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OP-9.
- AGGRESSION IN HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS
OP-9.1.-Invisible
Touch: Aggression by British Wives 1200-2000 A.D.
George,
M.J.
Neuroscience,
Faculty of Basic Medical Science, St Bartholomew's and Royal London Hospital
Medical School, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London, UK.
In
contrast to intimate victimisation of female partners by males the reverse,
aggression by females against their intimate males, is seemingly an 'Invisible
Touch'. Evidenced by a wealth of gender neutral Conflict Tactics Scale studies,
but little commented upon by academics and hardly ever researched in its own
right. This dichotomy in academia,
as well as elsewhere, arises out of a 'Great Taboo' (George, 1994); which is the
uncomfortable notion of the 'battered husband' and the transgression and
inversion of gender roles and norms inherent.
Evidence for the existence of violence by wives against husbands can be
traced back in European history to ancient Greece, but is manifest during the
second Millenium from Russia in the East to Greece in the South and the United
Kingdom in the West. Charivari rituals in early modern times punished all manner
of slights against social convention (Thompson, 1972) . Evidence, particularly
from England, suggests that these rituals were at their most elaborate when men
were beaten and subjugated by their wives. The use in England of 'Skimmington',
as a distinct form of Charivari, to punish the beaten husband or even his
neighbours is documented by contemporary literature and violence by wives exists
in Court records from, at least, the Sixteenth Century onwards. This evidence
demonstrates that from the Eighteenth century concern in England for women
victims grew, whilst these ancient social customs of public disapproval and
humiliation of beaten men fell into disuse.
However, it is suggested that the use of the 'Skimmington' as a
punishment of victimised men has not ceased. It exists as the invisible touch of
a lamentable song within the social, political, legal and academic consideration
of the field of intimate violence.
References:
George, M.J. (1994) Riding the donkey backwards: Men as the unacceptable victims
of marital violence. Journal of Men's Studies 3, 137-159. Thompson, E.P. (1972)
Rough Music: Le Charivari Anglais Annales
ESC 27, 285-312
OP-9.2.-AGGRESSION AND CONTROLLING BEHAVIOURS IN HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS.
Graham-Kevan,
N.
Department of Psychology, University of Central
Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK
This study investigated the proposition
by Johnson (1995) that there may be distinct subgroups of violence within
relationships. Johnson termed these patriarchal terrorism and common couple
violence. Patriarchal terrorism was
thought to be characterised by male to female violence set within a framework of
controlling behaviours. Common
couple violence was thought to be characterised by mutual violence by both
partners when conflict occasionally gets out of hand. The sample comprised
students (N=113), women from a domestic violence refuge (N=44), and male
prisoners (N=108). Each participant
completed The Controlling Behaviours Scale (CBS) (Graham-Kevan, 1999), Conflict
Tactics Scale, CTS, ( Straus, 1979) for themselves and their partner, and
additional items regarding fear experienced by themselves during conflicts and
injuries sustained by both themselves and their partner.
In order to investigate physically aggressive relationships only,
relationships were classified as either involving physical aggression or not,
based on the responses given to the CTS. Only
those classed as physically aggressive were used in subsequent analysis.
Reports (N=136) of own and partner use of physical aggression,
controlling behaviours, injuries sustained and self-reported fear were entered
into a Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA). The DFA produced two significant
discriminant functions which together correctly classified 76% of cases (88% of
shelter, 39% of students, and 93% of prisoners). The first function accounted for 90% of the variance and was
comprised of partners’ use of controlling behaviours, self reported fear,
partners’ use of minor physical aggression, injuries sustained by self and
partners’ use of severe physical aggression.
The second function accounted for 10% of the variance and comprised of
respondents own use of minor aggression, injuries to their partner, own use of
severe physical aggression, and their own use of controlling behaviours.
These results support belief that there are subgroups within relationship
violence. The fact that these
subgroups appear to be reasonably distinct has important implications for
intervention programs, official statistics and theoretical research.
OP-9.3.-AGGRESSION
IN BRITISH HETEROSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS: FURTHER INFERENCES
Maw,
S.K. and George, M.J.
MSRG and Neuroscience, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, St Bartholomew's and
Royal London Hospital Medical School, Queen Mary and Westfield College, London,
UK.
In 1996
results of a nationally representative survey of aggression between British
heterosexual partners (N= 1865) was published (Carrado, George, Loxam, Lewis and
Templar, 1996). Based upon use of an adapted Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus,
1979) containing five items of physical assault it was found that across all
relationships 18% of men and 13% of women reported sustaining at least one of
these acts, whilst 10% of men and 11% of women reported inflicting such an act
on a partner. In current relationships 11% of men and 5% of women reported
likewise and 5% of currently married or cohabiting men, as opposed to 1% of
currently married or cohabiting women, reported sustaining more than one act of
physical assault from their current partner. This survey was undertaken within a
broader survey of consumer attitudes in which a considerable amount of
demographic data and other details were available. This and the survey data
itself has allowed a fuller statistical analysis, using Factor analysis, which
has confirmed inferences drawn upon the previous descriptive review of data.
Analysis of both the symbolic/verbal and physical victimisation/
aggression results in relation to a number of factors such as sex, age,
relationship status, geographical location, household income and the presence of
children in a household has been undertaken. This analysis has found a number of
significant factors which allow inferences upon sex differences and between
respondents according to the nature of conflict tactics experienced or used.
This full analysis allows comparison with data obtained in the survey of
intimate assaults undertaken within the 1996 British Crime Survey undertaken by
the British Government's Home Office.
References:
Carrado M., George M.J., Loxam E., Jones L., Templar D. (1996) Aggression in
British heterosexual relationships. Aggressive
Behavior 22, 401-415
Straus,
M.A. (1979) Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The Conflict Tactics
(CT) Scale. Journal of Marriage and
Family 41, 75-88
OP-9.4.-COUPLES IN CONFLICT: CONSTRUCTIVE VS. DESTRUCTIVE RESPONSES TO EVERYDAY ANGER
Tangney,
J.P.
Department of Psychology, George Mason University,
Fairfax AV, USA
To learn more about factors that foster constructive vs. destructive responses to anger, 216 romantically involved young adult couples were interviewed in-depth regarding recent episodes of anger. The couples described a broad range of anger-eliciting events, but one factor we were particularly interested in was whether the offense caused the victim partner to feel shame. Thus, we compared events that caused the victim to feel shame and anger (shame) vs. events that caused only feelings of anger (no shame). There was a clear link between shame and maladaptive responses to anger. First, victims of the shame-related anger events were significantly more angry than non-shamed partners. Second, shamed victims were more likely to report malevolent and fractious intentions. They were oriented toward getting back at their partner and letting off steam, rather than trying to fix the situation. Third, shamed victims behaved differently. Shamed boyfriends were inclined toward a range of direct and indirect forms of aggression -- behaviors intended to cause harm to the perpetrating girlfriend – and they were also were prone to ruminative anger. Shamed girlfriends showed a tendency toward displaced aggression and self-directed hostility. Fourth, not surprisingly, shamed victims did not feel very good about the way they handled their anger. Fifth, these apparently maladaptive expressions of anger did not result in any positive behavior on the part of the shame-inducing perpetrators (especially according to the victims' accounts). Perpetrator's responses to the aggressive retaliation of shamed victims centered on anger, resentment, defiance and denial -- rather than, for example, apologies and attempts to fix the situation which were much more common in non-shamed couples. Last, couples rated the longterm consequences of episodes of anger and shame as more negative than anger without shame. Taken together, these data provide a powerful empirical example of the shame-rage spiral described by Lewis (1971) and Scheff (1987), with (1) victim shame leading to feelings of rage, (2) and destructive retaliation, (3) which then sets into motion partner anger and resentment, (4) as well as expressions blame and retaliation in kind, (5) which is then likely to further shame the victim, and so forth -- without any constructive resolution in sight.
OP-9.5.-POST-SEPARATION
VIOLENCE: THE MALE PERSPECTIVE
McMurray,
A.
Faculty of Nursing and Health, Griffith
University, PMB Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
This study investigated separation-related violence against women from the male perspective to identify modifiable elements of the personal, situational and socio-legal environments that lead to violence against female former partners. Structured questions were developed for telephone interviews with separated and/or divorced males in Western Australia. Volunteers were recruited via a media campaign that posed the question: "Why do some men hit women: why don't all men hit women?" 146 interviews were analyzed using Pearson R and Spearman chi square for quantitative data, and thematic analysis of open-ended responses. Sixty-one of the men reported having been violent, 14 at the time of separation only. The violence was witnessed by children in 23 cases. Factors influencing their violent behaviours were reported as finances, alcohol/drugs, fatigue/stress, and 'the system'. No significant association was found between violence and having a source of support. Nearly half the men believed their violence was justified, either unequivocally or sometimes. Fairness in the legal system was the most frequent suggestion for redressing violence in society, followed by provision of counseling, support and education appropriate to the needs of males. Study findings emphasize the importance of understanding and accepting the tensions of families as they are embedded in social relations. Prevention, intervention and care-giving strategies for separating families must be contextualized to the personal, social, legal and situational environments of both partners to separation and divorce.