Para athletes’ perceptions of abuse: a qualitative study across three lower resourced countries

ObjectivesInterpersonal violence is an increasingly recognised risk of sport participation and causally linked to negative physical and mental health outcomes. Para athletes from low- and middle-income countries may be at highest risk of physical, psychological, sexual and neglect-related violence due to various factors; however, their perceptions of these abusive behaviours are unknown. This study examined the perceptions and experiences of abuse in para athletes from three lower resourced countries: Ghana, India and Brazil.MethodsQualitative data from semistructured focus group interviews conducted with 26 individuals were collected to explore characteristics of abuse observed, navigated and experienced by para athletes. The framework method for multidisciplinary qualitative research guided data analysis.ResultsAthletes identified a wide range of abusive behaviours they experienced within and outside of sport, including psychological, emotional, physical, sexual and neglect-related violence, which operated on both interpersonal and systemic levels. Most athletes described three less easily recognised forms of abuse in greater detail and more frequently than others: financial abuse, neglect and disability stigma.ConclusionIt is important to hear directly from athletes with diverse experiences and backgrounds and to integrate their insights and priorities into sport safeguarding policies, programmes and interventions. Understanding the requirements and challenges of para athletes and para sport is needed to achieve safe, equitable and inclusive sport. As new insights from diverse sport settings are added to the evidence base, globally balanced, athlete-generated and locally relevant preventative strategies can better protect all athletes.

“Drinking Too Much, Fighting Too Much”: The Dual “Disasters” of Intimate Partner Violence and Alcohol Use in South Africa

The intersecting issues of intimate partner violence (IPV) and alcohol abuse in South Africa are often characterized as “disasters.” Ethnographic research among women in Soweto demonstrates the different manifestations of IPV, perceptions of abuse, and coping mechanisms to manage harmful domestic relationships. Findings suggest a consistent relationship between excessive drinking patterns and IPV—most significantly, physical and emotional abuse—while indicating that domestic violence measures should include questions about stress. The authors also argue against pathologizing the relationship between IPV and alcohol abuse, to instead center the structured, sedimented ways that violence within the home has become a “normalized” disaster.

Abusive supervision: exploring the relationship with narcissism, self-promotion and unpredictability

PurposeThis study investigates whether subordinates who rate their managers higher on narcissism are also more likely to view their managers as abusive. In particular, the study explores the extent to which managers whom subordinates rate higher on narcissism use certain behaviors (self-promotion and unpredictability) that mediate the relationship between narcissism and perceived abuse.Design/methodology/approachSurvey participants (n = 949) rated their most-destructive manager in terms of self-promotion, unpredictability, narcissism and abusiveness. A bootstrap analysis assessed the positive, mediating effects of leader self-promotion and unpredictability on the narcissism–abuse relationship.FindingsDegree of perceived supervisor narcissism predicted subordinates' perceptions of abusive supervision. However, the supervisor's self-promotion activities and unpredictability fully mediated this relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThis study identifies perceived narcissism as an antecedent of abusive supervision and identifies two mediators relevant to subordinates' perceptions of abuse. Using multiple methods and multiple sources, the authors recommend that scholars identify additional mediators. Further research should consider variables such as gender, organizational culture and occupational status.Practical implicationsFindings highlight how subordinates connect supervisor narcissism to abuse; this allows human resource practitioners to better predict and address subordinates' perceptions of their managers and to design interventions for improving supervisors' behaviors.Originality/valueThis study helps in explaining destructive leadership by empirically examining perceptions of narcissism as a driver of abusive supervision. Also, the study reveals the characteristics of narcissistic managers that impede productive relationships with subordinates.

Bula vakavanua and the spiritual disruption of elder abuse: A Fijian perspective

ABSTRACT Introduction: This article used a cultural lens to explore issues of elder abuse from a Fijian perspective. Fijian tradition of respect for the older adult is a priority and any mistreatment is viewed as a spiritual disconnection and most injurious to God, the land and the people; their ancestral foundations and traditional customs. Methods: The Fonofale model, as a pan-pacific approach was employed as a methodological paradigm to explore elements of abuse within a larger study of 50 Pacific Island elders from Pacific communities of Aotearoa, New Zealand. This article examines perceptions of abuse as seen from a Fijian perspective. Findings: The findings argue that all forms of abuse; physical, psychological, financial or neglect are seen as a spiritual disconnection to the very foundation of what it is to be Fijian, referred to as bula vakavanua - the Fijian way of life. Conclusion: Practitioners with the possibility of confronting situations of abuse may benefit from a cultural awareness programme, addressing the many different ways that abuse may be construed from within a culture other than the dominant one in society.

Perceptions of Program Abuse and Support for Social Insurance

Do perceptions of abuse in social insurance programs undercut program support? Answering this causal question is difficult because perceptions of program abuse can arise from multiple potential causes. Examining the case of disability insurance, we circumvent this challenges using laboratory experiments to study the interplay between program abuse and program support. Specifically, we test whether participants vote to reduce benefit levels when they observe program abuse, even if that abuse is not directly costly to them. We use a labor market shock to induce program abuse and show that the observation of a healthy worker receiving benefits causes workers who are unaffected by the shock to vote to lower benefits. This effect arises only when reducing benefit levels also reduces taxes. Our results demonstrate a causal link between program abuse and diminished support for social insurance, validating accounts that stress how violations of cooperative norms can undercut socially beneficial government programs.

Perceptions of Psychological Abuse Versus Physical Abuse and Their Relationship With Mental Health Outcomes

Prior research has been limited in examining at what degree aggressive actions are initially perceived negatively. The present research examined whether anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were associated with prior abuse or with being attributed to past or present relationships. Scales such as the Dating Relationship Profile (DRP) and hypothetical scenarios of abuse perpetration were used. This study hypothesized that acceptability ratings from hypothetical scenarios would predict answers on DRP items measuring whether physical or psychological abuse is considered acceptable in relationships. Specifically, gender would be a predictor variable. Convenience sampling of undergraduate psychology students from a comprehensive, metropolitan university in north Georgia was used and resulted in 291 respondents (n = 227 [78%] female, n = 64 [22%] male) whose ages ranged from 18 to 54 years (M = 20.57 years, SD = 5.12 years). The present research used a 2 × 2 between-subjects design examining gender and type of hypothetical scenario violence with perceptions of abuse as the dependent variable. A significant association between experience of abuse and attribution of anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms to past or present relationships and between experience of abuse and these symptoms was found. Results revealed a significant difference between acceptability ratings of psychological abuse and gender, with men perceiving psychological abuse as more acceptable.

Stakeholders’ perceptions of abuse of children with disabilities at a special school in Zimbabwe

The study sought to determine: (a) the perceptions of students with disabilities, their teachers, caregivers and parents about what constitutes child abuse of children with disabilities; and (b) how these stakeholders view the school’s efforts to help children with disabilities avoid abuse and cope with instances of abuse. A purposive sample of 14 children with various disabilities, 7 teachers who taught and counselled these children and 2 caregivers who looked after the children in their hostels at the residential school participated in this study. Seven parents of children with disabilities were also interviewed. Data were analysed using themes in this study. Teachers, parents and caregivers reported that young girls with disabilities were forced into sexual relations by older boys and men. Children with visual and hearing impairments reported that corporal punishment was administered on them; and embarrassing name-calling and verbal abuse by some teachers and caregivers as behaviour modification strategies.