The Relationship Between Partner Abuse and Substance Use Among Women Mandated to Drug Treatment

This study investigates the relationship between substance use and partner abuse among women (N = 1,025) who entered drug-treatment programs through the criminal justice systems in New York City and Portland, Oregon. Self-report data on substance use and partner abuse indicate that although the rate of partner abuse in both cities is well above the national average, the less substance-involved women in Portland reported more abuse than their New York counterparts. Our analyses suggest that the relationship between partner abuse and substance use during conflicts varies within the population of women offenders who are heavily drug-involved, with women in Portland reporting a greater direct link between partner abuse and substance use. The findings indicate that there is a need for drug-treatment providers to understand their clients' victimization histories and the relationship between partner abuse and substance use in order to engage clients in the treatment process and help them learn how to avoid being victimized in the future.     

Effects of Partner Violence and Physical Child Abuse on Child Behavior: A Study of Abused and Comparison Children

This study tests a model of the effects on child behavioral outcome of the child's exposure to partner violence and child abuse, in children who have experienced the two forms of victimization either separately or together. Recognizing that family contextual factors play an important role in influencing child outcome, an ecological model is proposed that designates family stress as the principal exogenous factor, with effects on child outcome mediated through caretaker distress, partner violence, and child abuse. The sample consists of 100 confirmed cases of physically abused New York City schoolchildren, ages 9 to 12 years, and their families, and 100 nonmaltreated classmates, matched for gender, age, and, as closely as possible, for race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, and their families. Child behavioral outcome is assessed by classmates for antisocial, prosocial, and withdrawn behavior and by parents and teachers for externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that partner violence and caretaker distress, both associated with family stress, increase the risk for child abuse and thereby raise the child's risk for poor outcome. Implications of differences among raters for the model's applicability, and implications of the results for clinical intervention, are discussed.     

Elder abuse and neglect cases reviewed by appellate courts

With increasing attention focused on abuse and neglect of the elderly in domestic and institutional settings, nearly every state has passed legislation to protect these vulnerable adults. While the legal system has become involved at the trial court level, the appellate courts have not yet been very active. Only ten reported cases in the United States during 1981–1993 were appealed to a higher court. This article documents these few cases and explores the reasons for their ultimate dispositions.     

Child Abuse Potential: A Comparison of Subtypes of Maritally Violent Men and Nonviolent Men

Researchers have demonstrated an overlap between husband-to-wife violence and child abuse, but we know little about which maritally violent men are at greatest risk for engaging in child abuse. This study examined child abuse potential across 4 subtypes of maritally violent men (i.e., family only, low level antisocial, borderline/dysphoric, and generally violent/antisocial; Holtzworth-Munroe et al., and 2 comparison groups of nonviolent men (i.e., maritally distressed or not), using the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP; J. S. Milner [1986])). The results revealed that the borderline/dysphoric batterer subtype had significantly higher child abuse potential scores than all of the other violent subtypes and the nonviolent comparison groups. Theoretical and clinical implications are briefly discussed.     

Type and Severity of Abuse as Predictors of Psychiatric Symptoms in Adolescence

There has been little previous research about histories of child maltreatment and psychological symptoms in adolescent psychiatric patients. This study investigated whether type and characteristics of child physical and/or sexual abuse predicted individual differences in symptoms. Participants were 187 patients in day or residential treatment facilities. Abuse was assessed using structured interviews with the adolescent, the therapist, and the caseworker. Participants completed a standardized, self-report measure of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Adolescents with histories of dual abuse (i.e., sexual and physical abuse) had elevated depression and anxiety compared with nonabused patients. Histories of any type of abuse were associated with elevated posttraumatic symptoms. Among physically abused patients, severity and duration of abuse predicted individual differences in depression and anxiety, whereas severity and concomitant sexual abuse predicted elevated posttraumatic symptoms. Among sexually abused patients, the characteristics of sexual abuse did not predict individual differences in symptoms. Thus, child abuse, particularly dual abuse and severe physical abuse, predicted elevated internalizing symptoms, even in comparison with other adolescent psychiatric patients. The need for replication is discussed.     

A Cross-Cultural Assessment of Posttrauma Reactions Among Malaysian and US Women Reporting Partner Abuse

Information on partner abuse in women from non-Western cultures and resulting psychological morbidity are scant. The present study examined these issues among women who experienced partner violence and sought refuge at a domestic violence shelter in Malaysia. These women completed a semi-structured interview and standardized measures to assess posttrauma morbidity. Responses by Malaysian shelter residents were compared with a sample of US women who also reported partner violence. The majority of women in both samples reported severe levels of distress and met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These findings suggest that psychological problems that women face after partner abuse may be similar in many respects, despite political, geographical, or cultural differences.     

Victims Speak: Comparing Child Sexual Abusers' and Child Victims' Accounts, Perceptions, and Interpretations of Sexual Abuse

This article presents findings from a longitudinal study¹ that sought to evaluate a treatment program for child sexual abusers. A triangulated methodological approach was adopted drawing upon quantitative and qualitative methodological techniques. The focus here is upon one element of this research.² Ninety-one in-depth interviews were conducted over a four-year period with a small, nonrandom sample of twenty-one male offenders who had been convicted of sexual offenses against children. All of the men were subject to probation orders with a psychiatric condition (Criminal Justice Act, 1991). One of the aims of this element of the research was to explore the extent to which evidence of denial could be found in offenders' accounts of offense circumstance and also to explore the extent to which offenders minimized the nature and extent of abuse perpetrated. Offenders' accounts of offense circumstances were compared to victim statements, and stark differences emerge. These findings have considerable implications for treatment practice with sex offenders, where victims' perceptions could be used to directly confront offender denial and minimization.     

An Exploratory Study of Emotional Intelligence and Domestic Abuse

To date, there is no literature specifically addressing the relationship between spousal battering and emotional intelligence, a concept that captures the success, or lack thereof, of a person's functioning in their immediate environment. Forty-four men convicted of spousal assault and 76 undergraduate students completed the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; R. Bar-On, BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: User's Manual, Multi-Health Systems, Inc., Toronto, 1997), the Propensity for Abusiveness Scale (PAS; D. G. Dutton, J. Fam. Violence 10(2): 203–221, 1995), and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (D. Paulhus, J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 46: 598–609, 1984; Assessing Self-Deception and Impression Management in Self-Reports: The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, Unpublished manual, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 1988; In Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Attitudes, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp. 17–59, 1991). Results of this exploratory study indicate that batterers score significantly lower than the general population on all components of EQ-i. Additionally EQ-i total and subscale scores for both samples correlate negatively and significantly with scores on PAS, suggesting that deficits in various components of emotional intelligence are related to an increase in the propensity to be abusive. Implications for batterer treatment are discussed.     

Preventing relapse versus “stopping” domestic violence: Do we expect too much too soon from battering men?

Given the deeply entrenched habit patterns that characterize domestic violence, the author questions the enormous demands for change that are immediately placed on both abusive men and the clinicians treating them. Battering men are not only required to abruptly and permanently halt overt physical violence, but they are also expected to stop all expressions of dominance and intimidation, and to abandon all their exploitative attitudes and sex-role expectations as well. While it is feasible and necessary to insist upon the cessation of physical violence in order to protect the spouse and family, to what degree can the clinician also demand a total revolution in the abusive male's attitudes, social behavior, and values? To better demonstrate the excessivity of these demands, the author makes a comparison to the treatment of substance abusers, where the features of relapse and enduring cognitive distortions are expected and permitted as part of the normal extended course of recovery. Instead, the author proposes a more realistic and humanitarian set of therapeutic expectations for change, emphasizing relapse prevention and supportive maintenance.     

Using Video to Reduce Home Safety Hazards with Parents Reported for Child Abuse and Neglect

Safety hazards are frequent in the homes of families reported for child abuse and neglect. The effectiveness of a videotape intervention with two families involved with child abuse and neglect was examined, using a replicated multiple probe design across settings. Data were collected using the Home Accident Prevention Inventory — Revised, and the Checklist for the Video-Trained Parent's Behavior. Social validation and expert validation data are also presented.