Ch. 2 Outline - Summary Family Violence Across the Lifespan: an Introduction PDF

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Ch 2 summary from Barnett, O.W., Miller-Perrin, C.L., & Perrin, R. D. (2011) Family Violence across the lifespan, (3rd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ...

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Chapter 2: Research Methodology, Assessment, & Theories Studying Family Violence • Criminology • Social work • Sociology • Psychology • Public health • Also related: • Family studies/sciences • Political Science • Victimology • Neuroscience • Women’s Studies • Feminism • Nursing, pediatrics, obstretics, and psychiatry also engaged in family violence research Differences of opinions across fields over:  causes of family violence  sex offenders or wife beaters being capable of rehabilitation Types of Research in Family Violence • Sociological • Investigate à surveys- people’s experiences with IPV and use data to gather info to examine relationship between their experiences and variables such as age, gender, and SES, also gender-role conflicts among immigrants and impact of IPV on women’s employment • Social Work • Investigateà clinical samples- effects of poverty, welfare on rates of abuse, effectiveness of parenting classes, functioning of child protective services • Often on front lines of treatment, working with agencies to serve individuals affected by IPV • Criminological • Investigate àcrime statistics & forensic samples- often sociologists who focus on family crimes • Psychological and Psychiatric • Investigateà small clinical samples & surveys- often sample people undergoing counseling, living in a shelter, or in other similar groups • Evaluate effects of individual factors such as psychopathology or dynamics of treatment effectiveness and prevention of family violence • Public Health & Medical • Investigate àepidemiological studies & prevalence /incidence statistics • Declared family violence a public health issue than a social problem • Role that health care providers can play in preventing or intervening in family violence, nature of victim’s injuries, mental and physical effects that stem from family violence, training health providers receive • Have begun to evaluate intervention programs within a medical setting • Neuroscience and Genetics • Investigate à lab studies- performing brains scans and producing electrocardiograms

Comparing battered women’s brains to non-battered to fear stimuli in the lab to examine increased activation in parts of the brain • Longitudinal studies to determine if abuse caused the difference • Genetic bases for family violence such as antisocial personality disorder, aggression, alcoholism • Legal Research • Investigate à reviews of family violence laws & literature to determine legal changes needed • Ex) whether battered women should be charged for child endangerment when father was abusive • Financial abuse of elders and identification of legal steps needed to end stalking Other Types of Research in Family Violence • Cross-Cultural/Global Inquiry • racial & ethnic minorities, sexual orientation, immigrants, individuals in rural areas, disabled people, military & around the world • Need to be inclusive in research • Biobehavioral Research Potential combining of the medical & psychological •

Theoretical Explanations of Family Violence Macro-Theory Explanations  Functions to identify broad factors that make families prone to violence Macro-Theory Areas of Study: • Cultural factors- acceptance of violence, patriarchy • Social-structural variables-poverty • family structural characteristics-age, family stresses • Inadequacies of deterrence- punishment and costs of family violence • Situational impetus- gun in house • Evolutionary theory • Macro-Theory Variables: • • •

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Social acceptance of family violence- Approval of corporal punishmentparents have moral obligation to train, protect, and control their children Spanking becomes normative, though striking a spouse may be viewed as less tolerable than hurting a child, though some believe it is permissible under certain circumstances such as being unfaithful Patriarchy- men hold greater power and privilege in social hierarchy than women. In extreme cases, gives men the right to dominate and control women and children. Many theological doctrines have incorporated patriarchy into marital contract Contributes to moral disengagement about female abuse US encourages and permits husband-to-wife violence: A) men rightfully have greater authority than women B) male aggressiveness is a sign of maleness and an acceptable tool for a man to demonstrate male identity C) wife/mother role is preferred status for women D) criminal justice system is male dominated and operates under a male orientation and may provide little legal relief for female victims Many countries allow men to have the power to imprison, punish, enslave, and even kill women and children with impulsivity

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Only few percentages of American men classified as wife beaters, and no more than 30% ever abuse female partners Hard to account for female-male violence or same-sex violence under umbrella of patriarchy One theorist claimed it keeps focus on dominance, gender, power, and social conditions Cultural and broad socialization factors- family violence is accepted, encouraged, and even glorified form of cultural expression in the US and elsewhere Children have strong tendency to be socialized/influenced by parents, peers, media, and other factors in their culture Feminist theories- include: A) gender and power relationships and their utility in accounting for IPV B) Historical salience of the family as a social institution C) the importance of understanding and validating woman’s experiences D) the use of family violence research findings to help women Feel gender-neutral research have patriarchal bias and believe domestic violence cannot be understood properly unless gender and power are considered Focused primarily on male-female IPV Social structures Variables theory- social-structural formulations link family violence to certain socially defined classifications such a minority status, gender, and low income, and act as correlate of family violence Stressors such as unequal opportunity and poverty produce high levels of frustration which increases risk of aggression Stress producing elements- close proximity, emotional investment, privacy concerns, power imbalances which foster conflict and aggression, can be passed generationally Social-structural explanations fall short of accounting for violence because majority of lower-class family members do not assault each other Deterrence theory- deviant behavior is so common that it does not engender social or legal costs Family violence occurs because the offender suffers no adverse consequences Arrest and prosecution are unlikely and incarceration or other punishments are even less probably Punishment- explains why deterrence theory has little empirical support Entails that administration of negative event or removal of a positive event with goal of reducing bad behavior Punishment does not reduce unwanted behaviors, following rules to make punishment effective is often difficult to enforce

Micro-Theory Explanations Micro-Theory Areas of Study:  Address individual proclivities toward aggression • Learning Theories- examines individual learning by individual family members • Abusive parents teach specific forms of abusive behaviors, attitudes, distinct cognitions that justify violence • Individual Differences Theory • Systems Theory & Interactional Theories Micro-Theory Variables: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Social Learning Theory (Modeling/Social imitation)- social learning- learning, imitation, or observational learning Evidence: aggression learned through observation in animal and human experiments validated Violence perpetuated from one generation to the next (transgenerational learning) Childhood abuse- correlated to later dating violence, marital violence, eventual abuse of one’s own children Some also linked more with victimization than perpetration of IPV Children model specific family-violent behaviors and attitudes, conflict resolution styles, and alcohol misuse Most individuals exposed to violence do not emulate abusive behaviors later in life Mirror cells- respond to actions of observed person in the same way if they had executed it themselves Classical conditioning/emotional learning- emotional changes that take place in individuals as a result of experience Fear can be conditioned through pairing of signal/cue with a subsequent frightening or painful event Ex) battered wife fearing beating from husband after hearing his angry voice, child fearing being bullied and reacts with trauma reaction> startle Operant conditioning/modification of behavior- understanding of relationship between actions and consequences Ex) Using violence will allow perpetrator to control victim, compliance rewards their behavior, more likely to be violent Avoidance conditioning- both classical and operant conditioning. Classically conditioned fear and operantly conditioned escape or avoidance Ex) bullied child avoiding going to school for fear of bullying Traumatized individuals indulge in avoidance behavior Trauma theory- illuminates more complex learning such as prolonged reactions to traumatic events Research concerning trauma, PTSD, revictimization, has demonstrated effects of exposure to trauma or abuse victimization Children and women facing abuse suffer from PTSD Soldiers exposed to trauma of war may suffer serious and long-lasting effects Revictimization- response to initial victimization is predictive of second victimization Childhood sexual abuse places both adolescent, gays, and adult women at greater risk of revictimization by partners and others males

Individual (Intrapersonal) Differences Theories Include psychopathology, psychological trait differences, and psychobiological mechanisms Considerable evidence but counters are that not all abusive individuals manifest unusual personal characteristics • Psychopathology- psychopathology in perpetrators, victims, or both • Individuals who mistreat children, dating partners, spouses, elders, etc. are mentally disturbed • Distorts their view of the world or serves as disinhibitor of bad behavior • Narcissism, Clinical depression, antisocial personality behavior • Psychological traits- focuses on psychological traits of people involved in family violence that’s not pathological • Traits typical of offenders/victims: high hostility, jealousy> contribute to perpetration of experience of family violence • Alleges that traits reside in the individual and are not situation specific • Typologies- patterns of traits • Perpetrators- feelings of vulnerability, dependency, inadequacy, loneliness, cognitive distortions • Abusive partners/parents- low-self-esteem, anger, hostility, emotional dependency, poor problem-solving skills • Psychobiological bases- psychological traits that have a very strong or genetic or physiological basis

Systems Theory and Interactional Theories  Family violence is a product of interactions between individuals in a specific relationship  Violence in a relationship is a result of not one person, but also a result of victim’s behavior  There cannot be victimizer unless someone allows themselves to be a victim  Marital dysfunction> promotes IPV and violent partner’s behavior may be triggered by other partner’s conduct, interactions of both necessary to preserve the balance  Support in that both partners in abusive relationships experience high rates of discord or have deficits in communication skills Interpersonal interaction theory- members of a couple or parent/child relationship are responsive to the actions of others in terms of issues as attachment needs and anger Avoids supposition that violence is specific to a relationship, no victim blaming component, or concept of equally shared responsibility of violence How does one affect the other? Attachment- research provides strong evidence that interpersonal interactions influence family violence Disturbed attachment in abusive or neglecting families Adult attachment- affectionate bond with romantic partner that is relatively long-lasting connection in which the need to be close with partner Inadequate attached adult suffers anxiety and anger when faced with a partner who threatens to leave and may fuel an assault against them Correlates and Single-Factor Variables Related to Family Violence Poverty- most associated with IPV and child maltreatment

Linked with social disorganization> neighborhood disadvantage A) High % of people living below the poverty line B) High % of unemployment and employment instability C) High & of female-headed households D) Women living on welfare E) Social Isolation F) General financial strain G) Alcohol abuse> risk factor for child abuse, sexual assault/risky sexual behaviors, adult IPV, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, IPH, lifetime of physical abuse, sexual abuse, battering in marriage to alcoholic, adolescents externalizing behavior and alcoholism of parents Multidimensional theories- serve to intergrate several single-dimensional theories...