Husbands who harm: Predicting spousal violence by men

Previous research on spouse abuse has frequently focused on bivariate relationships between theoretically derived variables and marital violence. This study utilizes a multivariate approach in order to explore the independent and combined effects of several variables derived from the social learning and the frustration/strain perspectives on self-reported violence by husbands against wives. Data for married and/or cohabiting males are derived from a national stratified random sample of couples in the United States. Loglinear analysis is used to identify the main and interactive effects of age, occupational status, employment status, subjective economic strain, and observation of parental violence on reports of violence toward one's wife. Results indicate that age, occupational status, parental modeling and employment status affect the likelihood of violence. Employment status more strongly increases the likelihood of violence for younger men, as opposed to older men, which supports the strain perspective. The independent effect of the observation of parental violence lends support to the social learning approach. Social policy implications are discussed.     

Mediators of male violence toward female intimates

The purpose of this study was to compare perceived life stressors, alcohol usage, and perceived quality of the intimate relationship of a group of males who have abused their female intimate with a group who have no history of abuse toward their partner. Interviews were conducted with 42 men who were defined as violent and 50 men who were defined as nonviolent. Interviews consisted of various demographic and health questions as well as standardized instrumentation (Michigan Alcoholism Screen Test, Autonomy/Relatedness Scale, Life Experiences Survey, and Conflict-Tactics Scale). Student's t tests indicated that the two groups differed as a function of perceived life Stressors, perceived quality of the intimate relationship, race, and depression. Stepwise logistic regression indicated that higher perceived quality of the intimate relationship, black race, and greater depression were significant predictors of male violence toward female intimates.     

Prevalence and correlates of physical spousal violence against women in slum and nonslum areas of urban Bangladesh

This study explores the prevalence and correlates of past-year physical violence against women in slum and nonslum areas of urban Bangladesh. The authors use multivariate logistic regression to analyze data from the 2006 Urban Health Survey, a population-based survey of 9,122 currently married women aged between 15 and 49 who were selected using a multistage cluster sampling design. The prevalence of reported past-year physical spousal violence is 31%. Prevalence of past-year physical spousal violence is higher in slums (35%) than in nonslums (20%). Slapping/arm-twisting and pushing/shaking/ throwing something at the women are the most commonly reported acts of physical abuse. Multivariate analysis shows that the risk of physical spousal abuse is lower among older women, women with post-primary education, and those belonging to rich households and women whose husbands considered their opinion in decision making. Women are at higher risk of abuse if they had many children, believe that married woman should work if the husband is not making enough money, and approve wife-beating norms. This study serves to confirm the commonness of physical spousal abuse in urban Bangladesh, demonstrating the seriousness of this multifaceted phenomenon as a social and public health issue. The present findings suggest the need for comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies that capitalize on the interplay of individual and sociocultural factors that cause physical spousal violence. Our study adds to a growing literature documenting domestic violence against women in urban areas of developing south Asian nations.     

A prospective study of predictors of violence in adult male mental health admissions

Studies of violence prediction have typically involved long-range follow-up of institutionalized persons and have shown poor predictive accuracy. In the present study a sample of adult males at risk for violent behavior admitted as inpatients at a community mental health center was followed for six months after their release. Data collected at admission (which included demographics, family back-ground, criminal justice and mental health systems contacts, past violent behavior, life stress, family, friendship, and work environment measures, psychiatric diagnosis, and alcohol and drug use) were used to predict subsequent violent arrests or readmissions using stepwise discriminant analysis. Results yielded 85% of the total sample correctly classified. Of those predicted to be nonviolent 94% were actually nonviolent and of those predicted to be violen 59% were actually violent. Seventy-six percent of the violent subjects were identified. Implications of the findings for clinical predictions of violence are discussed.     

Implicit attitudes toward violence among male perpetrators of intimate partner violence: a preliminary investigation

Whereas cognitive variables are hypothesized to play an important role in intimate partner violence (IPV) etiology and intervention, cognitive assessment methods have largely targeted offenders' explicit, controlled cognitive processing using paper-and-pencil questionnaires prone to social desirability biases. Using an implicit measure of attitudes (the Implicit Association Test [IAT]), we assessed attitudes toward gender, violence, and the association between gender and violence among 50 men enrolled in an IPV treatment program and a comparison sample of 40 nonviolent (NV) men. Although no group differences were noted on explicit attitudinal measures, men in the IPV group showed more positive implicit attitudes regarding violence, and a more rapid association between women and violence. Among men in treatment for IPV, the attitudes toward violence IAT was significantly correlated with self/partner-reported IPV frequency. In accordance with social information processing models of aggression, these results suggest that aggressogenic attitudes are likely to operate automatically and with little conscious deliberation. As a result, clinicians and researchers must adapt assessment and intervention strategies to capture both implicit and explicit aspects of cognitive processing.     

A study of male veterans' beliefs toward domestic violence in a batterers intervention program

Domestic violence in intimate relationships is a ubiquitous social problem. This study addresses a gap in the research literature on batterers intervention programs with heterosexual male batterers by evaluating whether or not self-reported attitudes about partner abuse and sexist beliefs could be modified over time as a result of participation in a Batterers Intervention Program (BIP). Using the Inventory of Beliefs about Partner Abuse (IBAPA) to measure attitudes toward domestic violence and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) to measure sexist beliefs, results of the study provide empirical support for the notion that participation in BIPs affects the self-reported beliefs about their rights to physically and emotionally abuse their partner. These self-reported scores were adjusted for response bias by the long version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCD). Response bias and how it is treated in self-report measures with batterers is also discussed.     

A statistical model examining repetitive criminal behavior in acts of violence

A simple statistical model for examining repetitive criminal behavior in acts of violence is described. The units, called "parameters," are nonquestionable data concerning environment of the crime, personal properties, and postmortem findings of the victim, obtained by double-blind investigation performed by two forensic pathologists. Parameters shared by two or more criminal acts allegedly committed by the same assailant were compared with the same parameters recorded from 50 or 100 other mutually independent criminal acts committed by other known assailants. This allowed an evaluation of the probability (p) of a crime pattern expressed as a parameter score to recur in mutually independent cases. The distribution of the score, when plotted on a logarithmic scale in all examples, showed an approximately normal distribution. The relation between probability (p), the estimated mean (means), and standard deviation (SD) yielded a normal curve. Different patterns of action by different perpetrators and patterns indicating repetitive behavior could be obtained. The method is applicable during investigation of crimes in which the perpetrator acts in a repetitive manner, as in serial murders.     

Strain and violence: Testing a general strain theory model of community violence

Agnew's General Strain Theory (GST) has come to be recognized as an increasingly important explanation for violence at the individual level. Drawing on this individual level theory, Agnew [Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 36 (1999) 123] recently suggested that GST might also be applicable to explaining variations in community crime rates. This macro level General Strain Theory (MST) has, however, rarely been empirically examined. This article provides an examination of some of the central ideas in Agnew's MST using data from sixty-six neighborhoods in a southern state. The findings presented here suggest that neighborhood disadvantage and stability significantly affect neighborhood levels of strain. In turn, strain significantly affects levels of violence. The extent to which the effects of strain on violence are conditioned by levels of informal social control and social support/capital are also examined in this article. The results are partially supportive of MST.     

The predictive validity of youth violence risk assessment tools: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the findings of a systematic search of published literature which reports the predictive validity of violence risk assessment tools specifically designed for use with youth. A total of 38 studies, involving 9,307 participants, reported data for six different tools; the most common of which were the SAVRY and the YLS/CMI. Each of the tools demonstrated at least moderate levels of predictive validity, with the predictive validity of several newer assessment tools yet to be established. The results provide an up-to-date overview of the state of knowledge in an area in which practitioners make choices about which tools to use on an almost daily basis. It is important that practitioners are aware of the strength of evidence that is available to support the choice of violence risk assessment tools and the interpretation of results.     

Family violence risk assessment: A predictive cross-validation study of the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument-Revised (DVSI-R)

This research was a cross-validation study of the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument-Revised (DVSI-R), using a diverse, statewide sample of 3,569 family violence perpetrators in Connecticut, assessed in February and March of 2007. It analyzed re-arrest data collected during an 18-month period post assessment. Three issues were central, which have been ignored in previous research on family violence risk assessment: (1) analyzing five refined measures of behavioral recidivism, (2) determining whether perpetrator characteristics and types of family and household relationships (beyond just heterosexual intimate partners) moderate the empirical relations between the DVSI-R and the behavioral recidivism measures, and (3) determining whether structured clinical judgment about the imminent risk of future violence to the victim or to others corresponds with recidivism predicted by the DVSI-R total numeric risk scores. The empirical findings showed that the DVSI-R had significant predictive accuracy across all five measures of recidivism. With one exception, these relations did not vary by gender, age, or ethnicity; and again with one exception, no significant evidence was found that types of family or household relationships moderated those empirical relations. In short, the evidence suggested that the DVSI-R was a robust risk assessment instrument, having applicability across different types of perpetrators and different types of family and household relationships. Finally, the empirical findings showed that structured clinical judgment about imminent risk-to-victim and risk-to-others corresponded with the prediction of recidivism by the DVSI-R total numeric risk scores, but the effects of those scores were significantly stronger than the perceived risk-to-victim or the perceived risk-to-others.     

Intimate partner violence among male and female Russian university students

This article reports data from three Russian sites of the International Dating Violence Study. Using a sample of 338 university students (54% female) from three Russian university sites, four different types of partner violence are examined: physical assault, physical injury, sexual coercion, and psychological aggression. High prevalence rates were found for all types of violence, aggression, and coercion. Consistent with previous research, male and female students were about equally likely to be victims and perpetrators of all violent and aggressive actions. Recommendations for prevention are made in the conclusions.     

Triggers for alcohol‐related violence in young male offenders

Purpose. Improving the effectiveness of offender treatment programmes is important and one approach is to attend to their content. The aim here was to identify triggers to alcohol‐related violence to inform the development of programmes to treat this problem. Method. Information from 149 young male offenders’ accounts of incidents of alcohol‐related violence was studied using thematic analysis. Results. Sixteen triggers for violence were identified and these were organized into six themes: (1) being offended by someone, (2) seeing an opportunity for material gain, (3) seeing others in need of help, (4) perception of threat, (5) distress, and (6) wanting a fight. Discussion. The implications of the results for developing treatments for alcohol‐related violence are presented. First, identifying triggers should be part of the treatment programme and ways of avoiding triggers should be addressed. Second, changing values, specifically hypermasculine and antisocial values, could attenuate the rewards signalled by the triggers. Third, methods of reducing the potency of triggers would be of value and would include addressing issues of need for respect and responses to perceived disrespect. Fourth, non‐violent ways of helping people who are in trouble need to be introduced. Fifth, coping with threat cues through distraction and increasing self‐awareness would reduce the effects of ‘alcohol myopia’. Sixth, seeking fights for excitement could be reduced by examining the costs through motivational procedures. Finally, and self‐evidently, a primary target of treatment programmes to reduce alcohol‐related violence should be to reduce the level and frequency of alcohol intoxication.     

Differences in female and male involvement in lethal violence in Russia

Relatively little is known of the distributions of homicide event characteristics in non-Western nations in which women relative to men are involved. This article utilizes unique homicide narratives drawn from Russian court and police records to compare homicide victim, offender, and event characteristics by sex of victim and separately by sex of offender. Results from logistic regression show that homicides in which a female was the victim or offender were more likely to occur between intimates and to occur in the home, whereas homicides involving males were more likely to occur in a public place, to be alcohol-related, to involve a firearm, and to involve a victim and offender who did not know each other well. These results not only present an important first glimpse at women as homicide victims and offenders in Russia specifically, but also provide a point of comparison with findings from similar analyses undertaken in the West, and present further initial observations upon which to construct a cohesive theory about female involvement in serious violent events.     

A positive domestic violence screen predicts future domestic violence

The objective of this study was to determine if a brief screen for domestic violence (DV) predicts future violence. We conducted a cohort study of adult women who presented to an inner-city emergency department during an 8-week study period. Participants were screened for DV using the Partner Violence Screen (PVS). At 4 months, follow-up telephone interviews were conducted: rates of verbal and physical violence were measured using the modified Conflict Tactics Scale. Relative risks of violent events (physical and verbal) were calculated. Of the 215 women who enrolled, 36 (16%) had an initial screen positive for DV. Ninety-six women participated in the follow-up phase; of these women, 9% had screened positive for DV. At 4 months, women with DV were 11.3 times more likely to experience physical violence and 7.3 times more likely to experience verbal aggression. The study's screen identified women at high risk for subsequent physical violence and verbal aggression.     

Dealing with mentally ill domestic violence perpetrators: A therapeutic jurisprudence judicial model

People suffering from mental illness are increasingly referred to the domestic violence court. Yet the typical diversion programs available, including batterer's intervention programs, are inappropriate for those with serious mental illness. As a result, the Miami-Dade Domestic Violence Court has developed a new approach for dealing with this population that applies mental health court techniques in domestic violence court. This article will describe and discuss this pioneering model. It also will situate this model within the context of other problem-solving courts and discuss how the court uses principles and approaches of therapeutic jurisprudence. The paper presents some preliminary data that describe the social and legal characteristics of 20 defendants in the Domestic Violence Mental Health Court followed over a two year period between 2005 and 2007.