Search results for "victimology"

Changes in cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone in women victims of physical and psychological intimate partner violence

2003

Background Although intimate partner violence (IPV) has a great impact on women's health, few studies have assessed the consequences on physiologic responses. Methods Women abused by their intimate male partners either physically (n = 70) or psychologically (n = 46) were compared with nonabused control women (n = 46). Information about sociodemographic characteristics, smoking, pharmacologic treatment, lifetime history of victimization (childhood and adulthood), and mental health status (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD) was obtained through structured interviews. Saliva samples were collected at 8 am and 8 pm for 4 consecutive days to determine morning and eveni…

Sexual desire and sexual activity of men and women across their lifespans: results from a representative German community survey

2007

OBJECTIVES To present data on sexual desire and sexual activity from a representative survey of men and women covering the total age range of the adult German population, as previous studies have usually been based on samples selected for gender (either men or women) and age (ageing populations). SUBJECTS AND METHODS A representative sample of 2341 men and women aged 18-93 years were surveyed to determine frequency and intensity of sexual desire and sexual activity, and their social, individual and interpersonal characteristics. RESULTS Sexual desire declined with advancing age; overall, men reported more frequent and stronger sexual desire than women. However, there were important interact…

Mother-child interactional patterns in high-and low-risk mothers

1998

Abstract Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which mother-child interactional patterns in high-and low-risk (for child physical abuse) mothers were similar to patterns observed in physically abusive parents. Method: Ten high-risk and 10 demographically similar low-risk mother-child dyads were studied. Trained observers coded maternal-child interaction patterns in the home during five 1-hour periods using the Standardized Observation Codes system. Results: As expected, high-risk mothers made fewer neutral approaches to their children, displayed more negative behaviors toward their children, and made more indiscriminant responses to their children's prosocia…

Childhood Family Problems and Current Psychiatric Problems among Young Violent and Property Offenders

1996

The main objective was to examine whether young property and violent offenders would differ from each other in the prevalence of childhood abuse and neglect experiences, prevalence of various early family problems, and prevalence of disruptive behavior disorders, depression, and substance use.Childhood abuse and neglect assessments and family problems were based on interview, questionnaire, and file data. Psychiatric diagnoses were made on the basis of a structured clinical interview.There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of childhood physical or psychological abuse, or neglect between the groups. According to the files, physical abuse was experienced by 57.5%…

Perceived neighborhood social disorder and residents' attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse.

2004

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the relationship between perceived neighborhood social disorder and attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse. METHOD: Data from a national probabilistic sample (N=9,759) were used. Responses about the perception of neighborhood social disorder, perceived frequency of child physical abuse in Spanish families, and willingness to report a case of child physical abuse to the police were collected through face-to-face interviews in respondents' homes. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that perceived neighborhood social disorder was negatively related to residents' attitudes toward reporting child physical abuse. These results …

Sequential analyses in coercive mother-child interaction: the predictability hypothesis in abusive versus nonabusive dyads.

1999

Abstract Objective: A two-fold purpose guided the present study: 1) To test the sequential relationship between the child’s aversive behavior and both the predictability and the compliance episodes, as well as the sequential relationship between these two mothering episodes proposed by the new predictability hypothesis (Wahler, Williams, & Cerezo, 1990) ; 2) to explore whether or not these patterns are specific to these dysfunctional dyads by using a nonabusive comparison group. Method: Fifty mother-child dyads, 25 abusive and 25 nonabusive, participated in this study. Lag sequential analyses were carried out on 302 hours of direct observation, 178 hours in the abusive group, and 124 in the…

Beliefs in the necessity of corporal punishment of children and public perceptions of child physical abuse as a social problem.

2008

Psychological defense styles, childhood adversities and psychopathology in adulthood.

2003

OBJECTIVE: The present study explores the link between reported sexual and/or physical abuse and psychological defense styles, as well as the association of both with psychological distress in adulthood. In two patient samples that differ in psychological distress and somatization, we examine whether the adversities reported and immature defense styles are associated with psychopathological symptoms. METHOD: We examined 266 consecutive inpatients in the psychosomatic department and 109 consecutive inpatients who had been treated for low-back pain in the orthopedic department of a German university hospital. Psychological defense styles were assessed by a two-factor solution of the German mo…

Modifying the family process in two cases of physical child abuse and secondary functional encopresis

1998

In this article, a treatment working model is proposed and applied to two cases of multiproblem families with severe physical child abuse. Stimulus events that directly affect the likelihood of a physically abusive episode and setting factors that play an important indirect role because they increase the number of confrontations and decrease parental competence are considered. The child abuse cases involved major parenting deficits, maternal psychopathology, a major psychosomatic problem (childhood encopresis), and symptoms of childhood conduct disorder, which occurred in a setting of family distress, low income, and sibling distress. This study demonstrates how a two-phase comprehensive p…

Child-rearing and child abuse antecedents of criminality

1999

A number of studies reviewed here show that those who are exposed to negative child-rearing practices varying from punitive and lax parenting to severe punishment and abuse in childhood tend to be antisocial, aggressive and commit violent crimes later in life. Both the record approach (Widom) studying later outcomes among abused children and the retrospective approach (Lewis) studying violent childhood experiences among offenders provide support for the violence breeds violence hypothesis. It appears clear that punishment in child-rearing increases the risk for maladaptive developmental outcomes but that the mechanism explaining the link between negative parenting and later maladjustment is…