Handbook on the Psychology of Violence

303 Pages·2012·10.501 MB·English

by  Hugh R. Cunningham, Wade F. Berry

PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS, MOTIVATIONS AND ACTIONS

H
ANDBOOK ON
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF VIOLENCE

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P E ,
SYCHOLOGY OF MOTIONS
M A
OTIVATIONS AND CTIONS

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P R P
SYCHOLOGY ESEARCH ROGRESS

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PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS, MOTIVATIONS AND ACTIONS

H
ANDBOOK ON
P V
THE SYCHOLOGY OF IOLENCE

HUGH R. CUNNINGHAM
AND
WADE F. BERRY
EDITORS

Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
New York
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Handbook on the psychology of violence / editors, Hugh R. Cunningham and Wade F. Berry.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN (cid:28)(cid:26)(cid:27)(cid:16)(cid:20)(cid:16)(cid:25)(cid:20)(cid:28)(cid:23)(cid:21)(cid:16)(cid:22)(cid:20)(cid:24)(cid:16)(cid:21) ((cid:40)(cid:16)(cid:37)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:78))
1. Violence--Psychological aspects. 2. Violence--Prevention. I. Cunningham, Hugh R. II. Berry,
Wade F.
BF575.A3H365 2011
303.6--dc23
2011045813

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.  New York
CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 Assessment of the Program “Taking Steps towards Peace": Effect
on Adolescents' Attitudes towards Violence and Prosociability 1
Maite Garaigordobil
Chapter 2 Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Abuse:
Contextualizing Sociocultural Complexities 29
Elizabeth Terrazas-Carrillo, Paula T. McWhirter
Chapter 3 Examining Dating Violence from the Relational Context 53
Marla Reese-Weber and Ashley I. Johnson
Chapter 4 Over-Researched and Under-Theorized: Re-Imagining the Concept
of Gender for Intimate Partner Violence Theory and Research 77
Judy Hughes, Melissa Corbally and Shirley Chau
Chapter 5 Psychology of Hatred and Violence: Definition, Explanatory
Theories, Cognitive-Emotional Factors, and Prevention Strategies 99
Maite Garaigordobil
Chapter 6 Psychological Violence against Women by Intimate Partners:
The Use of Children to Victimize Mothers 123
Sarah Ahlfs-Dunn and Alissa Huth-Bocks
Chapter 7 A Cross Sectional Study of Intimate Partner Violence
in Emerging Adulthood 145
Robert F. Marcus and Eric G. Jamison, II
Chapter 8 Sexual Homicide Offenders and Their Criminal Careers:
An Exploratory Empirical Examination 163
Matt DeLisi and Patrick Lussier
Chapter 9 Intimate Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment: An International
Perspective on Child and Family Violence 181
Elizabeth Altshuler-Bard, Susan K. Lesher and Paula T. McWhirter
vi Contents
Chapter 10 The Developmental Relation Between Moral Disengagement and
Aggregation with Deviant Peers in Understanding Violent
Adolescent Behavior 199
Marinella Paciello, Roberta Fida and Carlo Tramontano
Chapter 11 Male Victims in Heterosexual Intimate Partner Violence:
A Framework Explaining Help-Seeking Reluctance 215
Venus Tsui, Monit Cheung and Patrick Leung
Chapter 12 The Roles of Community Social Workers in Dealing with
Violent Acts of Terrorism: Three Modes of Intervention 231
Yaacov B. Yablon and Haya Itzhaky
Chapter 13 The Causes of Violence towards Animals: A Review 247
E. G. Patterson-Kane
Chapter 14 Motown’s Violence in My ED 265
Karen Estrine
Chapter 15 Children and Violence: Targeting Interventions 269
Kirsi Peltonen
Index 273
PREFACE

This book presents current research in the study of the psychology of violence. Topics
discussed in this compilation include the effect of adolescents' attitudes towards violence and
prosociability; intimate partner violence and substance abuse; the roles of community social
workers in dealing with violent acts of terrorism; the causes of violence towards animals;
targeting inverventions for children and violence; the psychology of hatred and violence and
sexual homicide offenders and their criminal careers.
Chapter 1 – The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of the program “Taking
steps towards peace,” which has the aim of promoting living together, respect for human
rights, and the prevention of violence. Specifically, the effects of the program on attitudes
towards violence, racism, prosociability, the capacity to analyze violence, as well as on eight
dimensions of socio-emotional development are assessed. The sample comprises 276
adolescents between ages 15 to 17, 191 experimental subjects, 85 controls, 127 males and 149
females. The study uses an experimental design with pretest-posttest repeated measures and a
control group. A battery of five assessment instruments was administered before and after the
intervention. The aim of the program is to increase sensitivity towards the victims of violence,
promote respect for human rights, and prevent violence. It consists of 10 intervention sessions
lasting three months. The analyses of variance (MANOVA, ANOVA) confirmed that the
program significantly stimulated: 1) An increase of cognitions or thoughts of rejection of
violence, sensitivity towards the victims of political violence, and empathic feelings and
behaviors towards victims of different kinds of violence (bullying, gender, family, racist,
political violence...); 2) A decrease of racist cognitions or thoughts about immigrants; 3) An
improvement of the attitude towards prosocial values and behaviors (increase of positive
appraisal and acknowledgement of the importance of justice, the behavior of forgiving others,
the role of dialogue in human relations and in conflict resolution, and the value of remorse);
4) An increase in knowledge of causes, factors, or situations that generate violent behaviors,
as well as of positive coping strategies to deal with other people's violent behavior; and 5) A
positive effect on 8 dimensions of socio-emotional development: subjective psychological
well-being; prosocial values and human rights (equality, tolerance, solidarity...); conflict
resolution (capacity of analysis and resolution...); violence (sensitivity towards victims,
analysis of the consequences of violent behavior…); within-group communication
(expression, listening...); social behavior (prosocial, aggressive…); emotions (expression,
comprehension, empathy…); and self-concept and other people's image. This study has
practical educational implications and provides an intervention tool that enhances the
viii Hugh R. Cunningham and Wade F. Berry
development of personality during adolescence and may have a preventive effect on violent
behavior.
Chapter 2 – As with many current social issues, the etiology of intimate partner violence
(IPV) is complex and influenced by myriad interrelated and interacting factors at the
individual, structural, familial, and cultural levels. Although it is widely acknowledged that
substance abuse is a particularly salient factor, there is much debate on what role it plays in
partner aggression. The link between substance use and intimate partner violence has been
elusive, as researchers debate the role of substance use and intoxication as a contributing
cause, a covariate, or a facilitative cause of IPV. Three main models have been proposed to
explain the relationship of substance abuse to IPV: the spurious effect model, the indirect
effects model, and the proximal effects model. The spurious effects model proposes that the
relationship between IPV and substance abuse disappears when variables such as age and
personality traits are controlled. The indirect effects model focuses on the effects of substance
use as detrimental to intimate relationships, therefore creating an environment conducive to
conflict. The proximal effects model argues that intoxication is a direct cause of IPV, arguing
that consumption of alcohol and other substances precede incidents of partner aggression.
Chapter 3 – This chapter will examine the psychology of violence from the relational
context. The focus is on dating violence and how the probability of violence occurring in a
romantic relationship may change due to the relational context. Much of the existing research
on dating violence has used the background-situational model developed by Riggs and
O’Leary (1989). One body of work has focused on individual background variables important
to the prediction of dating violence such as previous exposure to family violence, attitudes
towards violence, and prior aggression. Other research has focused on the situational
variables of alcohol use and stress. However, Riggs and O’Leary’s model also included
relationship characteristics (i.e., satisfaction, communication, intimacy level) as important
situational variables, yet little empirical work has systematically focused on predictors of
dating violence from this relational context. A review of articles published in the 1990’s
found that relationship status, one characteristic of the relational context, was not assessed or
was collapsed in most samples suggesting that behaviors and affective states do not change
over the development of a relationship. As concluded by the authors of the review, the
authors believe that relationship development does play a role in the behaviors displayed in a
romantic relationship, including violent behavior. The purpose of this chapter is to review the
literature available on relational context variables and dating violence. The authors will
propose a model of romantic relationship development that may help predict the occurrence
of violent behavior.
Chapter 4 – Provoking debate and, at times conflict, the concept of gender has had a
primary and contentious impact on the intimate partner violence literature throughout the past
40 years. Some authors theorize gender as foundational to understanding the meaning and
experience of violent and abusive acts. Others argue that gender has had too great an
explanatory role in intimate partner violence theory and research. Arguments center on the
violent and abusive acts themselves and examinations of the frequency, severity, causes, and
consequences of these behaviors and the motivations behind their use within interpersonal
relationships. Such explanations seem to suggest that the path to understanding intimate
partner violence is found in examining the occurrence of these behaviors. The chapter argues
that the meaning of violent and abusive acts is only partially discoverable through focusing on