Journal of interpersonal violence
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J Interpers Violence · Dec 2021
Assessing Institutional Betrayal Among Female Veterans Who Experienced Military Sexual Trauma: A Rasch Analysis of the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire.2.
Military sexual trauma (MST; i.e., sexual harassment and/or sexual assault during one's military service) is highly prevalent among female veterans and is associated with numerous adverse health and psychosocial sequelae. When institutions fail to prevent sexual trauma from happening or respond in an unsupportive manner (i.e., institutional betrayal [IB]), MST survivors typically report more severe health-related outcomes. Although the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire.2 (IBQ.2) was developed to assess IB, no studies have examined the factor structure or dimensionality of the IBQ.2 among MST survivors. ⋯ Although these results suggest that the IBQ.2 is multidimensional, the three-factor model had significant issues with respect to dimensionality, item fit, and person separation and reliability. Thus, using the full IBQ.2 may be more advantageous. Further examination of the IBQ.2 is warranted to ensure optimal assessment of IB in relation to MST, irrespective of whether the MST comprised sexual harassment or sexual assault, as well as to ensure that the IBQ.2 is culturally meaningful for MST survivors.
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J Interpers Violence · Oct 2021
"Being Married Doesn't Mean You Have to Reach the End of the World": Safety Planning With Intimate Partner Violence Survivors and Service Providers in Three Urban Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) harms women physically, sexually, and psychologically. Safety strategies, or harm reduction techniques implemented by women undergoing recurrent violence, may help mitigate the negative health, economic, and social consequences of IPV. This study aimed to understand recommended and utilized safety strategies among three urban informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya. ⋯ Similar to upper-income and other low and middle-income contexts, women experiencing IPV in urban informal settlements of Nairobi actively engage in behaviors to maximize safety and reduce harm to themselves and their families. Integration of strategies known to be helpful to women in these communities into community-based prevention and response is strongly encouraged. Increased synergy between recommended and implemented safety strategies can enhance programming and response efforts.
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J Interpers Violence · Oct 2021
Childhood Experiences and Intimate Partner Violence Among Kenyan Males: Mediation by Self-Esteem and Impulsivity.
This study evaluates associations between childhood social environments and current intimate partner conflict tactics in early adulthood. The subsample for this study (n = 251 men) were participants in a larger community-based study of men's mental and behavioral health in semirural Kenya. A survey questionnaire was administered by trained interviewers, including validated recall measures from childhood, collective self-esteem and impulsivity, and the conflict tactics scale short form. ⋯ Violence prevention strategies and policies should explicitly link intimate partner violence prevention with prevention of violence against boys. Interventions should recognize men who perpetrate intimate partner violence are more likely victims of violent childhoods than men who do not perpetrate intimate partner violence. Promoting collective self-esteem and reducing impulsivity among young men may reduce violence against women.
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J Interpers Violence · Sep 2021
Clinical Features of Heterosexual Intimate Partner Violence Victims With Escalating Injury Severity.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is largely recognized to have a cyclical pattern and violence escalation in terms of frequency and intensity over time. However, there is a lack of systematic investigation of the profiles of victims and quantification of the patterns of injury of the victims associated with the first time versus repeated violence episodes. This study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by medical chart review of 878 victims in a 5-year period from 2010 to 2014 in Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of two public general hospitals in Hong Kong. ⋯ In male victims, however, only the increase in the number of causes of injury was significant (M = 1.6 vs. 2.1, p < .05) in RE compared to FE. In summary, our results highlight the escalation in the severity of harm of IPV victims in heterosexual relationship, and the gender differences in severity aggression and injury and help-seeking behavior change in recurrent IPV. Preventive measures are indicated to intervene the IPV occurrence and recurrence with rising morbidity and a potential of mortality.
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J Interpers Violence · Jul 2021
Trauma Recovery Is Cultural: Understanding Shared and Different Healing Themes in Irish and American Survivors of Gender-based Violence.
Little research has focused on the trauma healing processes of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) worldwide. Even less research has utilized cross-cultural comparison to understand shared or culturally-distinct healing goals, creating a gap in understanding how to provide adequate, culturally relevant, and trauma-informed care to survivors. The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally compare shared healing influences and themes of the trauma recovery process in samples of Irish and American female survivors of GBV. ⋯ This information reveals shared as well as cultural nuances of important healing objectives following GBV. The present study's results can be used to create culturally sensitive and relevent healing spaces for survivors. These results can also inform intervention and messaging strategies aimed at promoting healing in these populations.