A lifetime of intimate partner violence: coping strategies of older women

Little is known about how older women cope in long-term abusive intimate relationships. Understanding their coping strategies may give insight into how to further support their effective coping efforts. Interviews were conducted with 38 women older than age 55 years. Grounded theory analysis demonstrated that women who remained in their abusive relationships employed mainly cognitive (emotion-focused) strategies to find meaning in a situation that was perceived as unchangeable. By reappraising themselves, their spouses, and their relationships they refocused energies in certain roles, set limits with their abusers, and reached out to others (friends, family, and community organizations). Some women appeared to thrive, others merely survived, but all maintained the appearance of conjugal unity.     

Appropriately Upset? Emotion Norms and Perceptions of Crime Victims

Victims who express less emotion in response to a crime are perceived as less deserving, less sympathetic, and they have less punishment assigned to the offender who committed the crime. This study considers the extent to which emotion norms underlie perceptions of victims who testify. Two studies investigate the circumstances in which emotional reactions to a crime are seen as "unusual" and whether a more general emotion norm underlies responses to victim testimony. We test a "victim-role" norm against a "proportionality" norm by crossing the severity of victim's emotional response (severe or mild) with the seriousness of a crime (serious or less serious). Results across two studies lend greater support to the notion that people expect victims to match the intensity of their emotional response to the seriousness of the event (i.e., a proportionality rule), although we also find instances in which expectations of the victim are not strong. Gender of the victim exhibited small and contingent effects. We discuss the relevance of emotion norms to legal settings.     

Attitudes and beliefs about domestic violence: results of a public opinion survey: I. Definitions of domestic violence, criminal domestic violence, and prevalence

This study reports analyses and findings from a public opinion survey designed to explore beliefs about domestic violence (DV)-what it is, when it is against the law, and how prevalent it is. The project interviewed 1,200 residents from six New York communities. The analyses reveal substantial firsthand and secondhand experience with DV and strong consensus that acts of physical aggression should be labeled as DV, but substantially less certainty about the illegality of the abusive behaviors. Overall, the respondents were less inclined to define women's aggressive behavior in pejorative or unlawful terms than men's. Respondents believed that DV was common in their communities, and that it affected a significant minority of couples. Multivariate analyses provide little support for conventional wisdom about the impact of socioeconomic background on tolerance for or knowledge about DV, although gender, generation, and secondhand familiarity with DV incidents play a role in opinions and beliefs.     

Identities of Competitive States in U.S. Presidential Elections: Electoral College Bias or Candidate-Centered Politics?

When discussing the biases of the U.S. Electoral College, researchersconclude that competitive states seem to occur randomly withoutany explanation. This study examines the consistency with whichthe same states have been competitive in presidential electionsfrom 1824 to 2000. It also identifies "spectator" states. Spectatorstates are those that have not been competitive for ten presidentialelections in a row. A statistical analysis illustrates thatthe identities of competitive states have become more unpredictable.In addition, few states have been spectators for long periods.In terms of representation, the facts that competitive statesare not consistent and that there are few spectators mean differentstates are in the presidential spotlight at different times.As opposed to any biases associated with the Electoral College,the changes in consistency coincide with the rise of candidate-centeredpolitics and decreasing voter loyalty to parties. The highlychangeable nature of competitive states strengthens the federalismargument for continuation of the Electoral College.     

Intoxicated eyewitnesses: Better than their reputation?

According to law enforcement, many witnesses are intoxicated either at the time of the crime, the interview, or both (Evans et al., Public Policy Law 15(3):194-221, 2009). However, no study to date has examined whether intoxicated witnesses' recall is different from sober witnesses' and whether they are more vulnerable to misinformation using an ecologically valid experimental design. Intoxicated, placebo, and sober witnesses observed a live, staged theft, overheard subsequent misinformation about the theft, and took part in an investigative interview. Participants generally believed they witnessed a real crime and experienced a real interview. Intoxicated witnesses were not different from placebo or sober witnesses in the number of accurate details, inaccurate details, or "don't know" answers reported. All the participants demonstrated a misinformation effect, but there were no differences between intoxication levels: Intoxicated participants were not more susceptible to misinformation than sober or placebo participants. Results are discussed in the light of their theoretical and applied relevance.