Media Portrayals of Athlete-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of the Social Ecological Model, Race, and Communication Perceptions

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-32
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Scarduzio ◽  
Christina S. Walker ◽  
Nicky Lewis ◽  
Anthony M. Limperos

This study examined how participants responded to incidents of athlete-perpetrated intimate partner violence in two separate contexts: one featuring an athlete from a league that is at peak popularity among sports audiences (National Football League; NFL) and one featuring an athlete from an up-and-coming league that currently has a lower standing in professional sports (Ultimate Fighting Championship League; UFC). The authors used the social ecological model to qualitatively analyze participant perceptions about athlete-perpetrated intimate partner violence composite news packages. For the purpose of this study specifically, they centered on 1,124 responses to one of the open-ended qualitative questions asked in a larger quantitative experiment. The authors found that the participants most frequently attributed the perpetrator’s behavior to either individual or relationship-level reasons and that there were differences in the level attributed for participants of different races and ethnicities. They also determined that the participants were more likely to ascribe the violence to the suspect’s job (i.e., athlete) if they were a UFC fighter than an NFL player. Theoretical extensions of the social ecological model and practical implications for journalists, the media, and fans are offered.

2020 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Sarah Taylor ◽  
Yan Xia

Family and consumer sciences (FCS) professionals frequently work as advocates for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). The purpose of this study was to explore IPV advocacy at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels of the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and to provide suggestions for FCS courses based on findings. This study used interviews, observations, and documents from an IPV shelter. Findings revealed that IPV advocates validated and empowered survivors, supported childrearing, worked with schools and community agencies on behalf of survivors, educated communities on IPV, and balanced cultural differences within the shelter. Recommendations are presented for FCS courses to prepare future FCS professionals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengsu Hou ◽  
Catherine Cerulli ◽  
Marsha N. Wittink ◽  
Eric D. Caine ◽  
Peiyuan Qiu

Women are often the victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Though China has established its first statute against domestic violence, the service developments for victims fall behind. It is important to assess community members' perceptions of what causes IPV to create interventions to prevent and address IPV. This study completed the Short Explanatory Model Interview (SEMI) among a subset sample from a large epidemiology study in rural Sichuan China. The social ecological model was applied to analyze qualitative interviews. Among 339 participants, the average age was 46.01 ± 12.42 years old. There were 31.86% of them had been educated, 14.75% of them had migrant worker partners, and 49.26% of them had experienced violence from their partners in the last year. There were 252 participants attributed IPV to individual factors, and they primarily discussed the social characteristics, behaviors, personalities or even health problems of the husband or the wife in the vignette. Under this theme, there were 86 participants blaming the victim for being anxious, social disconnectedness or lazy; and there were 166 participants blaming to the perpetrator being abusive, irresponsibility, lack of understanding, and cheating. There were 44 women believed the cause was relational, in which there were 41 participants attributed the problem to the broken relationship between the couple and three participants attributed to the lack of support. There were 28 participants believed the cause was communal and societal, such as being poor, family problems, fate, and believed IPV was a common scene. There were 15 participants could not identify the cause of IPV. These participants usually provided very brief responses and barely had insight on violent behaviors or confidence in discussing the cause. Our findings offer a direction for understanding the rural Chinese women's beliefs about the etiology of IPV to better develop interventions which must consider raising a public awareness campaign about the risk factors of IPV and focus on reducing self-blame among victims.


Partner Abuse ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-129
Author(s):  
Laura E. Schwartz ◽  
Kathryn H. Howell ◽  
Lacy E. Jamison ◽  
Kristina M. Decker ◽  
Idia B. Thurston

Resilience is gaining attention in trauma research, but how it is conceptualized across studies often differs. Further, limited empirical research has been conducted on group-level resilience factors in the context of intimate partner violence (IPV). The current study assessed resilience using two models (i.e., social-ecological and “bounce back”) by investigating how resilience resource variables across the social ecology cluster together and relate to an individual's ability to bounce back after experiencing IPV. Latent profile analysis was used to generate profiles of individual (spirituality), social (social support, community cohesion), cultural (ethnic identity), and physical (use of public assistance) resources consistent with the social-ecological model of resilience. Differences among the latent profiles on overall resilience scores were investigated. Participants were 160 women (Mage = 34.7, 69% Black-identified, 75% with yearly household income less than $20,000) who experienced IPV in the past 6 months. Four resource profiles emerged: (a) generally high (GH); (b) low individual and cultural (LIC); (c) high physical (HP); and (d) low social (LS). The GH profile reported significantly higher resilience than the LIC profile. Findings suggest nuanced variations in resources among women experiencing adversity. These varied resource profiles relate to unique differences in resilience among women exposed to IPV. Based on these findings, interventions to address IPV may be most impactful if they promote stronger ethnic identity and increased spirituality. Future research should build on this work by utilizing more systems-level conceptualizations of resilience and including factors that capture not only physical resources, but also individual, social, and cultural resources.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Cowan ◽  
Maria R. Khan ◽  
Siri Shastry ◽  
E. Jennifer Edelman

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unparalleled societal disruption with wide ranging effects on individual liberties, the economy, and physical and mental health. While no social strata or population has been spared, the pandemic has posed unique and poorly characterized challenges for individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Given the pandemic’s broad effects, it is helpful to organize the risks posed to specific populations using theoretical models. These models can guide scientific inquiry, interventions, and public policy. Models also provide a visual image of the interplay of individual-, network-, community-, structural-, and pandemic-level factors that can lead to increased risks of infection and associated morbidity and mortality for individuals and populations. Such models are not unidirectional, in that actions of individuals, networks, communities and structural changes can also affect overall disease incidence and prevalence. In this commentary, we describe how the social ecological model (SEM) may be applied to describe the theoretical effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). This model can provide a necessary framework to systematically guide time-sensitive research and implementation of individual-, community-, and policy-level interventions to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with OUD.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147332502110028
Author(s):  
Emmy Högström Tagesson ◽  
Carina Gallo

This article examines how seven social workers within the Swedish social services describe intimate partner violence between teenagers (IPV-BT). The article adds to the literature by examining IPV-BT outside a U.S. context, where most studies have been conducted. Based on semistructured qualitative interviews, the authors analyze descriptions of IPV-BT in relation to Charles Tilly’s notion of category making through transfer, encounter, negotiation, and imposition. They also analyze how the social workers’ descriptions of IPV-BT relate to the intersection between age and gender. The results show that the social workers mostly described IPV-BT by referring to encounters with teenagers and by transferring knowledge and theoretical definitions from their specialized working areas, primarily intimate partner violence between adults (IPV-BA) and troubled youth. More rarely, the social workers based their definitions of IPV-BT upon negotiating dialogues with teenagers. Also, those who worked in teams specialized on IPV had the mandate to impose their definitions of IPV-BT to other professionals and teenagers. When taking age and gender hierarchies in consideration, the results show IPV-BT risks being subordinate IPV-BA on a theoretical level, a practical level and in terms of treatment quality. The study suggests that social work with IPV-BT needs to be sensitive to the double subordinations of the teenage girl and of the teenagers who do not follow gender expectations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 511-533
Author(s):  
Kenneth C. Hergenrather ◽  
Diona Emmanuel ◽  
Robert J. Zeglin ◽  
David J. Ruda ◽  
Scott D. Rhodes

In the United States, gay, bisexual men, and men who have sex with men (MSM) represent 86% of new HIV infections among males. Approximately 1 in 7 men with HIV are unaware of their HIV status (CDC, 2017, 2019a, 2020a). To explore influences on MSM HIV risk behavior, the authors performed a systematic review of quantitative studies conducted in the U.S. assessing what is purported as masculinity. From 30 identified studies, significant findings were framed within the Social Ecological Model (SEM) levels (e.g., Individual, Relationship, Community). SEM level themes were applied to create the Masculinity 10, a preliminary 10-item assessment to explore the influence of masculinity on MSM HIV risk behavior. To increase MSM engagement in HIV prevention and treatment, the influences of masculinity (e.g., attitude toward sexual minorities, appearance, emotion, temperament, substance use, sexual activity, social support, intimate relationships, health care) on HIV risk behavior should be further explored.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152483802095380
Author(s):  
Laurie M. Graham ◽  
Rebecca J. Macy ◽  
Cynthia F. Rizo ◽  
Sandra L. Martin

Theories play an important role in guiding intimate partner homicide (IPH) prevention research and practice. This study is the first systematic review of theories employed to explain why someone might kill their intimate partner. This review used rigorous methods to locate and synthesize literature that described explanatory theories of IPH perpetration. Using set search terms, we systematically searched 15 databases and repositories for theory-focused documents (i.e., theory papers or analyses) published in English from 2003 to 2018. Eighteen documents met these inclusion criteria and identified 22 individual theories that seek to explain why people might kill their intimate partners. These theories fell within four broader theoretical perspectives: feminist, evolutionary, sociological/criminological, and combined. Key tenets and focal populations of these 22 theories were identified and organized into a compendium of explanatory theories of IPH perpetration. Potential strengths and limitations of each of the four perspectives were described. Review findings underscored the likely importance of addressing gender as well as risk and protective factors at all levels of the social ecological model in efforts to understand IPH perpetration. The review findings highlighted the need for both integrated theories and a broader conceptual organizing framework to guide work aimed at IPH perpetration prevention to leverage the strengths of disparate theoretical perspectives. With the goal of informing future research, a preliminary iteration of such a framework is presented.


Encyclopedia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1038-1046
Author(s):  
Octav-Sorin Candel ◽  
Mihaela Jitaru

Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted most people’s activities and relationships. Romantic relationships are a crucial source of fulfillment and emotional safety for many individuals. However, due to the risk of illness and the social distancing norms, human interaction, even inside one’s couple or family, suffered great changes. Some of these changes have the potential of disrupting people’s relational or psychological well-being, but they can also have positive impacts. On the other hand, one of the most negative consequences is the growing number of intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents. Considering all these aspects, therapy would be beneficial for those affected.


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