This study examined the relationship between schema domains (Young, 1999) and adjustment in a sample of female prison inmates (N = 116). Participants completed the Early Maladaptive Schema Questionnaire—Revised, the SCID-II Screen, the Brief Symptom Inventory, and the Prison Violence Inventory. Institutional records provided information concerning documented behavioral infractions. The Impaired Limits domain score, representing entitlement and poor self-control themes, was associated with screening scores for paranoid, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders, as well as hostility symptoms, institutional misconduct, and self-reported violence perpetration and victimization. The Disconnection/ Rejection domain score was associated with a wide array of self-reported mental illness symptoms. A significant relationship between the Impaired Autonomy domain scale and dependent personality disorder (SCID-II Screen) was also observed. Results indicate that domains of belief are plausibly related to specific dysfunction in personality and behavioral adjustment. Results also suggest the potential benefit of using cognitive therapy with incarcerated women.

Previous research has suggested that the occurrence of dating violence is influenced by various motivations, including self-defense. While some data have suggested that females are more likely to use physical aggression in self-defense, assessment measures of self-defense have been limited in several notable ways, hindering efforts at fully understanding the myriad of reasons contributing to self-defensive aggression. The current study sought to examine motivations for physical aggression among male and female college students using a contextual self-report measure of self-defensive aggression designed specifically for the current study. Results showed that numerous motivations for physical aggression were endorsed by both males and females and, contrary to expectations, females were not more likely to use aggression in self-defense. Implications of these findings for future research and dating violence prevention programming are discussed.

The current study assessed if childhood sexual abuse (CSA) can be meaningfully classified into classes, based on the assumption that abuse by a close family member differs in important ways from other abuse, and whether abuse classes were differentially associated with couple relationship problems. The childhood experiences and adult relationships of 1,335 Australian women (18–41 years) were assessed. Latent class analysis identified three classes of CSA: that perpetrated by a family member, friend, or stranger, which differed markedly on most aspects of the abuse. Family abuse was associated with the highest risk for adult relationship problems, with other classes of CSA having a significant but weaker association with adult relationship problems. CSA is heterogeneous with respect the long-term consequences for adult relationship functioning.

The current study provides a portrait of emotional-behavioral functioning within a small sample of Vietnam veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their partners, and older adolescent and adult children. Veterans, their partners and children reported moderate-low to moderate-high levels of violent behavior. In addition, partner and veteran hostility scores were elevated relative to gender and age matched norms. Partners also reported heightened levels of psychological maltreatment by veterans. Veterans’ combat exposure was positively correlated with hostility and violent behavior among children but unrelated to partner variables. Veterans’ reports of PTSD symptoms were positively associated with reports of hostility and violence among children, and hostility and general psychological distress among partners. Veterans’ violent behavior was also positively correlated with children’s violent behavior, but did not yield significant correlations with other child or partner variables. Findings are discussed in relation to prior work and directions for future research are addressed.

The investigation explored whether subtypes of relapse to violence exist for different levels of intimate partner violence and drinking behavior among men who relapse to both alcohol and violence after alcoholism treatment. Male clients entering an alcoholism treatment program who reported at least one incident of intimate partner violence and their female partners (N = 294) were recruited for participation. Data were analyzed using a latent class analysis of mixture model. Findings revealed that two classes of violence best described the sample of men that relapsed to violence. Class 1 contained males who had perpetrated more days of violence, relapsed to violence faster, more frequently relapsed to alcohol, and had a higher percentage of males identified as meeting diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality disorder compared to those in class 2.

Research suggests that partner stalking is associated with reassault and lethality as well as increased psychological distress for victims. However, there is a significant gap in information about stalking interventions and the responses of health, mental health, law enforcement, social services, and criminal justice professionals to women experiencing partner stalking. The purpose of this study is to examine the ideas about appropriate and effective responses to stalking victims from professionals in victim services and the justice system. The study also examined differences among rural and urban representatives because prior studies have shown significant differences between rural and urban areas on experiences and responses to partner violence. A total of 152 key informants (38 urban and 114 rural) were interviewed. Study results suggest a need for more training for victim services and justice system professionals on stalking and service needs of women who experience stalking in the context of partner violence.

The present research uses hierarchical modeling to examine the relative contributions of factors about the person, factors about the context, and, most important the interaction of factors about the person and factors about the context in models of both repeat victimization (more than one of the same type of crime) and multiple victimization (two or more different types of crime). Using telephone survey data from a multistage sample of Seattle residents, we estimate separate hierarchical models for repeat property, repeat violent and multiple victimization. Results indicate that repeat victimization of both types varies substantially by neighborhood, whereas multiple victimization seems more determined by individual-level factors. Implications for social disorganization theory, routine activity/lifestyle exposure theory, and future work on repeat victimization are discussed.

This article examines whether the social structural factors predicting violence against women are different from those predicting violence against men. Using sex-specific, aggravated assault rates from Florida counties (n = 60), this regression analysis tests three principal explanations of violent victimization: routine activities, social disorganization, and gender inequality. Although initially some difference in the predictive factors for male and female aggravated assault rates emerged, a test of the equality of regression coefficients revealed no “real” significant differences. Despite this finding, it remains important to assess the influence of societal factors on rates of violent victimization. The national trend indicates that male violent victimization is declining and female violent victimization is relatively stable. It is important to understand why this is the case.

Using a theoretical synthesis based in Nested Ecological Theory, the study fills a gap in the extant literature through an investigation of the prevalence and causes of violence against immigrant women in Canada. Based on a representative sample of 7,115 women, the results show that immigrant women from developing countries have the highest prevalence of violence. The analyses demonstrate that several variables operate differently in the production of violence against immigrant women from developed and developing nations. However, the key difference in explaining the higher prevalence of violence among those from developing countries is the sexually proprietary behavior exhibited by their partners. The results further show that sexual jealousy interacts with high female education and low male education levels in the prediction of violence among immigrant women from developing countries. Implications for future research are identified.

Evidence-based practice within the criminal justice system has relied primarily on cumulative reports of reassaults or rearrests, especially in evaluating effectiveness of domestic violence (DV) interventions. We use a longitudinal sample of DV offenders arrested and referred to DV offender programs in four cities to examine complex multi-outcome patterns of violent and abusive behavior and trajectories between patterns over time. Offenders and their partners were surveyed at program intake and followed for 15 months (N = 550). A Hidden Markov Model identifies four distinct behavioral patterns. Trajectory analysis indicates that the most abusive state is relatively stable and indicative of a high probability of future physical assault. Results suggest that evaluation based on complex outcomes may improve criminal justice intervention effectiveness, risk assessment, and risk management.