. Measurement issues

1. measurements are often biased

2. abuse scores are often higher for lesbians than for gay men

3. Prevalence of same-sex IPV: there are no empirically sound sampling strategies available for obtaining a representative sample because same-sex couples habitually hide their sexual orientation (stigma)

ii. Official reports of SSIPV

1. some protocols do not have suitable categories so personnel place data from these offenders and victims into categories such as friend or acquaintance

2. the estimated number of homosexual households in the U.S. ranges from 1.1 million to 1.6 million

3. same-sex partners classify partner abuse as their most serious health problem after AIDS

4. estimates vary from 11% to 73% for SSIPV

5. lesbians are not protected from male-to-female adult sexual assault just because they have less exposure to men

6. [See the boxes on p. 515 about lesbians and their sisters]

iii. Unwanted sexual experiences of homosexuals

1. men sexually abused as either a child or sexually coerced as adults had more substance abuse problems

2. revictimized men were most likely to have been treated for sexually transmitted diseases

3. men sexually coerced as adults only were the most likely group to have had unprotected sex

a. this group was most at risk for HIV

b. this group exhibited significantly more symptoms of dissociation, trauma-related anxiety, and borderline personality disorder

e. Reporting/disclosing same-sex IPV and crimes

i. heterosexuals and homosexuals underreport crimes to the police, especially IPV crimes

ii. homosexuals contact the police significantly less often than heterosexual victims

iii. same-sex pairs may report IPV and hate (bias) incidents significantly differently – gays more than lesbians

f. Partner Violence

i. Lesbians and public attitudes

1. lesbian FFIPV victims elicit very little sympathy from the public

2. professionals hold lesbian victims responsible for their own victimization

3. lay observers have a difficult time perceiving lesbian IPV victims as worthy victims

4. there is a strong reluctance within the lesbian community to acknowledge FFIPV

a. aversion stems from a strong belief in partner equality among lesbian intimates

b. feminists hold that IPV arises from patriarchal practices, and they envisaged that lesbians would be free of such attitudes

ii. Attitudes of the public toward same-sex partner abuse

1. Homonegativity: rejecting attitude of society, police, juries, medical professionals, and others toward persons with a same-sex orientation

2. public seems to accept many false beliefs (myths) about homosexuals and their sexual activities because of heterosexist socialization and victim blaming

iii. Sexual orientation and faith leaders

1. individuals facing conflicting paradigms of spirituality and homosexuality may feel forced to choose between their religious identity (e.g., Catholic) and their sexual identity (e.g., gay)

2. pastoral counselors need to become educated about sexual orientation, examine their own biases toward sexual minorities, and be ready to refer clients they cannot treat because of their own reactions to homosexuality

3. counselors can help clients determine the personal meaning of spirituality, clear up cognitive distortions, emphasize the value of every human being, and refer GLBT clients to accepting congregations

g. Individuals Differences (Traits) of Homosexuals

i. Jealousy and sexual orientation

1. homosexual participants’ most intense jealousy was reactive jealousy (i.e., normal jealousy based on a real threat to the relationship)

2. gay men reported lower levels of reactive jealousy

3. lesbian women reported less reactive jealousy

4. anxious jealousy was negatively associated with relationship quality for gays, but not for lesbians

ii. Power/dominance/control among gays

1. psychological abuse was significantly higher among MMIPV couples who shared power (each member was dominant in some area) than with couples whose power was divided (one member was dominant in most areas)

2. preoccupied attachment and paternal rejection were all significantly higher in mutually abusive MMIPV couples

iii. Dynamics of abusive lesbian relationships: conceptualization of MFIPV do not fit FFIPV

h. Consequences of Same-Sex IPV

i. Types of emotional reactions by victims to same-sex IPV:

1. depression

2. anxiety

3. PTSD

ii. Responses of same-sex victims to same-sex IPV

1. avoidance

2. talking to someone

3. doing nothing

iii. Reasons for staying with an abusive same-sex partner

1. Lesbians

a. did not believe women could be violent

b. shared a common community value entitled the bond of lesbianism (i.e., a strong feeling of connectedness to other lesbians)

c. were concerned that the ending of their relationship would contribute to the stereotype of troubled lesbians

2. Gay men infected with HIV

a. had poor health

b. lacked financial independence

c. feared losing a caregiver

d. lacked available community resources

V. Military IPV

a. History of IPV in the Military

i. women in the military began to contact women’s advocates to find out how to handle the sexual harassment and rape they were experiencing; complaints to their superiors went unheeded

ii. reporters wrote about military’s extreme bias against women in terms of sexual assault and male partner abuse, promotions, medical treatment, and several other areas

iii. pressure from Pentagon officials caused commanders in the field to begin improving regulations, investigations, and prosecution of offenders

iv. Congress awarded $900 million to the Department of Defense for 2007–2008 to address military IPV

1. establishment of Center for Deployment Psychology, a setting for training psychology interns on traumatic events, PTSD, IPV, sexual assault, gender differences, and interventions for these conditions

b. Prevalence of military IPV

i. Early studies using the CTS showed no significant differences between military and civilians IPV

ii. studies conducted in the last decade have frequently disclosed elevated rates of IPV for both men and women in the military

iii. research on race effects is mixed in regard to IPV

iv. 65% of the wives compared with 33% of the husbands reported IPV injuries

v. those who had been deployed were more severely violent than those not deployed

vi. risk factors for IPV in the military

1. race, depression, poor marital adjustment, alcohol problems, and childhood abuse

2. lower levels of bonding between soldiers and their leaders, a culture of hypermasculinity, and lower levels of support for female spouses

3. alcohol use by active-duty men disclosed that heavy drinking was a very strong and independent risk factor for MFIPV

4. significantly more likely than either of the other two groups to commit multiple offenses

c. Family violence offenders in the military

i. both spouse and child offenders—12%

ii. spouse offenders only—61%

iii. child offenders only—27%

iv. significantly more likely than either of the other two groups to commit multiple offenses

d. Posttraumatic stress disorder as related to military IPV

i. Prevalence of traumatic events among male and female military veterans is high and extensive

ii. Traumas other than combat are more prevalent among military women than men

iii. female veterans report significantly higher trauma rates than civilian populations

1. 30%-45%—military sexual trauma

2. 18%-19%—MFIPV rates

3. 46%-51% physical assaults

4. 27%-49%—history of childhood sexual assaults

5. 35%—history of childhood physical assaults

6. 81%-93%—any type of trauma

e. Relationship between PTSD and IPV

i. veterans with PTSD were significantly more violent than veterans without PTSD

ii. severity of PTSD was significantly correlated with partner abuse

iii. war-zone conditions pose risk factors for partner violence among men with PTSD

iv. men in mutually violent couples had the highest PTSD scores

v. PTSD is a risk factor for male aggression

vi. risk factors for partner violence

1. trauma-related experiences combined with psychopathology

2. relationship problems associated with PTSD