The Dynamics of Interpersonal Relationships: Understanding Power and Control Tactics Among College Students

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health problem among college students and many students have difficulty identifying unhealthy and abusive behaviors. The aims of this mixed methods study are to: (a) create an inclusive tool that illustrates the power and control experiences of a diverse group of young adult college students, (b) ensure a broad scope of tactics are illustrated (related to technology and different types of relationships), and (c) measure the experience of these tactics, including how IPV knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy are influenced by a more inclusive tool. In Phase I, semi-structured interviews were conducted with students (n = 33) and staff (n = 10) at campus sexual assault centers at the three University of Michigan (UM) campuses to explore power and control tactics utilized by perpetrators on college campuses. Content analysis revealed 13 categories of tactics in college relationships. A draft tool was created and assessed for accuracy using cognitive interviews with students (n = 20) from all three campuses in Phase II. Cognitive interviews resulted in the following changes to the final tool: (a) new presentation of the Socioecological Model, (b) identification of substance use as a facilitator for multiple forms of violence, and (c) edits to tactic descriptions. In Phase III, 250 students at UM–Ann Arbor participated in a quasi-experimental evaluation in which 133 interacted with the tool and 117 received access to usual care (campus sexual misconduct policy). Both groups answered survey questions about IPV knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and experiences at baseline, and after one month and five months. Among all college participants in Phase III, 33.5% had experienced lifetime IPV and 25.2% had experienced IPV in the past year. There were no significant differences among IPV knowledge, attitudes, or self-efficacy by group. The Dynamics of Interpersonal Coercion Among College Students tool was created by incorporating current tactics utilized among a diverse college population.

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Animal Maltreatment in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence: A Manifestation of Power and Control?

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801218824993 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (15) ◽

pp. 1806-1828 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Amy J. Fitzgerald ◽

Betty Jo Barrett ◽

Rochelle Stevenson ◽

Chi Ho Cheung

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Abused Women ◽

Animal Abuse ◽

Power And Control ◽

Using Data ◽

And Control ◽

Animal Neglect

This study tests the theoretically informed assumption that intimate partner violence (IPV) and animal abuse so frequently co-occur because animal maltreatment is instrumentalized by abusers to harm human victims. Using data from a survey of abused women in Canadian shelters, we find that threats to harm “pets,” emotional animal abuse, and animal neglect are clearly perceived by these survivors as being intentionally perpetrated by their abuser and motivated by a desire to upset and control them; the findings related to physical animal abuse are not as straightforward. Building on these findings, we propose a more nuanced theorizing of the coexistence of animal maltreatment and IPV.

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Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse

Encyclopedia of Social Work ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.013.1151 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Jill Theresa Messing

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Social Workers ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Assessment Instruments ◽

Lethal Violence ◽

Female Victims ◽

Power And Control ◽

The Individual ◽

And Control

Intimate partner violence—the continual and systematic exercise of power and control within an intimate relationship that often also includes physical and sexual violence—has emerged as a significant and complex social problem warranting the attention of social workers. Risk and protective factors have been identified at the individual, family, community, and societal levels. Some of these risk factors for repeat and lethal violence have been organized into risk assessment instruments that can be used by social workers to educate and empower survivors. Intimate partner violence has multiple negative health and mental health consequences for female victims and their children. Social workers in all areas of practice should be prepared to intervene with victims of intimate partner violence in a culturally competent manner using a strengths-based framework.

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Re-positioning workplace aggression interventions: a violence framework

International Journal of Organizational Analysis ◽

10.1108/ijoa-06-2021-2827 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Kathy Sanderson

Keyword(s):

Conflict Management ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Workplace Aggression ◽

Organizational Responses ◽

Content Type ◽

Power And Control ◽

Management Perspective ◽

And Control ◽

Primary Contribution

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the socio-psychological systems in organizations that structurally support workplace aggression. Design/methodology/approach Using both a structural and contextual model of intimate partner violence (IPV), the factors supporting workplace aggression were analyzed. The narratives were provided from the participants’ lived experiences of workplace aggression, producing clear indications of where formal and informal power reside. Findings The methods of power and control used by workplace perpetrators parallel those illustrated in IPV. The inaction of management and the lack of social support enabled informal power asymmetries and the organizational norm of silence. The findings have implications for how workplaces view and intervene in relationship-based violence. Originality/value Workplace aggression has been studied from a conflict management perspective, without exploring the components that enable and support organizational abuse. As a result, organizational responses to workplace aggression have failed to address the complex relationship-based components and consequences. The primary contribution of this study is the disruption of the conflict-based perspective of workplace aggression into a more appropriate framework of violence, power and control.

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CAUSES AND PSYCHOSOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN AMBO TOWN MARRIED WOMEN

Innovare Journal of Social Sciences ◽

10.22159/ijss.2021.v9i5.41790 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 14-18

Author(s):

MULISA FAYERA ◽

ABERA GETACHEW

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Qualitative Method ◽

Group Discussion ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Married Women ◽

Power And Control ◽

Psychosocial Consequences ◽

And Control ◽

Quantitative And Qualitative Methods

Intimate partner violence is a pattern of coercive tactics that can include physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and emotional abuses against intimate partners, with the goal of establishing and maintaining power and control. The aim of this study is to investigate intimate partner violence and associated factors in Ambo town. The participants of the study were household women between the age15 to 49. Data were collected by using both quantitative and qualitative methods. To collect the quantitative data, 389 household women of Ambo Town were randomly selected for closeended questionnaire. In qualitative method , 12 participants (six women were victims of IPV and six other married women) were purposely selected for semi structured and 10 key informants were also purposely selected for Focus group discussion. The data collected from the questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools through SPSS.20 and the qualitative data was analyzed narratively. The results of the study demonstrated that from the total 389 sample, 343 women did not agree with their husband and only 46 women reported that they agree with their husband. This shows that there was a problem of disagreement between wives and their husbands. Besides, causes and psychosocial consequences of IPV were directly related with intimate partner violence.

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A Template Analysis of Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Experiences of Animal Maltreatment: Implications for Safety Planning and Intervention

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/1077801217697266 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 452-476 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Collins ◽

Anna M. Cody ◽

Shelby Elaine McDonald ◽

Nicole Nicotera ◽

Frank R. Ascione ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Ethnically Diverse ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Safety Planning ◽

Power And Control ◽

Template Analysis ◽

And Control

This study explores the intersection of intimate partner violence (IPV) and animal cruelty in an ethnically diverse sample of 103 pet-owning IPV survivors recruited from community-based domestic violence programs. Template analysis revealed five themes: (a) Animal Maltreatment by Partner as a Tactic of Coercive Power and Control, (b) Animal Maltreatment by Partner as Discipline or Punishment of Pet, (c) Animal Maltreatment by Children, (d) Emotional and Psychological Impact of Animal Maltreatment Exposure, and (e) Pets as an Obstacle to Effective Safety Planning. Results demonstrate the potential impact of animal maltreatment exposure on women and child IPV survivors’ health and safety.

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Nonconsensual Porn as a Form of Intimate Partner Violence: Using the Power and Control Wheel to Understand Nonconsensual Porn Perpetration in Intimate Relationships

Trauma Violence & Abuse ◽

10.1177/1524838020906533 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 152483802090653 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Asia A. Eaton ◽

Sofia Noori ◽

Amy Bonomi ◽

Dionne P. Stephens ◽

Tameka L. Gillum

Keyword(s):

Intimate Relationships ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Emotional Abuse ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Sexually Explicit Material ◽

News Stories ◽

Power And Control ◽

Sexually Explicit ◽

Control Wheel ◽

And Control

Over the last decade, nonconsensual porn (NCP), or the sharing of sexually explicit material without a person’s consent, has become a growing problem with potentially far-reaching adverse consequences for victims. The purpose of this article is to propose and consider a framework for advancing the field’s understanding of NCP within the context of intimate relationships including situating NCP relative to other forms of relational abuse. Specifically, we examined the extent to which NCP in intimate partner relationships was perpetrated using tactics from the Power and Control Wheel through a summative content analysis of U.S. news stories on NCP from 2012 to 2017. This analysis established that NCP has been perpetrated using all eight of the abuse metatactics in the Power and Control Wheel, with the three most common being emotional abuse, coercion and threats, and denial/blame/minimization. Treating NCP in relationships as a potential form of partner violence provides a basis on which to understand the etiology, manifestation, motives, and impact of this form of abuse and informs practitioners’ ability to design prevention efforts and engage a trauma-informed response to survivors.

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Home was not a safe haven: women’s experiences of intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria

BMC Women s Health ◽

10.1186/s12905-021-01177-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Olufunmilayo I. Fawole ◽

Omowumi O. Okedare ◽

Elizabeth Reed

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Social Services ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Case Reports ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Emergency Situations ◽

Power And Control ◽

And Control ◽

Forms Of Violence

Abstract Background Emergency situations, including epidemics, increase incidence of violence against women, especially intimate partner violence (IPV). This paper describes specific scenarios of IPV reported by women during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria to provide insight for policy and programmatic efforts. Methods This paper draws on seven de-identified case reports from organisations serving women experiencing IPV as well as media coverage of IPV cases in Nigeria, between April and May, 2020. Results In most cases, reports identified IPV that was occurring prior to the lockdown, but increased in severity or involved new types of violence during the lockdown. The case scenarios included descriptions of many forms of IPV commonly reported, including physical, economic, psychological and sexual violence, often concurrently. Several women also reported threats of being thrown out of their homes by perpetrators, which threatens women’s ability to protect themselves from exposure to COVID-19, but could also leave women stranded with no access to transportation, social services, or other resources during the lockdown. Several women also reported IPV that involved custody of children, as well as IPV that disrupted women’s income generation. IPV was also reported in relation to economic stressors associated with the lockdown. Reports highlight how the lockdown disrupted women’s social support, hindering accessibility of formal and informal sources of help. Conclusion The lockdowns in Nigeria may have inadvertently placed women already experiencing partner violence at risk for experiencing more severe violence, new challenges to cope with violent experiences, and other forms of violence, including violence that used the lockdown as a way to threaten women’s security and ability to protect themselves from the virus. Hence, there is need for innovative approaches to support victims, with emphasis on ways in which perpetrators of IPV may be using the threat of COVID-19 to further gain power and control over partners.

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One Size Does Not Fit All in Treatment of Intimate Partner Violence

Partner Abuse ◽

10.1891/1946-6560.5.2.204 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 204-236 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Arthur L. Cantos ◽

K. Daniel O’Leary

Keyword(s):

Intimate Partner Violence ◽

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Critical Examination ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Male Perpetrators ◽

Power And Control ◽

Assessment And Treatment ◽

Single Intervention ◽

And Control

A critical examination is needed of the often mandated one-size-fits-all Duluth intervention for male perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV). The underlying philosophy of Duluth-based interventions is evaluated as well as the treatment outcome literature for this intervention. There is very little evidence to justify the current legal system practice of mandating all perpetrators to psychological interventions addressing power and control issues. A literature review of scientific findings with IPV perpetrators and the issues that need to be taken into consideration in developing alternative evidence-based interventions are presented. The evidence seems to favor heterogeneity and not homogeneity with respect to both type of perpetrator and type of violence. Assessment and treatment suggestions are made to address this evidence-based heterogeneity and a call is made to those responsible to stop perpetuating the practice of mandating all perpetrators to attend a single intervention for which there is very limited evidence of effectiveness. About two-thirds of male perpetrators of IPV cease being physically aggressive against their partners if they are assigned to a probation officer, but there is minimal evidence that the addition of a Duluth-based intervention makes perpetration less likely.

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