The causes for prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in African American freshmen students are their perceptions as well as community and family background.
Introduction
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) arises from aggression towards an intimate partner. As According to Dutton, Donald G. (2006, p.11), personality is a fixed entity, and can be assessed at a single point of time. However, in case of some rational circumstances and if a location is affixed, personality style can be conceived of as a stable constellation of traits. Consequently, the violent nature of aggressive partner also is stable and it needs counseling to remove that perception. In this context, Donald G. (2006) quotes Robert and Donn Byrne’s classic text of social psychology, which states that aggression opens with the hoary question of nature versus nurture. Hence, it depends on situational determinants like frustration, verbal and physical attack as well as exposure to violent role models. The above aspect indicates the way the aggressive partners react to the actions of their violent role models. The arousal and aggressive cues, drugs, orders, heat and overcrowding may also amount to violence between partners and the question in the present context is the violence regarding the above aspects in intimate partners, that too in case of African American Freshmen students. As majority of victims are women, the male and female respondents are interviewed separately with different questionnaires in this paper, which analyses them accordingly. The intimate partner violence may also contain the individual characteristics that include under controlled versus over controlled aggressors. Hence, while offering the counseling for the aggressive partners and the victims it is important to know their family background and the way they are brought up as well as the perceptions of them regarding society and role models. This is because; one important aspect in IPV is that the over or self controlled aggression regarding the past partner may erupt in the later stage targeting the present partner. Hence, in the above-mentioned case, frustration may be the cause and in the context of African-American freshmen students the frustration may also cause to IPV, but it may or may not due to the nature of the past partner, but frustration can be one of the aspects that can result in IPV. In addition to that as mentioned above under controlled and over controlled aggressions may also result in violence. Regarding the concept of the paper, which is IPV in freshmen students belonging to African-American origin, the academic psychology tended to rely on under graduate populations that studies the violence in university labs may help to some extent as well as the violence outside it (Dutton, Donald G, 2006, p.11-12).
Theoretical Background
Considering the theoretical background, the intimate partner violence can be compared to or may find roots in domestic violence as those relationships have enough intimacy. However, the present context of this paper is IPV in African American freshmen students and has college background in majority of couples or partners. Hence, though the IPV exists outside the family relationships, the domestic violence dominates the IPV incidents and it was found that arrested perpetrators are overwhelmingly male. Even in the college background the majority perpetrators are males and majority victims are females. According to Hamel, John, (2008, p.36), the male perpetrators of the IPV are treated with same-sex psycho educational group with the theories based on patriarchy. In this context, John (2008) quotes Duluth model: Pence & Pamar (1993), which reminds that the female victims are referred to shelters and other organizations for refuse. The above fact indicates that the society or government is more efficient on rehabilitation rather than punishing or controlling the violence. Hence, when we consider about the theoretical background of intimate partner violence in the context of this paper, John, (2008, p.37) quotes about the patriarchal paradigm or gender paradigm and the set of beliefs derived from feminist socio political theory that dominated the field for decades and driven the public policy. Hence, it can be understood that the theoretical background for IPV is patriarchal social structure that allows males to dominate in the relationship. As a consequence the wrongly guided males express themselves as perpetrators of violence while the women being victims. Due to the above situation in the society, the IPV is not finding deserved place in mental health stand point as well as evidence based treatment, except for counseling and legal advice. Moreover, the rehabilitation addresses only the victims but not the relationship they lose due to violence and seeking rehabilitation. As a result, the interventions based on patriarchal paradigm are a failure as it ignores the victims’ version or the fundamental reason for the violence and do not consider restoring relationship and merely concentrates on the financial and educational status of women, which has to be done before the violence as a preventive action. The lack of preventive actions by agencies and service providers resulted in a situation that emanates from the patriarchal social structure in which the males have a view that they are superior to the females in the family. The above perception normally result in domination and ends in violence. In case of female perpetrated IPV, the financial domination, which is a legal or hereditary, may result in domination over the male partner. However, in both the above cases, the intention to dominate the partner or make him/her to obey to the diktats will be a result of violence and hence, the counseling should be done to the male before the IPV happens in the relationship. As a result it is important to consider that the counseling should include the aspects that strengthen relationship without domination and the government should also address the victimization of women by offering additional facilities in education and jobs. Hence, the theoretical background for the intimate partner violence may find two aspects; one being patriarchal paradigm in the society and secondly the intentions of the partners who are more privileged to dominate the unprivileged or dependent partner. In this context, John, (2008, p.38) quotes Archer (2000), Tjaden & Thoennes (2000) who cite Straus’s research that found equal rates of verbal and physical assaults between intimate partners and claim that IPV is a complex phenomenon as multiple etiological explanations that cause dysfunctional and abusive patterns of behavior range from one’s childhood. In the above context, John (2008) quotes the higher rates of physical injuries to female victims and confirms the male domination in IPV. Moreover, in case of female dominated violence, there is not enough physical injuries found on male partners and this confirms the physical assaults of male partners on females. However, there are male victims in IPV in same sex relationships as well as opposite sex relationships and both the contexts find equal importance in this paper (Hamel, John, 2008).
Purpose of the study
Hence, the purpose of the study will be to do the research that explores and discover the relationship between IPV beliefs and practices as well as spirituality among college students. The aspect of spirituality is considered due to the age old practices that controls the emotions of the partners in a relationship. In addition to that the social changes that caused the IPV and the social change implications of IPV also find place in the purpose of the paper. The important implication will be prevention of IPV as well as health promoting behaviors with intersection of spirituality and health for African-American freshmen students. The effects of IPV on health of the intimate partners will be examined and assessed and the interventions necessary can be explored in different chapters of the paper. Hence, the interventions that promote positive health behaviors; both mental and physical are explored to find a solution and interventions for avoiding or minimizing the IPV.
Statement of the Problem
It is important to prevent Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) as well as promoting healthy behaviors. The significant aspects for this research paper are spirituality and health of African-American freshmen students and their well being. The positive mental and physical health outcomes need consideration for gaining above advantage.
Research Questions
How do Perceptions, Beliefs, and Health of Intimate Partners contribute to violence between them and what are the ways and implications to address them through the intersection of their spirituality as well as health interventions.
Definitions of Terms
- IPV: Intimate Partner Violence
- Freshmen Students: The beginners in school, college or in a University
Assumptions and Limitations of the Study
The study is limited to intersection of spirituality of freshmen African-American students- both male and female as well as its effect on violence between them. The study assumes that both male and female partners are in the victims of the IPV and finds through statistics, the extent and difference of victimization in males and females though there are majority women victims. While considering the male and female victims the researcher quote as victims and while discussing about female victims the women or the word female is emphasized. In addition to that one can find that, the paper studies about the causes and sources for the violence from the point of perceptions, beliefs and health of intimate partners if there are any negative indications from them. Moreover, the research is limited to literature available regarding intimate violence and the necessary statistics will be taken for basic quantitative analysis that needs comparison according to the necessity while analyzing the IPV and its causes and implications of violence as well as interventions.
Significance of the Study
The significance of the study lies in the fact that there is substantial number of victims of African-American students and it is necessary for a civil society to address the problem. The future implications of minimizing the violence as well as well being of African-American community is of utmost significance in this study.
Chapter Summary
The first chapter starts with the statement that violence arises from aggression. Hence, the aggression in the partners who are intimate results in violence. However, the aggression depends on the circumstances as the situation of violence is between under controlled and aggressive partners. In case of the partners where the violence is not observed, the nature of the partners and the situations faced by them are also important. In most cases, the financial domination and the shelters for the victims after the violence are discussed and the implications of interventions also found place in the chapter. Moreover, the need for the interventions and actions that prevent violence are also considered as most of the victims are observed for not accessing the service providers for rehabilitation and counseling. In addition to that the chapter recognized from the available literature that there are both males and females in the victims and the difference in addressing their problems is also important.
Domestic violence undermines healthy African American families and communities and this paper concentrates on IPV in freshmen African American students. However, the perceptions of African Americans about IPV and domestic violence is important to create affective programs and interventions strategies, as the perceptions are one of the significant causes of the violence. Hence, the review concentrates on perceptions as well as their consequences. In the next stage it is important to consider the necessity of interventions. The interventions should be capable of reducing the violence as well as rehabilitating the victims. The necessity of the interventions lies in the fact that domestic violence or IPV is posing serious mental and physical health risks and the victims are even facing anxiety attacks. As the violence ranges from rape to stress related illnesses the suicide attempts and homicide are also taking place. According to Tricia B Bent-Goodley (2004, p.307), 37 percent of women taking treatment in emergency room services are the victims of IPV. Hence, it is important to avoid the serious mental and physical violence to avoid the effect of it on the victims mostly women and the next generation.
The Social Psychological Model
Social Learning Theory
As mentioned in the earlier chapters, the violence arises from aggression and that will be one of the reasons for perpetration of IPV, when the personality has been understood as a fixed entity and assessed at a single point of time. Hence, it is important to know the reasons of the above-mentioned fixed entity and the situations and social structure that resulted in the above-mentioned perceptions. As there no realization about personality about its phasic nature, but there exist predictable shifts, which can be changed with reasonable interventions. According to Dutton, Donald G, (2006, p.11) the violence is less reported in the institute of marriage and hence, it can be termed that IPV prevails more in the relationships other than marriage and it will be less in the case of marriage, though it is not ruled out. Interesting fact is that the women victims in marriage relationship are more in number who did not report the violence to police and did not approach the service providers. However, it may prevail in the other relationships that have blood relation as well as in its absence. As a whole, though the IPV is a synonym for domestic violence, the IPV in the present context is different from domestic violence but is a similar case, which have majority of dating partners as the background is college and the participants are African American freshmen students. Hence, it can be understood that, according to social learning theory’s paradigm, the social institution marriage is one of the cause that is capable to minimize the IPV but not a condition that can avoid it. Consequently, the culture and socio cultural background of intimate partners, as well as their situational determinants like; frustration, verbal and physical attack, exposure to violent role models, arousal, aggressive cues, drugs, orders, heat and overcrowding and the responses of aggressive partners to the above contexts may result in intimate partner violence. If the relationship is between male and a female, the relationships between sexual arousal and aggression depend on individual characteristics. Hence, a test for connection between intimate partners may give a cue for interventions to avoid violence as well as for rehabilitation after the violence in the case of victims (Dutton, Donald G, 2006).
Exchange Theory
After suggesting rehabilitation in social learning theory, the assumption of self-interested actors in social exchange theory comes to the fore as they are the ones who are part of the every process from victimization to rehabilitation. These actors may be individuals or the institutions, which mould the perceptions and responses of perpetrators of violence and its victims. Hence, it is important to consider the actors in exchange theory while designing the counseling programs. In the above context, According to Lawler, Edward J., and Shane R., Thye, (1999, p.218), states that the emotions that cause violence in an intimate partnership or in a family come to the fore as they are the important aspects that cannot be subsumed by behavioral or rational choice principles. The emotions may be of various sorts and in every case, the reason for and nature of the emotion may not be the same. This aspect also works in the context of justice and equity as emotional reactions are deemed to be important though they are not theorized but they have become prominent in sociological theories and traditions. However, the paper considers that the prevention of violence is important than the actions taken but the actions taken on perpetrators in time may avoid the further violence. As a result the recommendations are framed accordingly at the end of the paper. Hence, the conceptualization of emotions is necessary though they are short lived positive or negative evaluative sates. However, it is important to know that some emotions are fundamental than others and some being derivative. In addition to that emotions are cultural specific and that is one of the reasons to study intimate partner violence of a particular type of people in this paper. In this context, Lawler et al., (1999, p.219-220) mentions the attempts of psychologists to develop concepts and measures of emotion related words individuals use to express their feelings. In this context, one can observe that the fundamental emotions can be captured by observing that some emotions are categorically different than others. Hence understanding interpersonal behavior of the people in their intimate relationships and knowing causes for them can result in capture of emotional valence and thus can reflect the level of arousal (Lawler, Edward J., and Shane R. Thye. (1999, p.217-220).
Social-Biology Theory
After conceptualization of emotions, the study of evolution of social behavior is necessary to analyze the intimate partner violence as behavior is the root of violence. However, as the behaviors of human beings are complex, the social behavior of them is also important and evolutionary advantages that result in highhandedness in perpetrators of violence and submission in victims. According to text in Gale Encyclopedia of Science (2001, First Para), the importance of social biology theory is to understand the biological needs of individuals and hence it is a relatively new science. Hence, in the above context, social biologists focus on reproductive behaviors as the genes are passed to future generations and they are physically grounded in an individual’s genes according to natural selection. Hence, the natural selection is the basis of social biology theory. Hence according to text in Gale Encyclopedia of Science (2001, fourth Para), social behavior is genetically based and resorting to violence is not an exception for that. In addition to that According to text in Gale Encyclopedia of Science (2001, Fifth Para), in this context sociobiology examines the theory of optimal foraging that explains the way human beings as well as animals use the least amount of energy to get maximum amount of food. This is capable of dominating hierarchies, territoriality, ritualistic behavior, communication in individuals of a particular society and can decide the nature and extent of violence in them. As humans spend association with others for their life time, the social biology describes the human nature. Hence, social biology theory is important to understand the causes for violence in the behavior of human beings and the theory helps to understand the presence of violence in different communities differently (Gale Encyclopedia of Science, 2001).
Social Role Theory
The social role is important while discussing intimate partner violence as society influences the individual behavior of persons and persons of different societies behave differently. Hence, while considering social role theory, it is important to consider devastating effects of workplace violence on employee and organizational well being. However, as the context of intimate partner violence in this chapter is about African American freshmen students, the results in the book Research in Occupational Stress and Well being by Michelle K. Duffy, Kristin L. Scott, Anne M. O’Leary-Kelly, (2004) are understood accordingly. According to the results in the book the violence at college and home may result in decreased morale, health as well as performance in African American Freshmen Students. As the violence at college and home is a serious problem, a prevention research program is necessary from the side of the educational institution of the African American Freshmen students to avoid the violence that affects the morale and performance of the students negatively. There are several women injured by their male partners in college and home and this direct harm for female students suggests the role of institution as well as family in controlling the IPV between African American students (Michelle K. Duffy et al., 2004).
According to Sarla Sarma (1997, p.3-4), quotes that African-American women when compared to their counterparts in Caucasian women are more prone to intimate partner violence as the records suggest that they experienced 1.23 times more minor violence and 2.36 times more severe violence than white wives and intimate partners. Hence, when compared to white women African-American women are more prone to intimae partner violence. In the above context, Sarla Sarma quotes a survey of Gondolf, et al., (1998) about comparison of violence prone women in African-American and Caucasian women, which suggest that the frequency of male assault on women do not much, differ between them. However, African-American women reported more threats or actual use of weapons by the abusive partners compared to thirty-nine percent of Hispanic and Caucasian women. Hence, it can be understood from the above statistics that the intimate partner violence differ in people of different social backgrounds and social role theory best suits to this to explain (Sarla Sharma, 1997).
Summary on Social Psychological Model
In the above model the affects of society and social aspects on psychology of individuals and intimate partners has been discussed. Hence, the social role on individuals and partners is important in discussing and analyzing the violence. Hence, the statistics regarding intimate partner violence in African American women, when compared to women of other societies are taken into consideration to assess that affect on African American Freshmen students. As an individual behaves in a manner, which is formed by the effect of the society in which he/she is brought up, the reason for the male victims in African Americans’ intimate partner violence though they are a minority are taken into consideration to avoid the gender discrimination in analysis and discussion. The comparison of the statistics regarding the victims of violence and the persons involved in intimate partner violence will be taken in discussion part of this paper. In the next stages of literature review, the social cultural model, will be reviewed and then summarized for perusal before going to the research method.
The Social Cultural Model
After socio psychological model, the affects of social culture on the perpetrators of intimate partner violence are necessary to consider as social learning has biological aspects in it. In this context, Reid D. Albee. (N.d) quotes Gelles & Straus (1978) about fifteen theories identified that explain the dynamics of abusive relationships that result in intimate partner violence. The author quotes about social functionalist perspectives like male dominance, control, family power and societal norms. The organization of family unit, male dominance versus equality between partners can play an important role in family functioning as well as the relationship between intimate partners. As the fundamental part of violence is about beating, results from previous research suggest that this is common in households where the husband dominates the decisions of male partner prevails. A leading hypothesis in socio cultural theories is that the males are socialized to resort to violence over females, as they are physically strong and are earning hands in the family. In addition to that despite having socio cultural background of male domination, the inability to dominate the female partner also may result in intimate partner violence in any society. Moreover, the men who feel that the intimacy with women is dangerous and still want it may find it uncontrollable from resorting to violence. Hence, the feelings of psychological discomfort may lead to violent behaviors and the socio cultural aspects for that will decide the dynamics of IPV. The socio cultural background that gives high self-esteem to men but poor sense of control over their life definitely result in violent responses due to frustration (Reid D. Albee, N.d).
Social Systems Theory
According to Campbell, D., Sharps, P., Gary, F., Campbell, J., Lopez, L., ( 2002), femicide is the leading cause to premature death. For the above fact, Campbell et al., (2002) quote Office of Justice Programs (1998). As a result, the African American women suffer with long term disabling injuries and conditions. The general statistics about African American women indicate prevalence of violence more than other societies despite calls for greater inclusion of women. Hence, the social systems theory states that the way interpersonal violence effects African American women depends on the social system to which they belong to and the way the family behaves due to the perceived social regulations. Hence, examination of social system contextual variables is necessary to understand the vulnerability of victims of intimate partner violence. Consequent researches claim that African American women’s responses to violent and abusive behavior are influenced by chronic experiences of racism which are the social consequences of the society in which they live. Hence, the same social contexts may result in men or dominating partner resorting to violence on their intimate partners. However, the previous experiences of African American victims of intimate partner violence may be preventing them to seek help from relevant institutions. As the above mentioned aspect is also a part of social systems, it is important to examine the issues that are relevant specifically to intimate partner violence in African Americans and freshmen students from that community. In this context, the knowledge of incidence and prevalence of IPV on African American people is significant and the Office of Justice Programs (1998) states that the IPV is more prevalent in African American females when compared to Caucasian families. In addition to that the non fatal violent incidents are part of IPV. The victimization due to rape, sexual assault, robbery as well as aggravated and simple assault is vital to differentiate the violence between the intimate partners of African American freshmen students. However, it is clear that African American female victims are more likely to call police than their Caucasian counterparts and this aspect may be a reason for more violence in records regarding the African American Community. Hence, social systems theory examines the reason for women or victims other than African American Community not reporting to police about the violence. However, the non lethal violence may be reported equally by all type of women victims, but certainly social systems prevent the victims of IPV like beating and scolding from reporting to police. More number of victims who did not report violence to police expressed the view that the shame, embarrassment or love were their sole reasons for not calling police. Hence, the above avoidance of calling the police and not seeking the help of rehabilitation centers may result in unseen social conflicts (Campbell, D., Sharps, P., Gary, F., Campbell, J., Lopez, L., 2002).
Social Conflict Theory
The social conflict theory explains the persistent challenge to the continuation of a relationship. The conflict theory’s view point is that the happy relationships are not immune from daily irritations. Hence, finding out the social causes for those types of irritations are part of social conflict theory. In this context, Michael E. Roloff, Denise H. Solomon (2002, p.276-278) quotes about high levels of relational commitment that appear to increase the likelihood of provocative intimate partner that leads to confrontation. The authors further state that the relational commitment constitutes a subjective state of long term orientation that depends on social conflict the partners face while in their relationship. The social conflicts during the relationship decide the effort the partners expend to maintain them and if their efforts are weak the confrontation may lead to violence and the above-mentioned conflicts may be more frequent in African American Freshmen students as the college atmosphere is free of family commitments. Hence, it is important to have an accommodation process that provide high levels of relational commitment and as per the statistics mentioned in this paper till now, African American students need that above mentioned accommodation process as part of the college curriculum. However, the accommodation atmosphere depends on committed partners as they respond to their partners’ neglectful and inconsiderate behavior by constructively voicing complaints remaining silently loyal. In addition to that the more number of violent incidents in African American intimate partners or at least number of cases reported when compared to other community people, should be basis for differences in social conflicts that different communities. In addition to that the social conflict theory decides the decisions to express or withhold relational complaints. The nature of social conflicts decide the delay between the time at which the problem is perceived and the delay in the confrontation. At this stage, the individuals continue to withhold grievances, but try to decide whether to continue confrontation or relationship. Hence, at this stage it is important to note that the uncertainty to manage a conflict and the lack of use of conflict avoidance techniques in a society or a relationship decide the course of relationship and confrontation. Hence, the social conflict theory states that the excess of assertiveness is risky and society decides the extent of assertion. Hence, social conflict theory helps in decreasing irritation in confrontation between intimate partners mainly in the context of African American freshmen students.
Resource Theory
Resource theory in this paper’s context is considers the ones that help in preventing violence. In case of African American students as there are more number of female victims reporting the violent incidents and assault of male partners, the response of criminal justice and health care systems is important. As per the resources concerned, the media and police provide enough resources as they have access to the incidents of violence. According to Robert T. Sigler, Ida M. Johnson (2002, p.274-277), President’s Commission on Law enforcement and Administration of Justice in 1967 identified that African Americans have negative attitudes and the same can be observed in the media and police reports. Moreover, African Americans have less positive attitudes towards police than their Caucasian counterparts. In addition to that African Americans feel that the police are less responsive to their complaints and still their reporting of violence is more and the above aspect suggests that the media is alert in covering those incidents when they are filed by police. However, reports like Criminal Justice Policy Foundation (2000) found the perception of African Americans about police that they treat the minorities in a lesser respectable manner when compared to Caucasian people. Robert et al., (2002, p.277) quotes some media reports about selective enforcement. However, the above mentioned selective enforcement did not fare well with media and is beyond discussions of a disproportionate proportion of minorities in the justice especially in the present case of African Americans. The same can be reflected in the attitudes of African American freshmen students regarding the discrimination of police and media towards African Americans. In the present case, it is important to note that media found that white motorists are rude while addressing African Americans who are guilty of discrimination and this aspect might result in violent behavior with their intimate partners. Hence, media in the above context, should follow a manner that do not expose the vulnerability of African Americans as weakness but as a social discrimination so that they can find reprieve in that coverage. As any form of reprieving a community helps it, the media and police also can help the African American freshmen students by treating them at par with their white counterparts so that their grievance can be addressed. Another issue is about lack of courtesy in routine contacts and there is a probability that the same can be expressed by white dominated media towards African Americans as the people from that community are less in number in media. Hence, the media people’s perception regarding African American freshmen students may result in lack of idea about their behavior and understanding about the causes that lead to violence between intimate partners of that community.
Violence and Media
However, violence and media cannot be separated as media presents violence in the society so that other people know about it. In this context it is important to quote the US department of Justice (2001) report about intimate partner violence in African American Women, which states that they are more likely to report the violent incidents as victims of them. In this context, Vetta Sanders Thompson., & Anita Bazile, (2001, I Para) quotes Rennison (2001) about prevalence of surveys and growing body of literature about intimate violence among African American Women who highlight need for data on attitudes about intimate partner violence services. The media reports and published articles also can serve about the evaluation of DV programs. The media can help in controlling the violence or can help the victims if it can publish or telecast the incidents of violence and the help the victims can get regarding justice and rehabilitation. However, the media can also help regarding the ‘lack of research’ about IPV in African American women as the articles and telecasts of the media can help the researchers about the past IPV and the nature of the incidents and about the statistics of the victims. In addition to the above context, the media can also help the victims of the IPV to get financial support from social services by bringing them into knowledge of service providers and enabling the victims to make use of counseling and other rehabilitating services. Media should keep in view that African American women seek services when the violence becomes life threatening and hence it is important to note that there may be many more violent incidents unreported when they are not life threatening. According to Vetta Sanders et al., (2001) social issues effect African American women and as a result media can be helpful to the victims as well as it can play a role in publicizing it so that the perpetrators may hesitate to resort to violence. In the above context of giving publicity to the violence incidents the media should show restraint, as the African American women have strong pride despite being vulnerable. Hence, it is suggestible for media to keep the details of the victims concealed (Vetta Sanders Thompson., & Anita Bazile, 2001).
Summary on Social Cultural Model
According to socio cultural model, the intimate partner violence shows substantial effect on health of women and the context of African Americans is not different. In addition to that the study of Sherry Lipsky., M.P.H. &Raul Caetano, (2007, p.822-823) states that ethnic minority populations varies by diagnostic category, race and ethnicity, ethnic sub group and immigration status decide the prevalence of mental health problems. The socio cultural situation also may be a cause for delayed access for mental health care or to approach rehabilitation. The data suggests that the above-mentioned problem is more prevalent in minorities especially in African American freshmen students indicating that the socio cultural situation of a community decides the effect of intimate partner violence on mental health of victims. As majority of victims are women, normally women are and their state is considered in the paper and in special circumstances the male victims also find place in discussion. Hence, the mental health of the victims of IPV is discretionary according to their socio cultural situation of their community. Hence, the behavioral model for vulnerable populations depends on the social and cultural contexts of the community. Hence, the health services and rehabilitation or counseling offered should be devised according to the social and cultural contexts the African American freshmen students face in their daily life. As it also depends on socio economic status and in most cases, the economic status decides the culture also, there is probability of victims being constrained due to the controlled behaviors of their partners as well as the culture prevailing in the family and the fear of loss of prestige in the peers. However, in the study that includes quantitative analysis, 5 percent people reported that they had experienced IPV and there are 1.9 million victims in US population of which, 64 percent are African Americans. In addition to that the women who are not married to the cohabiting partner and those with lower education and social status, unemployed experienced IPV. Hence, it can be stated that the socio cultural as well as economic conditions of African American Freshmen students make the women vulnerable for IPV as they are mostly unemployed. However, the original data about the victims may be far more than the data available, as most of the African American women victims did not report the IPV they face. According to Sherry Lipsky et al., (2001, p.825), the prevalence of unmet need of mental health problems is 10 percent versus 7 percent which much lesser than their counterparts in Hispanic and white women. That means, the African American women victims are getting less care after they face IPV and they are the people who are rehabilitated less in number when compared to the other minorities (Sherry Lipsky et al., 2001).
Chapter Summary
The literature review chapter reviews different types of theories that are necessary to analyze and discuss on the mental and physical health of victims of IPV among African American freshmen students. The social biological theory reviews the biological factors that result in emotions of the aggressive partners and the fate of victims. Due to biological factors, emotions finds place in the review. After that the resource theory indicates that the availability of resources may increase aggressiveness in dominating partner and on the other hand the victims can find solace or escape violence if right rehabilitation and counseling are available. In the context of social role theory the literature available suggests that the role played by the partners will decide the aggressiveness of the partners in the relationship. In the next step the social psychological theory model, the IPV in a community is according to psychology of the dominating partners and in turn that is decided by the difference in cultures of one’s own and the culture they live in. The same is true with the victims when it comes to reporting the violence and seeking rehabilitation or counseling. After that the socio cultural model states that the cultural situations decide the aggressiveness in the partners and the role and state of victims. As a whole, the chapter states that most of the African American women victims report the incidents to police when compared to their Caucasian counterparts. As a result, the statistical data states that 64 percent of the IPV cases are from African American couples or partners living together. In addition to that the victims whose mental health problems are not addressed are more in African American women.
The research method is to collect the responses of men and women of African American freshmen students 100 each according to the design of the research. The design decides the questionnaire to the people and the questions are different for male and female partners. The partners are questioned separately and both men and women do not know the questions asked to their partners and answers received by the researchers. In design and data collection, two questionnaires are framed and answers or responses are drawn from the interviewed people. The data collected is used for analysis, discussion and interpretation according to the available literature.
Design and Data Collection
The first part of the design and data collection chapter is Questionnaire I, which is meant for African American male freshmen students
Measures
Measures are taken for getting accurate and true responses. While taking responses from the persons who are contacted personally, their body language has been observed and the response has been assessed accordingly. In case of phone contacts, the assertion in the respondents’ voice is taken into consideration for authenticity of the response. In case of mail respondents, the language they use and the perfection with which they answered to the question and the extent they understood the question are considered. In addition to that all the participants are of the age between 19 to 27 years, women being younger than most of the male partners.
Data Analysis
The data analysis will be done according to the literature and statistics available till date and the interpretation has been done accordingly. Most of the analysis is qualitative thus prompting to know the reason behind the violent or aggressive behavior of dominating partners as well as the causes for tolerating the violence or reporting it to the police?
Chapter Summary
This chapter comprises of the data that decides the number of participants and nature of them. The questionnaires, which are used to ask both male and female participants, are also present and the way the research will be conducted is mentioned. Most of the analysis is qualitative and quantitative analysis is limited to comparison or giving the statistical details of the participants.
The results state that the 68 percent of intimate partners in African American freshmen students involved in domestic violence on their submissive partners. In the research conducted on 100 male and 100 female African American freshmen students, 68 percent responded that they are involved in intimate partner violence either as a dominating partner or a victim. Moreover, the females reported that they are raped by their former or present husbands and half of the victims informed about the physical violence like beating. 25 percent of rape victims responded that they experienced psychological abuse and this is present even in the case of physical violence victims as well as others. Interestingly some of the psychological abuse victims initially responded that they are not victims of violence, but they knew about the harassment faced by them is also violence while trying to find the reasons for not being victims of violence. Most of the sexual violence was found between dating partners. While obtaining answers to the questionnaire above, it was found that the perceptions can influence the behavior as well as the feeling the violence. The researchers found that the aggressive partners are overestimated or underestimated their social competence in peer group and in the society as well as community. Hence, it can be concluded that the perceptions as well as the society and community along with family are responsible for intimate partner violence. The important aspect is that the perceptions and attitudes of the majority of the respondents in the research accept the use of violence. However, while finding the reasons for the answers given for the questionnaire, the researcher was able to convince that the partners’ perception about violence is acceptance. In case of male respondents, 50 percent of the people who resorted to violence responded that the suspicions regarding fidelity of their partners as the main cause for the violence.
Hypothesis Testing
Regarding the testing of hypothesis, it has been clear from the research that the intimate partner violence depends on perceptions of the aggressive partners as well as their family and community background. In addition to that it was found that the suspicions regarding the fidelity of the partner also resulted in resorting to violence in male partners. Moreover, the research has found that the intimate partner violence has extended to dating partners as they are in substantial number in a pool of African American freshmen students. Hence, the reasons for the violence in dating partners and the cause for the continuation of that relationship even after the violence can form a good point for the discussion in the next chapter. Moreover, the majority of the respondents being involved in violence can be a serious concern for the community as the violence cannot guarantee a tension free family life for the individuals of the community. Hence, psychological and community as well as family related reasons will be important in case of African American freshmen students as they form the future families of that community. If the problems are not addressed, there is a chance for the community or the individuals of the community resorting to violence being marginalized in the society.
Chapter Summary
In the summary of the chapter the 68 percent of the people interviewed being involved in violence is formed as a fundamental point. In addition to that the instances, circumstances and causes for resorting to violence as well as accepting the violence are also explored and the data is made ready for the discussion in the coming chapter. It was clear that the male and female respondents did not respond identically and most of the males are identified as the perpetrators of the violence and females as the victims who accept violence for one or more reasons. Hence, it is important to note that another aspect, which is not noted in hypothesis, was found. It is suspicion about fidelity of the female partner by the male partner for which the reason has not been found. However, the point that is important to consider in discussion and recommendations is that; why the female partners are accepting the violence that emanates from the suspicion of the male aggressive partner. In addition to that even dating partners are also found accepting the violence that is related to suspicion about fidelity. It may be due to the intention of the female partners to prove their fidelity to the male partners.
Overview of the Study Problem and Methodology
As per the review and research findings in this paper, the problem of intimate partner violence in African American students is more prevalent than other communities. The violence has find a ground in the responses of 100 male and 100 female respondents, which stated that the male respondents are inclined to be aggressive that leads to violence and female respondents are accepting it to some extent due to compulsion or for the sustenance of partnership. In addition to that the aggression in male partners due to suspicion and the absence of the same in female partners is a point of fact to be included in the previous research. The reason for the difference in the view of male and female African American freshmen students regarding fidelity and making it a compulsion for females when the males are not feeling it as a point of aggression for females needs enough discussion and research regarding the views of the community, which finds out enough evidence for male domination. In addition to that the research in that point of view can also give enough hints for prevalence of intimate partner violence in African American freshmen students as well as in that community. Moreover, the way and the manner in which even the students of African American Community are including the above male dominated feelings in their dating or other intimate partnerships is important to discuss and analyze as it is capable of finding out certain feelings rooted in a community regarding gender differences. Hence, the following discussion also goes in the above up to some extent to find out the reason for violence as well as male dominance in a particular society, which is a bit more than the other communities.
Discussion and Interpretation of Findings
The research regarding intimate partner violence in African American freshmen students finds ground in the study of Moises Prospero., Shetal Vohra-Gupta, (2007, pp.490-491), which mentions about strengthening the association among linked components. As the findings of the research are linked with each other as well as the community settings the social situations, which are also called as components in this context are loosely associated till now. The present research finds the need of the above mentioned association that links social situations with the intimate partner violence. When finding the reasons and causes for the violence, the male domination and other linked factor; suspicions of infidelity are the important reasons for intimate partner violence in African American freshmen students aged between 18 to 25 years. The suspicions may lead to verbal as well as physical violence, which are also related to perceptions and situations. In addition to that the male perceptions about their female intimate partners also lead to IPV victimization and may affect the relationship between IPV victimization and dating situations. Hence, it is important to note that the variety of experience with IPV in college living partners gave valuable information regarding the dating situations. As the dating experiences are regarding the freshmen students intimate partners, they are different from other dating situations. The respondents talked about the situations about their partner’s intimacy with other persons and that lead to violence in most of the cases. However, the violent incidents in the above context are more when the male partner is financially is in lesser status than the female partner. Moreover, as the participants are students the above mentioned violence cases are about fifty percent, which amount to suspicion of infidelity of female partner. However, when the female partner is a dominating one in the relationship, the male partner did not resort to physical violence and in few cases they resorted to verbal violence. In few cases, there is not even verbal violence from the male partner when the female partner is dominating in financial as well as public relations. Hence, the above fact indicates the energetic social relations of female partner with other individuals of the society and her financial status may offer protection from intimate partner violence up to some extent. Hence, the intimate partner violence depends on the scenario of the partnership and nature of male and female partners. Hence, it is difficult to generalize all the intimate partner violence situations regarding to a community and it needs classification so that it may help in the course of rehabilitation and counseling for the victims and female partners. Moreover, when the female partner suspects her male partner, she is feeling envy and male partner is turning aggressive. Though there are contexts that occur in reverse, the above-mentioned type of envy and aggression are of indomitable majority indicating the male domination in African American freshmen student community. The above context is even prompting the female partners to ignore the cheating of male partners and this amounts to gender bias as the situation is male focused and the concerns of the female are not considered as sensitive and thus the perception is primitive, which considers female as a property of male partner. Hence, the counseling of male partners is as important as the rehabilitation of female partners. It is important to note that the rehabilitation is important for victims and the counseling is important for both victims and perpetrators of violence (Moises Prospero & Shetal Vohra-Gupta, 2007, pp.489-502).
After the above aspects the responses from the participants indicate misogynistic attitudes that lead to femicide. The femicide mentioned above may not be killing of women by physical assault, but also due to psychological violence that leads to suicide or starving of women. As majority African American freshmen students who participated in the research reported partner abuse and is related to social class and structural inequalities the victims are facing. In addition to that the female victims of IPV in African American freshmen students are least assisted by their parents when compared to their male siblings. Hence, the intimate partner violence in freshmen students of this community has the roots in domestic violence. Though both types of violence are considered as synonyms to each other the intimate partner violence in the present context is seen as the violence that exists between African American freshmen students that is other than the domestic violence in the families. Hence, the domestic violence in the families of the participants also can be taken into consideration whenever, there is a need of comparison or if it helps in finding a cause for the perpetration of violence. The responses of the black women, there is diversity regarding perceptions. The diversity is a result of financial status of black women and the perceptions of high income black women differ from those of low income individuals. In case of high income black women there is less tolerance towards the violence of the male partner and this is not the same in case of low income black women. High income black women responded that they reported to police about the violence of male partners but low income black women despite having education did not resort to such activity. Hence, the intimate partner violence in African American freshmen students depends on class and other forms of discrimination are also present in it. One of the aspects that establishes the above-mentioned discrimination is that the low income African American black women are not approaching either for counseling or the rehabilitation. In contrast to that, the high income black women also do the same but are not tolerating the violence and are escaping it or resisting it. Hence, it is important to know that the counseling is a need for low income black women who are marginalized in the family. In this case the trauma they experience before the age of 18 may be a cause for their reluctance or fear in approaching the police, rehabilitation agencies or counselors. Moreover, it is important to find out whether the above mentioned agencies are taking care of the people according to their class backwardness and lack of knowledge about the resistance to violence. According to Carolyn M. West, (2004, p.1490), the historical events may influence the contemporary victims in responding to intimate partner violence. Even the over reactions of the police towards the perpetrators of violence also may result in reluctance of black women in reporting them to police. Carolyn (2004) opines that the history of black women being made victims of rape by their masters in the period just after slave trade was made illegal may influence some black women in showing resistance towards violence as they internally feel that there is no use of resistance or they have to accept the violence. In addition to that the black women who are not reporting violence responded that they do not believe in police as their experiences with them are not reasonable or pleasant. They responded that when they report the rape to the police, they did not consider the black women as credible rape victims and have shown little concern for their agony. The above type of experiences may result in black women being reluctant to report to police fearing facing of insults from them. In addition to that black women survivors of intimate partner violence are experiencing psychological distress as they suffer from depression, anxiety, stress and somatic complaints (Carolyn M. West, 2004, pp.1487-1493).
From the research and discussion till now, the results support NVAW survey that generated information about prevalence and incidence of intimate partner violence. As the prevalence of intimate partner violence is high in African American freshmen students, it will constitute a demographic group who are victimized in a certain period. Most of the persons interviewed in this paper are victimized for a life time and number of them are accepting it for a life time though there is a chance of escaping it by separating from the male partner. The above fact is equally true in dating partners as they are more number as the survey is conducted with freshmen students. Though there are married couples in the participants the dating partners are more number. Even in them the majority of female partners are accepting the violence as inevitable part of their life and thus victimization rate is high and is obtained by dividing the number of victimizations committed against persons in a demographic group by the number of persons and considering it for every thousand persons. In this context it was found that in case of rape victims they are raped by current or former intimate partner in 0.2 percent cases. As the surveyed people are only 100 women, 0.2 percent is derived from number of incidents but not from number of people. Hence, if there are 1000 contexts of rape, there are 2 incidents being done by current or former intimate partners. While deciding the above percentage, the experiences of women other than the ones participated in the research are taken into consideration by the information provided by the women participated. In the above context, the survey of Janet Reno., Daniel Marcus., Mary Lou Leary., Julie E. Samuels (2000, pp.9) is taken into consideration, which states that only 12 cases against 3,22,230 cases of rape by intimate partner are reported by US women in year 2000 and this is more prevalent in the women of age group of 18 to 25, which is a condition for the participants of the women and men in this study. After the rape violence, the physical assault is the one that have more number of victims. The physical violence may range from slapping, hitting to using a gun. In contrast to rape victims being women, the victims of physical assault have more number of male victims, when compared to the rape violence. This does not mean that the male victims of physical violence are more than women. That number is only more than the one that is in the context of rape regarding men. In this case, it was found from the survey that 22.1 percent of female participants and 7.4 percent male participants reported as the victims of physical assault by their intimate partners. The next stage of intimate partner violence is stalking and again in this case the majority of victims are women. They suffered from following and harassment from their former partner after they are separated from them (Janet Reno et al., 2000).
In addition to that stalking victims are not less and are more than the physical assault victims. Moreover, the victims of physical assault are not showing enough resolution to complaint about the stalkers to their intimate partners and this resulting an indirect acceptance of this type of violence due to fear of intimate partner thus amounting to another type of violence. The stalkers who are ex husbands of women victims normally try to control them even after separation, which is a sign for male domination in African American freshmen students. In the present case as the demographic group considered is African American freshmen students, the term husband is replaced by intimate partner. Even after the end of partnership or relationship, the ex-partners normally try to reestablish the relationship if the victim is women and if it is not possible, they try to disturb them from establishing relationship with others. In some cases, the stalking cases even caused suicide tendencies in women victims and four out of 50 stalking victims reported that they suffered with suicide tendency due to the harassment of stalkers. In certain cases, the women victims of stalking told about the victims who attempted suicide due to intolerable stalking. Hence, in this case the stalking as intimate partner violence is capable of resulting in femicide and hence find place in counseling to avoid it and is possible when enforcement agencies are strict enough in acting with the culprits or perpetrators of violence. Consequently it is important to include the actions that concentrate on avoiding the stalking incidents and punishing stalkers as part of intimate partner violence rehabilitation services. However, it is not possible without having stalker specific law to protect women being victimized to stalker (Patricia Tjaden., Nancy Thoennes, 2000, pp.427-421).
According to the results obtained in this study it is important to study the domestic violence that undermines healthy African American families and communities. In many families, which are accustomed to male dominance, the domestic violence is not a serious aspect of concern and the victims normally do not approach enforcement agencies or counseling. Moreover, it is important to convince the perpetrators to take counseling. This depends on the opinions of African American freshmen students about IPV as it affects the victims mentally and physically. Consequently, the effect leads to mental and physical health risks. This may range from health issues and anxiety attacks for the victims and in some contexts are suffering with acute stress disorder and chronic depression. As the socio economic status decides the extent of depression and education as well as income distinctions, they also play role in mental health problems of victims of intimate partner violence. Moreover, the identity crisis also risks the life of the victims of intimate partner violence as the effects of violence range from physical injuries to mental health problems. One of the important aspects found from the responses of the participants is about inaccessibility of services regarding domestic violence victims. The accessibility depends on geographical situation as well as the perceptions of the victims. However, in the first step, Shelters and batterer’s intervention programs are not available in all geographical locations and hence, it is important to provide them in all the geographical locations irrespective of number of people accessing them. In addition to that lack of cultural competence also is one of the reasons for not accessing the domestic violence services by the victims. As 60 percent of the victims surveyed in this study reported that they feel the lack of access of domestic services some of the reasons being geographical inaccessibility and lack of cultural competence. In this context, Patricia Tjaden., Nancy Thoennes, (2000, p. 309) quotes Allard (1991) about the denial of housing of African American women as the service providers feel that they are not fearful enough to request shelter. The above fact indicates the need of counseling or educating the service providers about the nature and mind set of majority victims of intimate partner violence; black women. However, the reason for neglecting the black women victims is that the majority of service providers feel that black women are hard and tough and can withstand violence. In fact, that is not true, and the ambiguous mind set of the black women victims in approaching the service providers and inability to give information about the violence makes the service providers to think so about the victims. Hence, it is important to educate service providers on race basis as victims from different communities have different types of perceptions about the government agencies or service providers. The responses from the participants also indicate the same and participants feel that their actions induct the above feeling in service providers as the victims resist the denial of the agencies. The resistance is due to the expression of service providers that the black women are hard and tough and the black women deny that expression from the service providers. Hence, it is important for service providers to take care of black women victims as they are more in number in the context of intimate partner violence. However, some of the women victims who accessed the services reported that the indifference of service providers towards black women is due to racial loyalty and black service providers better understood then about the need of seeking shelter and rehabilitation. Hence, even in the case of intimate partner violence in African American freshmen students, the racism or loyalty of some people to it surfaces while offering services regarding domestic violence or rehabilitation and counseling. The aspect that seems to be pity is that the black women need more counseling as well as their black counterparts, but they are denied or not offered the required services due to racial loyalty (Tricia B. Bent –Goodley, 2004, p.307-310).
Implications for Social Change and Recommended Actions
The implication for social change due to intimate partner violence in African American freshmen students is about the development in the life of the victims as they are denied services they need. As long as the services and rehabilitation are denied, they lag back than their counterparts in other communities and thus their families. As a result, there is probability of next generation suffering from the depression and physical ill health of the black women victims. Consequently, there is a chance of victims and their children being marginalized in the society as there is a chance of developing mental health problems like depression due to violence. Another important social implication is that there will be no change or absence of necessary change in a particular demographic group for example African American individuals as enough counseling is not available for them and offering of services also is not much prevalent.
Recommendations for Further Study
Recommendations for further study include the following issues.
- It is important to address the geographic inaccessibility of services for the victims.
- The government agencies should concentrate on the need of counseling for victims and perpetrators.
- The service providers should act in a manner that enables black women to access the services.
- Finding the causes for the acceptance of intimate partner violence in black women and the steps necessary to remove that perception.
- Finding the origins of male domination that leads to women victims in intimate partner violence.
- After finding the origins the methods that are necessary to be implemented to empower black women so that the research stated that the financial status of victims decides the extent of victimization or at least minimized the victimization.
- After above all aspects it is important to provide enough laws that punish the stalkers, so that they help women victims of stalkers to use the services.
- As the topic of the study concentrates on African American freshmen students, it is important to include college administration in counseling the perpetrators of the intimate partner violence.
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