Comparing the Social Service Utilization, Exposure to Violence, and Trauma Symptomology of Domestic Violence Female “Victims” and Female “Batterers”

Although some authors have suggested that women batterers may really be self-defending victims, to date, no research has been initiated to empirically support this assertion. This paper describes the design and outcomes of a research project that investigated the similarities and differences between women adjudicated as domestic violence batterers and women identified as domestic violence victims. Findings indicated group similarities in the areas of exposure to violence and social service utilization. Although both groups reported high levels of trauma symptomology, victim scores were significantly higher.     

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Domestic Violence Populations

Domestic violence continues to be a significant social problem impacting our society. Battered women and their children experience a myriad of negative consequences as a result of domestic violence. Of the possible negative sequelae that mothers and children experience, the disrupted parent–child relationship has received relatively little attention in the literature. Though psychosocial interventions are available to treat women who experience violence and children who witness violence, few interventions focus on the parent–child relationship. This article describes parent–child interaction therapy (PCIT), a relationship-based intervention. Although not initially developed to treat domestic violence, PCIT has unique characteristics that make it a promising intervention with this population. A rationale for the use of PCIT with battered women and their children is presented.     

Police Empathy and Victim PTSD as Potential Factors in Rape Case Attrition

This exploratory study investigated whether rape victims’ subjective perceptions of whether to proceed with legal action were associated with their experience of disclosing to the police during their initial interview. Specifically, the study investigated associations between symptoms of PTSD, shame and self-blame post-rape, subjective perceptions of police empathy and subjective perception of victims’ intentions to take the case to court. Participants (N = 22) were found to have elevated levels of PTSD severity, shame and self-blame. Police empathy was positively correlated with victims’ ratings of likelihood of taking the case to court, and negatively correlated with PTSD severity and shame. These preliminary findings suggest that training police officers how to respond more empathically to psychologically distressed rape victims may potentially help reduce victim attrition rates.     

The upturned stone: Political scandals and their investigation processes in twenty democracies

This article considers the very considerable research problems facing any attempt at the logical definition, systematic classification and coding of the many varieties of political scandal. Examples of these difficulties are drawn from a new classification scheme devised by the author. This scheme is used to analyze a major new source:Political Scandals and Causes CélèbresSince 1945: An International Reference Compendium (Longmans, UK 1990). From it 146 narrative case histories from twenty democratic systems have been taken for analysis. More detailed notes on problems of processing scandal cases into such simple statistical form follow on. The cases themselves are listed in very brief coded form in the Appendix, and four tables set up the analytical scheme and its statistical product. The article concludes with a number of suggestions for future research, if academic analysis of this always-interesting, but horribly slippery, aspect of politics, government and social mores is to be pursued.     

The part-time option? : Women and part-time work in the European Community

Part-time working has become one of the most significant patterns of work in the European Community in that it represents a growing segment of the increasingly service-oriented labour market. This has occured alongside the feminisation of the labour force through the expansion of ‘pink collar’ occupations in the service sector industries. This paper briefly examines data for part- time working in the European Community. These patterns and trends are related to female participation rates, labour shortages, and the relative importance of the service sector in the European economies. The role of the trade unions and the state in providing support for working parents and/or encouraging part-time initiatives is also considered. The paper concludes with some possible reasons for the variations in part-time participation in individual member states and the implications of these for women's future participation in the labour force.