Compliance Gaining Appeals and Sources of Influence in Cognitive Behavioral Violence ...

132 Pages·2015·1.45 MB·English

by  Maria Elena Villar

University of Miami
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Open Access Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations
2008-08-06
Compliance Gaining Appeals and Sources of
Influence in Cognitive Behavioral Violence
Prevention Fatherhood Groups
Maria Elena Villar
University of Miami, [email protected]
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Groups" (2008).Open Access Dissertations. 146.
https://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/oa_dissertations/146
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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

COMPLIANCE GAINING APPEALS AND SOURCES OF INFLUENCE IN
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL VIOLENCE PREVENTION FATHERHOOD GROUPS

By

Maria Elena Villar

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty
of the University of Miami
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Coral Gables, Florida

June 2008
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

COMPLIANCE GAINING APPEALS AND SOURCES OF INFLUENCE IN
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL VIOLENCE PREVENTION FATHERHOOD GROUPS

Maria Elena Villar

Approved:
________________ _________________
Dr. Victoria Orrego Dunleavy Dr. Terri A. Scandura
Associate Professor of Communication Dean of the Graduate School

________________ _________________
Dr. Thomas Steinfatt Dr. Darlene Drummond
Professor of Communication Assistant Professor of Communication

________________
Dr. Glendene Lemard
Assistant Professor of Public Health
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
VILLAR, MARIA ELENA (Ph.D., Communication)
Compliance Gaining Appeals and Sources of Influence (June 2008)
in Cognitive-Behavioral Violence Prevention Fatherhood Groups.

Abstract of a dissertation at the University of Miami.

Dissertation supervised by Professor Victoria Orrego Dunleavy.
No. of pages in text. (122)

Cognitive behavioral violence prevention (CB-VP) parenting groups are commonly
used for the primary and secondary prevention of violence. These groups use persuasive
messages that target violence-related attitudes and cognitions, with the expectation that
this will result in behavior change. Despite their frequent use as family violence
prevention strategies, little is known about the actual messages being exchanged in CB-
VP groups and how participants perceive and recall these messages. This study analyzes
messages aimed at changing behaviors as recalled by Hispanic participants in federally
funded Fatherhood groups in Miami, Florida. Applying concepts from violence
prevention, behavior change messages were classified by topic, type of behavior targeted,
compliance gaining strategies (Marwell & Schmitt, 1967), and sources of influence
Wheeless, Baraclough & Stewart, 1983). The most common topics reported by
participants included parenting role, discipline, communication content and spending
time with children. Over a third of the appeals targeted behaviors that were not
observable actions, but rather cognitive acts such as thinking, reflecting, and paying
attention. Reward and punishment were the most frequently used compliance gaining
strategies, followed by moral and expertise strategies. Most appeals were based on the
expected outcomes of the proposed behaviors as the main source of influence. The
results of this study provide a greater understanding of the motivations used to support
behavior change messages in violence prevention parenting groups.
Dedication

This dissertation is dedicated to my daughter, Adriana Baumann, and to all the
family and friends who supported us with their time, effort and understanding while I
completed my degree.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Orrego Dunleavy, for her
guidance and feedback, which helped me to focus my thinking and writing. I also want
to thank the other dissertation committee members for their encouragement during this
process. I am grateful to my parents who instilled in me the love of learning and the
belief that I could in fact do whatever I wanted to do, whether they liked it or not. And
finally, I want to thank my Ph.D. program colleagues, Marcia, Yvette, Marcus and
Dustin, without whom this would not have been as much fun.
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Table of Contents
Page
List of Tables………………………………………………………………………. vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………..……… 1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………... 5
History of the Response to Family Violence in the United States………… 5
Attitudes Associated with Family Violence…………………….……….… 10
Attitude and Behavior Change through CB-VP Parenting Groups ………. 14
Social Cognitive Theory: from Cognition to Behavior…….…………..….. 17
Compliance Gaining: Communication for Behavior Change……………... 21
Sources of Influence: Motivations Behind Compliance Gaining …………. 25
Summary…………………………………………………………………… 28
CHAPTER 3: METHODS………………………………………………………… 30
Participants………………………………………………………………… 30
Data Collection……………………………………………………….……. 36
Data Processing and Analysis…………………………………………....... 37
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS…………………………………………………………. 46
Specific Behavior Targeted by Fatherhood Groups……………………….. 46
Compliance Gaining Strategies and Targeted Behavior…………………… 51
Sources of Influence Underlying Compliance Gaining Strategies………… 65
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION……………………………………………………... 71
Discussion of Study Findings……………………………………………… 72
Study Contribution……………………………………………….…..…… 88

v
Table of Contents (continued)

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………… 94

Appendix A: EnFamilia Letter of Agreement………………………………….. 107

Appendix B: IRB approved Informed Consent Form and recruitment flier……. 108

Appendix C: Interview Schedule………………………………………………… 113

Appendix D: Code Book…………………………………………………………. 115

Appendix E: Code Sheet………………………………………………………….. 121

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List of Tables
Page

Table 1 Participant occupations…………………………………………………….……. 33
Table 2 Participant annual income…………………………………………..…………… 33
Table 3 Intercoder reliability for coders 1 and 2……………………………..………..… 44
Table 4 Compliance gaining appeal topics: examples and frequencies……….………... 47
Table 5 Type of behavior targeted by compliance gaining appeals……………............... 49
Table 6 Cross-tabulation of topics and type of targeted behavior ……………….……… 51
Table 7 Compliance gaining strategies: examples and frequencies……………….…….. 54
Table 8a Cross-tabulation of compliance gaining strategies by topic ………….……… 58
Table 8b Cross-tabulation of compliance gaining strategies by topic (cont’d)………… 59
Table 8c Cross-tabulation of top 6 compliance gaining strategies by top 8 topics…... 60
Table 9 Cross-tabulation of compliance gaining strategies by type of behavior targeted... 62
Table 10 Cross-tabulation of referents by reward and punishment strategies ……………. 63
Table 11 Cross-tabulation of referents by positive and negative esteem strategies………. 64
Table 12 Sources of influence: examples and frequencies……………………………….. 67
Table 13 Cross-tabulation of sources of influence and topics……………………………. 68
Table 14 Cross-tabulation of sources of influence and type of behavior targeted ……….. 70

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