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Prior researchers have documented significant effects of family violence on adult children’s own risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet, few studies have examined whether exposure to family violence while growing up as well as emerging adults’ reports of their current peers’ behaviors and attitudes influenced self-reports of intimate partner violence perpetration. The current study based on interviews with a large, heterogeneous sample of men and women assessed the degree to which current peers’ attitudes and behaviors contributed to risk of intimate partner violence perpetration, net of family violence.

Using data from the Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) (n = 928), we examined associations between family violence indicators, peers’ behaviors and attitudes, and self-reports of intimate violence perpetration among adults ages 22–29. We used ordinary least squares regression and controlled for other known correlates of IPV.

For men and women, we found a significant relationship between witnessing parental violence during adolescence and IPV perpetration in emerging adulthood, and a positive relationship between current peers’ IPV experiences and attitudes and respondents’ perpetration. We also found that for respondents who reported higher, compared with lower, peer involvement in partner violence, the effects of parental violence were stronger.

We provided a more comprehensive assessment of peers’ IPV to this body of research, which tends to focus on family violence. Studies have examined peers’ attitudes and behavior during adolescence, but we extended this work by examining both peer and familial influences into emerging adulthood.

Although the news media have speculated that the current recession has increased rates of intimate partner violence, there is no reliable evidence supporting that claim. Moreover, no well-designed studies have examined the impact of prior recessions. This chapter considers whether rising employment during a period of economic growth reduces intimate partner violence. The findings on the effect of economic growth are used to assess the likely impact of economic decline on rates of intimate partner violence. Using data from the National Crime Victim Surveys, the analyses examine both macro-level trends and individual-level effects. At the macro-level, men's and women's unemployment rates were only weakly related to rates of intimate partner violence. The individual-level results show that rising rates of employment during a period of economic growth were not responsible for producing declines in intimate partner violence. Taken together, these findings suggest that the current recession will not increase rates of intimate partner violence against women.

A variety of strategies have been developed with the goal of improving justice responses to intimate partner violence. Among these are increasing demands for specialized training of justice professionals. This paper sets out to describe the development of a specialized training program for police officers, drawing attention to the role played by a strong partnership and collaborative approach.

Focus groups were held in the winter of 2008 with 30 police officers employed by a municipal police agency who had participated in specialized training on intimate partner violence.

As part of a follow‐up to the delivery of training, focus groups examined the impact of specialized training on the preparedness of officers and drew attention to existing challenges in policing intimate partner violence from their perspective. Drawing on earlier studies, the paper makes an important contribution to the law enforcement training literature, illustrating that key to successful development and delivery of specialized police training are extensive partnership and collaborative approaches throughout the initiative.

The paper is limited by the missing voices of victims and whether or not they perceive a difference in officer response to intimate partner violence as a result of specialized training. In addition, the sample size is relatively small and thus the findings may not be generalizable to a larger sampling. Further, this paper is based on follow‐up only one year after training was implemented at the pilot stage. The work does not tell whether specialized training makes a difference over time or whether training is more effective when continuous. Therefore, the analysis must also be extended to police files, highlighting police responses to such calls.

Policing services have had to make intimate partner violence a priority. Given the number of calls to police for intervention and the risk of danger, more attention has been placed on specialized training, collaboration across academic and community sectors, as well as changes to legislation. This training is meant to complement existing police training initiatives and enhance awareness about some of the complex issues involved in police intervention.

With its focus on the voices and experiences of police officers responding to intimate partner violence calls, the paper addresses a gap in the literature.

This paper's aim is to examine the relationship between intimate partner violence, childhood abuse and psychiatric disorders among 118 female drug users in treatment in Barcelona, Spain.

Secondary analysis of a cross‐sectional study of the psychiatric, behavioural and social risk factors for HIV. DSM‐IV disorders were assessed using the Spanish Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders; the Composite Abuse Scale assessed intimate partner violence and the Child Maltreatment History Self‐Report assessed childhood physical and sexual abuse.

The odds of experiencing intimate partner violence were 2.42 times greater among those with any depressive disorder (95 per cent CI 1.13, 5.20), over three times greater for those who reported ever attempting suicide (OR 3.20; 95 per cent CI 1.29, 7.94), met criteria for borderline personality disorder (OR 3.05; 95 per cent CI 1.31, 7.11), had been abused in childhood (OR 3.38; 95 per cent CI 1.45, 7.85) or currently lived with a substance user (OR 3.74; 95 per cent CI 1.29, 10.84). In multiple logistic regression, only living with a substance user (OR 3.42; 95 per cent CI 1.08, 10.86) and a history of childhood abuse (OR 2.87; 95 per cent CI 1.05, 7.86) remained significant in the model examining intimate partner violence victimisation.

The small sample size, together with the fact that the study was not originally powered to examine differences in intimate partner violence may have increased the possibility of type II errors.

Histories of psychiatric disorders, intimate partner violence and childhood abuse are common in female substance users in treatment. Research suggests that such histories result in poorer treatment outcomes. Histories of intimate partner violence and childhood abuse should be identified and addressed in substance abuse treatment to enhance treatment outcomes.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a social issue that continues to haunt humans globally. Despite the magnitude of research that has been conducted, the Sustainable Developmental Goals target 5.2, and the South African proposed National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide, South Africa experiences high incidences of IPV. In heterosexual couples, violence incidences are a concern that requires further research by scholars because cohabiting relationships are an increasing phenomenon within the African context. This study attempts to theorize from an African philosophical stance, focusing particularly on the African psychological perspective. In this chapter, The authors illuminate the nature and forms of violence that manifest in cohabiting relationships. This research explores participants’ experiences of IPV in cohabiting relationships.

This enquiry has been conceptualized using a qualitative constructivism paradigm with in-depth, unstructured one-on-one interviews. Interviews were conducted with 10 participants between the ages of 18 and 24 years recruited from the Thohoyandou Victim Empowerment Programme in Vhembe District in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Thematic analysis was used to generate themes while narrative analysis was used for the participants’ stories. Participants shared their self-reflections on their IPV experiences, deciding to leave their relationships, and threats from their partners when they tried to leave the relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to identify whether officers who adhere to the aspects of the traditional police sub‐culture – authoritarianism, cynicism, and burnout – are more likely to use violence against their intimate partner. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is measured in terms of both physical assault and psychological violence.

A survey was created using existing scales and was given to a sample of police officers from four departments in the southern United States. Both Tobit and logistic regression were utilized to examine the effects of the traditional police sub‐culture on the two types of intimate partner violence.

The results of the analyses partially supported the link between traditional police culture and police intimate partner violence. The results showed that two aspects of the traditional police sub‐culture, burnout and authoritarianism, were significantly related to psychological IPV. There was no significant relationship between traditional police culture and physical IPV

There are a relatively small number of police officers in the convenience sample and it is not very diverse in its composition.

The results of this study indicate that those who adhere to the traditional police culture are at more risk for engaging in psychological domestic violence than those officers who do not. The research shows that traditional police sub‐culture has an effect on police intimate partner violence. This information is important in that it may provide police agencies with some direction in implementing domestic violence prevention efforts.

Research on the intergenerational transmission of violence has been limited by reliance on variable-oriented methodology that does not capture heterogeneity that exists within experiences of violent interpersonal conduct. The current study therefore examines the utility of a person-oriented statistical method in understanding patterns of maltreatment and intimate partner violence.

Guided by person-oriented theory, the current study utilizes latent class analysis, a person-oriented method used with cross-sectional data, to examine the heterogeneity within this transmission process in a sample of emerging adults (N = 150). This study also examined whether the classes identified differed on reported emotional reactivity and childhood family environment.

Three classes emerged from the latent class analysis, labeled full transmission, psychological transmission, and no transmission. Those comprising the full transmission subgroup reported the lowest levels of childhood family cohesion, accord, and closeness. The full transmission subgroup also reported significantly more emotional reactivity than the psychological transmission and no transmission subgroups.

To understand fully the etiology of intimate partner violence for maltreated offspring, a multidimensional view of violence is needed. The current study represents a step in this direction by demonstrating the utility of a person-oriented approach in understanding the IGT of violence.

This paper aims to identify the role of blogs in helping women victims of intimate partner sexual violence to restore their self-integrity.

The authors’ research uses an interpretive stance, supported by motivational and “self” theories to analyze 33 blogs reporting the experiences of women in Brazil who suffered sexual violence perpetrated by an intimate partner.

This study identifies the reasons why women who suffer violence from intimate partners write blog posts. It also develops an analytical framework that bridges the gap between the design and use of IT-artifacts and the context of sexual violence from an intimate partner. Women who suffer violence from intimate partners look for blogs in order to find a safe space for expression, a knowledge hub and a social support network. Blogs play a pivotal role in supporting the journey of reconstructing their self-integrity.

The results help to understand the role of blogs in helping victims in vulnerable situations trying to restore their self-integrity. It also contributes to improve the design and functionality of such platforms as an important resource for social support networks.

This study shows the positive impact of blogs as a tool to support victims in the process of restoring their self-integrity.

This study aims to promote the use of digital artifacts such as blogs as a complementary instrument to fight violence against women.

The analytical framework used in this paper helps to understand the role of IT-artifacts in the context of sexual violence from an intimate partner.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of economic violence against women, specifically in formal sector micro-firms managed by women in Peru, a key Latin American emerging market. Additionally, the authors have identified the demographic characteristics of the micro-firms, financing and credit associated with women who suffer economic violence.

In this study, a structured questionnaire was administered to a representative sample nationwide (357 female micro-entrepreneurs).

The authors found that 22.2 percent of female micro-entrepreneurs have been affected by economic violence at some point in their lives, while at the same time 25 percent of respondents have been forced by their partner to obtain credit against their will. Lower education level, living with one’s partner, having children, business location in the home, lower income, not having access to credit, not applying credit to working capital needs, late payments and being forced to obtain credit against one’s will were all factors associated with economic violence. Furthermore, the results showed a significant correlation between suffering economic violence and being a victim of other types of violence (including psychological, physical or sexual); the highest correlation was with serious physical violence (r=0.523, p<0.01).

A limitation of this study is that the authors measured economic violence only in terms of misappropriation or theft of funds from the business, but not in terms of exacting control over economic resources, which can be a way of depriving the micro-entrepreneur of her autonomy in the management of the business.

The authors hope that the findings and conclusions reported here might open a renewed debate among academia, financial service providers, micro-firms, civil society and the public sector, providing a conceptual framework and a starting point to design effective, integrated and inter-sectoral prevention efforts.

The authors recommend that efforts to reduce intimate partner violence be strengthened, taking into account the issue of gender inequality. It is not sufficient that social policy solely be designed to eliminate violence.

Previous research on gender violence has tended to examine the nature and causes of psychological, physical and sexual violence; this study, however, intends to contribute to the understanding of economic gender violence in the context of formal sector small business in a Latin American emerging market.

Research showing that women commit high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) against men has been controversial because IPV is typically framed as caused by the patriarchal construction of society and men's domination over women. Johnson's (1995) typology of common couple violence (CCV) and intimate terrorism (IT) attempted to resolve this controversy, but he maintained that IT was caused by patriarchy and committed almost exclusively by men. This study investigates Johnson's theory as it applies to a sample of 302 men who sustained IPV from their female partners and sought help, and a comparison sample of community men. Results showed that the male helpseekers sample was comprised of victims of IT and that violence by the male victims was part of a pattern of what Johnson labels violent resistance. Men in the community sample who were involved in IPV conformed to Johnson's description of CCV. Results are discussed in terms of research, policy, and practice implications of acknowledging women's use of severe IPV and controlling behaviour against their male partners.