The Social Context of Woman-to-Woman Intimate Partner Abuse (WWIPA)

Forty women who had been in abusive adult, intimate relationships with other women were interviewed. Their life experiences leading up to these abusive relationships were qualitatively examined to determine how heterosexism created a social context in which women were left vulnerable to abuse and dependent on their abusers. Childhood abuse, negative coming out experiences, lack of a queer community, and substance/alcohol abuse contributed to survivors’ vulnerability to abuse by making them socially isolated from a support system and dependent on their partners to reconstruct a sense of family.     

Barriers and Supports to Dating Violence Communication between Latina Adolescents and Their Mothers: A Qualitative Analysis

Few Latinx parents and adolescents talk with one another about dating violence, yet communication with parents could help adolescents make better decisions about dating relationships. Seventeen Latina adolescents (15–17 years old) and their mothers living in Washington D.C and central Virginia participated in semi-structured interviews to explore their perceptions of dating violence behavior and communication with parents about dating violence. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded for emergent themes using a grounded theory approach. Seven themes emerged and were grouped into three domains: (a) Parental Messages about Problems in Dating Relationships; (b) Barriers and Supports for Parent-Adolescent Communication about Dating Problems; and, (c) Cultural Values and Differences. The results of this study can be used to inform future work focused on improving parent-adolescent communication about dating violence and to enhance healthy adolescent Latina dating decisions.     

Choice versus sensitivity: Party reactions to public concerns

Abstract.  Most discussions of democratic theory assume that parties should offer clear choices to voters but also show themselves sensitive to public concerns. Under certain circumstances, however, party convergence on these may preclude electoral choice, thus creating conflict between two democratic 'goods'. We examine possible tradeoffs between choice and responsiveness, and see which actually occur in 16 postwar democracies. Party policy positions turn out to be more strongly related to party ideology than popular concerns, thus privileging differentiation and choice over sensitivity and responsiveness. Implications for democratic theory and practice are considered.     

Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and their Social,School, and Activities Competence: Latent Profiles and Correlates

This study examined patterns of intimate partner violence (IPV) exposure and three domains of competence among 288 children recruited from community-based domestic violence agencies. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed to identify subgroups of children who differed based on levels of social, academic, and extracurricular competence and exposure to IPV. Five distinct latent profiles were identified: Frequent IPV Exposure-Low Activity Competence (39 % of children), Frequent IPV Exposure-Average Global Competence (31 % of children), Frequent IPV Exposure-High Global Competence (13 % of children), Low IPV Exposure-Compromised School Competence (11 % of children), and Low IPV Exposure-Compromised Global Competence (6 % of children). Covariates distinguished between the profiles (e.g., yearly household income, maternal education, number of children in the household) and the groups were characterized by statistically significant mean differences in total behavior problems. Implications for future research and community-based preventive intervention efforts are discussed.