Violence, control, romance and gender equality: Young women and heterosexual relationships

Mapping digital dating abuse in Brasil and Australia

Technology plays a key role in young people's relationships. While its benefits are well known, less is known about its negative impacts and experiences, such as digital dating abuse. Most studies originate from North American and European countries and have not framed digital dating abuse as a multidimensional phenomenon. Exploring this social and public health issue in the Global-South is necessary because it significantly impacts youths' lives. I use Brown and Hegarty's framework of digital dating abuse as a wide range of harmful behaviours and a gender perspective to review the extant literature on adolescent victimisation in digital dating abuse in heterosexual relationships from a southern perspective. This perspective is demonstrated by drawing primarily from the scholarship of two countries in the Global-South, Brasil and Australia. I argue that digital dating abuse is a multifaceted and gendered phenomenon and suggest a qualitative approach across multiple southern countries aids researchers to compile and study adolescent digital dating abuse experiences, contexts and impacts. This contemporary phenomenon of adolescent digital dating abuse merits scholarly attention as a social and public health problem.

Influence of social media on how college students perceive healthy relationships and consent

Objective: Because of the high rates of sexual assault on college campuses, it is important to examine factors that influence perceptions of healthy relationships and consent, including social media. Because college students are heavy users of social media, it is imperative to consider how social media can influence their participation in risky behavior, including the attitudes and norms around sex and relationships. Participants: Undergraduate college students were recruited to participate in a study that sought to understand how college students navigate romantic and sexual relationships. Methods: Participants (N = 392) completed a survey that assessed social media use, and how they perceived healthy relationship behavior and consent. Results: Results showed social media had more of an influence on perceptions of healthy relationships. However, the influence of social media on consent and healthy relationships is inconsistent across platforms; emphasizing the need for further research.

"It Doesn't Feel Like You Can Win": Young Women's Talk About Heterosexual Relationships

Scholars have long explored the expectations of women to maintain intimate relationships and the gendered discourses governing those expectations. Despite the dating landscape changes, having intimate relationships remains important for young women. Amid these changes and the impacts of #MeToo/#TimesUp, investigating the discourses at play within women's talk about intimate relationships produces a current snapshot that contrasts with past literature. Young, heterosexual women of diverse racial, educational/work, and relationship backgrounds aged 18-24 years (N = 28) attended one of five online videoconferencing focus groups. Using an eclectic theoretical approach informed by feminist post-structuralism and discursive psychology, we analyzed women's talk about doing relationships. Mobilizing a discourse of intimate relationship necessity/importance, young women (a) were positioned as "the silenc(ed/ing) woman," demonstrating a shared understanding of the necessity of silence when doing intimate relationships; and/or (b) actively took up "the communicative woman," which they conceptualized as the hallmark of a healthy relationship. Tensions between these subject positions were evident (e.g., needing to be "cool"). Also, women described no-win situations in relationships despite attempts to contend with these contradictions and limitations. These findings may contribute to educational materials and youth programming delivered in high school or college.

Do Pure Liberals Both Endorse Immigration and Reject Muslims? Examining the Inconsistency Hypothesis

Some people have consistently positive attitudes toward ethnic minority members in every respect. Sniderman and Hagendoorn (2007) characterize these individuals as “pure liberals.” Because of limited empirical evidence on the characteristics of this category of majority members, the consistency thesis, claiming that pure liberals have no negative reactions toward Muslims, remains contentious. Accordingly, we introduce a new idea – the inconsistency hypothesis – claiming that pure liberals’ commitment to greater ethnic diversity may not convert into unprejudiced reactions toward Muslim minority members. To test our inconsistency hypothesis, we fielded a survey in 2018 that also included a so-called list experiment among 716 Danish university students. The list experiment was designed to measure prejudice toward Muslims. Our analyses of the survey’s observational data revealed that pure liberals supported the general idea of greater diversity and remained positive toward ethnic minorities. However, and unlike previous research, the list experiment showed that around 34 percent of pure liberals in the survey were prejudiced toward Muslims. When we combine the observational and experimental evidence, it appears that many pure liberals had inconsistent attitudes: around a third of pure liberals combined support for the general idea of a multiethnic society with prejudice toward Muslims. Our inconsistency hypothesis contributes to literatures on liberal orientations and prejudice toward Muslims: Many liberals are not liberals, and prejudice is surprisingly powerful. The conclusion emphasizes the role of self-interest and distinct values as drivers of prejudice among the strongest advocates of a multiethnic society.

Identifying Nonphysical Intimate Partner Violence in Relationships: The Role of Beliefs and Schemas

While substantial research has been conducted on intimate partner violence (IPV), comparatively little research has examined peoples' perceptions of which behaviors comprise this form of abuse. Early identification of IPV is critical to ending abuse, however, forms of IPV that typically occur earlier in a relationship (e.g., nonphysical abuse) may not be core components of peoples' mental frameworks (schemas) of IPV and may therefore be less commonly identified as abusive. To explore this, in Study 1 participants from an Australian University (N = 86) separately described the relationships with IPV and nonphysical IPV. Analyses identified control, power imbalance, stereotypical gender dynamics (male perpetrator, female victim), physical abuse, and having a low socioeconomic status abuser as common components of participants' IPV schema when not prompted with type of abuse. However, participants largely failed to describe nonphysical IPV behaviors, suggesting limited awareness of the specific behaviors that constitute abuse. To explore this in Study 2, participants from an Australian University (N = 305) were asked to categorize a range of specific behaviors (including physically abusive, nonphysically abusive, and nonabusive behaviors) as definitely, maybe, or never abusive. Drawing on the known positive association between gender and romantic beliefs with the experience of abuse, we also assessed the relationship of identification of IPV behaviors to these beliefs. Moderated multilevel modeling showed that nonphysical IPV behaviors were generally perceived as less abusive than physical IPV behaviors. In addition, stronger endorsement of romantic jealousy was associated with evaluating nonphysical IPV as less abusive. However, romantic jealousy beliefs were not significantly associated with the perceived abusiveness of physical IPV behaviors. Findings support the conclusion that individuals' IPV schemas contribute to a failure to identify nonphysical IPV behaviors as abusive, and this is particularly true for people who more strongly endorse romantic jealousy.

An Examination of Dating Violence Among College Student-Athletes

College students are at increased risk for dating violence (DV) perpetration and victimization. One group of college students who may be at elevated risk is college student-athletes. While levels of athletic involvement range from National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I to Division III, there is currently a lack of information about the dating and relationship behaviors of male and female Division III student-athletes. This study identified the frequency of both minor and severe physical, psychological, and sexual DV perpetration and victimization in a sample of NCAA Division III college student-athletes. We also examined hazardous drinking and hostile sexism as risk factors for DV perpetration and victimization among male and female student-athletes. A total of 350 student-athletes from a Division III university participated in this study. In total, 57% of student-athletes reported perpetrating some form of DV in the past year, while 56% reported experiencing some form of DV victimization in the past year. Two negative binomial generalized linear models assessed if hazardous drinking and hostile sexism were associated with sexual assault perpetration and victimization among men and women. Both hostile sexism and hazardous drinking were predictive of DV perpetration and victimization. These findings serve as an important first step in identifying behaviors that contribute to DV among Division III student-athletes and can be used to inform future prevention interventions aimed at decreasing DV among student-athletes.

Disaggregating Violence: Understanding the Decline

Although trends of violent crime have been examined for over a century, no previous study has examined the change of subtypes of violence over time. This study therefore aims to identify subtypes of violence in Scotland, where violence levels have decreased from one of the highest in Europe to one of the lowest, based on variables relating to the victim, offender, and incident, and to examine how these subtypes have changed over time. Four main types of violence were identified using multilevel latent class analysis on Scottish Crime and Justice Survey data: public no weapon, public weapon, work-related, and domestic. The findings show that although all types of violence have demonstrated an absolute decrease over time, Domestic and work-related violence have demonstrated relative increases over time. The findings are discussed in relation to the inequality of this decrease and propose guidelines for future prevention policies.

Legitimizing Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of Romantic Love and the Mediating Effect of Patriarchal Ideologies

Romantic love in heterosexual relationships is recognized as an important aspect to be considered in relation to the psychosocial mechanisms associated with the persistence of intimate partner violence and the help-seeking barriers faced by female victims. However, few studies have explored the processes underlying the relationship between this form of love and attitudes toward this kind of violence. To do this, the current study aims to analyze the relationship between the adherence to romantic love and the legitimization of intimate partner violence (i.e., perceived severity of violence, victim blame, and exoneration of the perpetrator). It was also to test the mediating effect of patriarchal ideologies (i.e., ambivalent sexism and domestic violence myths) on this relationship. Two hundred thirty-five French adults (51.1% women) were surveyed. The data were analyzed with structural equation models to study the mediations between the variables considered. Consistent with our hypotheses, the results showed that the more the participants adhered to romantic love, the more they blamed the victim and exonerated the perpetrator. They also showed a positive link between romantic love, ambivalent sexism, and domestic violence myths. Finally, the results demonstrated that the relationship between romantic love and the legitimization of violence is mediatized by ambivalent sexism and domestic violence myths. The findings illustrate the need to deconstruct romantic love ideology and the psychosocial logics underlying the legitimization of intimate partner violence.

Australian Adolescents' Experiences of Aggression and Abuse by Intimate Partners

International research has shown that intimate partner abuse affects many young people throughout adolescence. Despite a recent focus on family and intimate partner violence in Australia, there is almost no Australian data on the frequency or nature of youth intimate partner abuse (YIPA). The current study sought to better understand the frequency and nature of YIPA in Australian adolescents. To this end, 423 participants aged between 14 and 18 from Victorian (Australian) high schools completed an anonymous questionnaire regarding experiences of perpetration and victimization in their most difficult intimate relationship. Results showed high rates of both YIPA victimization and perpetration among boys and girls who had been in intimate relationships. As was expected, verbally and psychologically aggressive behaviors were reported more frequently than physically or sexually aggressive actions. Mutual YIPA was detected more frequently than unidirectional YIPA, and most commonly involved high severity reciprocal aggression. The current study further confirmed that YIPA is a complex and heterogeneous issue, involving a range of behaviors, patterns of use, and severities. A gender-sensitive approach to the current study allowed for consideration of the similarities and differences between male and female experiences of YIPA. The current study provides a novel method of ascertaining both the frequency and severity of YIPA experiences in a sample of young people, expands on both Australian and international literature, and identifies important gender considerations for future research.

Healthy Romantic Relationships: Attitudes and Perceptions of College Students

Sexual assault (SA) is a serious issue affecting college students in romantic relationships. Having strong understandings of what constitutes healthy romantic relationships (HRR) can protect students by allowing them to better recognize SA and other problematic behaviors in relationships. However, little research has explored how students conceptualize HRR. Utilizing qualitative thematic analysis, this study analyzed data from individual and focus-group interviews from a sample of 45 students at a southwestern university in the United States. Findings indicated that students understood HRR to be characterized by direct communication, respect, and mutual satisfaction. However, their experiences showed that these ideals were not always achieved. This discrepancy may be explained by the influence of social norms, particularly around sexual behavior and gender role expectations. Implications and recommendations for social workers/counseling professionals are discussed.

Methods for prospectively incorporating gender into health sciences research

Numerous studies have demonstrated that sex (a biological variable) and gender (a psychosocial construct) impact health and have discussed the mechanisms that may explain these relationships. Funding agencies have called for all health researchers to incorporate sex and gender into their studies; however, the way forward has been unclear to many, particularly due to the varied definition of gender. We argue that just as there is no standardized definition of gender, there can be no standardized measurement thereof. However, numerous measurable gender-related variables may influence individual or population-level health through various pathways. The initial question should guide the selection of specific gender-related variables based on their relevance to the study, to prospectively incorporate gender into research. We outline various methods to provide clarification on how to incorporate gender into the design of prospective clinical and epidemiological studies as well as methods for statistical analysis.

Intimate partner violence and the power of love: A qualitative systematic review

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a crime encompassing physical, psychological, financial, emotional, and sexual abuse by a current or former partner. The presence of love in abusive relationships tends to be marginalized in healthcare discourses. The authors' aim in this qualitative systematic literature review was to explore the interplay between IPV and romantic love and their impacts on women. The review provides a rare (but much needed) explanation and acknowledgement that love does sometimes exist in abusive relationships. These insights will assist healthcare workers in offering empathic care to women, based on understandings of the complex and highly unsettled nature of love in abusive relationships.

'In the Islands people don't really talk about this stuff, so you go through life on your own': An arts-based study exploring intimate relationships with young people in Samoa

This study explores conceptualisations and understandings of intimate relationships with young people in Samoa - an at-risk group experiencing high rates of intimate partner violence and alienation from sexual and relationship health promotion. Insights contribute to the immediate need to advance knowledge and practice around prevention with this group. An arts-based approach, which included a two-day interactive drama workshop coupled with follow-up, peer-led focus groups, was used to explore perceptions and understandings related to intimate relationships with 15 tertiary educated young people (nine female and six male) from across Samoa. Intersectionality informed the data collection and thematic analysis, examining participants' lived experiences and the ways multiple and intersecting identities interact within social and cultural systems to influence and inform these experiences. Outcomes highlight important tensions for young people, including the way in which age, gender, religion and sexuality interact with social hierarchies and power structures, socially prescribed gender norms, family structures and globalisation. This research provides insights that can inform the development of prevention strategies to address the root causes of intimate partner violence, building the knowledge and skills required for establishing intimate relationships free from violence with young people.

The vulnerable adult experiment: Situating vulnerability in adult safeguarding law and policy

This article explores the intersection of English adult protection law and policy as it impacted on the lives of people with mental disabilities. It evaluates developments that were premised on the notion of the 'vulnerable adult', in light of recent theoretical interrogation of vulnerability and the normative shifts in law and policy advocated by the UNCRPD. I argue that the policy and legal conceptions of vulnerability developed in England and Wales, if reworked, have the potential to transform our understanding of what it is to be vulnerable into a more radical and socially-grounded framework for adult safeguarding. This article concludes with some reflections on what further conceptual and policy work must be done in order to effect that transformation.

"He Didn't Necessarily Force Himself Upon Me, But . . . ": Women's Lived Experiences of Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships With Men

This study examined women's subjective experiences with sexual coercion (SC), particularly less forceful forms, in intimate relationships. In-depth interviews with 12 university women highlighted that physical violence need not be present for SC to be harmful, as many experienced guilt, anger, sadness, and self-blame. The severity of SC and the context of women's relationships affected their interpretations, which in turn affected the effects of SC. Many women not only held negative interpretations of their partners' SC but also minimized and justified. Thus, the interviews were also critically analyzed for the possible influence of dominant discourses and gendered power relations.

Urban adolescent girls' perspectives on romantic relationships: initiation, involvement, negotiation, and conflict

The purpose of this paper was to describe romantic relationships from the perspective of urban, adolescent girls, to address gaps in our understanding of their relationship dimensions. Minority adolescent girls (n  =  17) participated in private semi-structured interviews aimed to elicit the understanding of the adolescents' perspectives on their own relationship experiences and dynamics. The research team conducted conventional content analysis of the interview transcripts. Four major themes emerged about romantic relationships: (1) influence of male pursuit and social norms on relationship initiation factors; (2) a romantic partner is a confidant, friend, and companion; (3) negotiating intimacy respectfully; and (4) relationship conflict through control and abuse. Adolescents described sub-themes of social norms of male pursuit and relationship pressures that dictated relationship initiation. Relationships were depicted by emotional support, caring, and companionship. Adolescents described positive negotiation skills. However, relationship conflict, including controlling behaviors and violence, was illustrated in these same relationships. This study provides a rich description of romantic relationships from the perspectives of urban, adolescent girls. Most salient findings included social pressures and a combination of both positive and negative attributes. Implications include the need for intervention development at the community level to address social pressures, recognition of positive adolescent relationship attributes, and facilitation of skills to identify and address low-quality relationship characteristics.

"Not used but almost…"--a gender and agency analysis of the grey zone between consensual and nonconsensual sexual intercourse

Rape is a widespread but underreported problem among women. In this article I explore the complexities surrounding the fine line between consensual and nonconsensual sexual intercourse, by studying a rape through which a young woman was infected with HIV. I provide an analysis of how to understand and interpret this episode by applying a gender perspective based on patriarchy-namely, women's submissive position in heterosexual situations compared with men-and the concept of agency, that is, the individual's own decision-making ability, own choices, and different courses of action available, to outline the frame of action available to the informant. The inclusion of agency and a gender perspective offers new dimensions on how to understand and give meaning to narratives that are seldom told.

Amor e violência na intimidade: da essência à construção social

No presente artigo procede-se à descrição e análise das abordagens teóricas sobre o amor nas Ciências Sociais, principalmente na Psicologia. O objetivo é proporcionar uma compreensão geral acerca de como o fenómeno tem sido conceptualizado e analisar como o amor e a violência têm sido articulados. Assinalando os principais contributos e limitações de cada abordagem, defende-se que o amor é um fenómeno sócio culturalmente construído e sugere-se a necessidade de adotar uma perspetiva construcionista para compreender como a violência e o amor se relacionam, no sentido de desconstruir discursos que possam contribuir para práticas relacionais violentas.

Young women's accounts of intimate partner violence during adolescence and subsequent recovery processes: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

OBJECTIVE

Previous qualitative research into the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) has largely focused upon mature women's accounts. The objectives of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) were to explore three young women's understandings of why they had been vulnerable to IPV in mid-to-late adolescence, their experiences of IPV, and their recovery processes.

DESIGN

This study followed guidelines for IPA, largely focusing upon shared aspects of the experience of IPV as narrated by three young women who considered that they had since recovered from the experience.

METHOD

Semi-structured interviews explored participants' retrospective understandings of how they had become entrapped in a long-term abusive relationship in adolescence, how IPV had affected them at the time, and the processes that they had found helpful to recover well-being.

FINDINGS

Participants largely attributed their vulnerability to IPV to feeling confused about feelings and relationships, disconnected, and powerless in early adolescence. IPV was described as escalating insidiously, rendering participants confined, anxious and powerless, ensnaring them in their partner's family, marginalized in their own families, and undermining their identities. Recovery processes began with pivotal moments. Participants described repairing identity through engaging in age-appropriate activities, extricating self from the partner's family, and rebuilding family relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

Participants described experiences of IPV and recovery in adolescence that differed in some ways from those previously identified in adult women and were interpreted using theories of adolescent identity development and attachment.

The Masculinity of Mr. Right: Feminist Identity and Heterosexual Women’s Ideal Romantic Partners

Our study explored the relationship between feminist identity and women’s report of an ideal male partner’s conformity to masculine gender role norms. Heterosexual, mostly White, college women ( N = 183) completed measures assessing feminist beliefs and the masculinity characteristics of an ideal male partner. Results indicated that feminist identity significantly predicted participants' preferences for an ideal male partner’s conformity to masculine norms. Specifically, women who were more accepting of patriarchal culture, endorsing traditional gender roles and denying sexism, reported wanting an ideal male partner to conform to traditional masculine norms of emotional control, risk-taking, power over women, dominance, self-reliance, and disdain for homosexuals. In contrast, feminist-identified women reported wanting an ideal partner who did not conform to the traditional masculine norms of violence, power over women, playboy, and self-reliance. We discuss implications of these findings for women’s heterosexual relationships, including the possibility that feminist identity may serve as a protective factor against involvement in unsatisfying, or even violent, romantic heterosexual relationships.

'I told him not to use condoms': masculinities, femininities and sexual health of Aboriginal Canadian young people

Gendered power imbalances in heterosexual relationships are a key target of gender-sensitive STI risk reduction interventions. Gendered aspects of sexual behaviour have not been explored among Canadian indigenous young people, who are at elevated risk for STI relative to other young Canadians. We used data from in-depth qualitative interviews with 15 male and 15 female indigenous young people to explore gendered sexual behaviour and its implications for STI reduction. There was a pervasive 'double standard' where young men were expected to be sexually aggressive and young women were expected to resist sexual advances; but we also observed 'alternative' or non-hegemonic behaviours. Specifically, young women were often very active participants in sexual negotiations, could refuse condom use and sometimes pressured their male partners to not use condoms. Young men also described being the object of coerced sex, and did not always perceive female sexual desire in negative terms, and were not always receptive to sex. The gendered sexual attitudes and behaviours in our sample were much more complex than usually described in the literature. Intervention work needs to take more realistic account of the sexual interactions that occur between young people.

Associations among Aspects of Interpersonal Power and Relationship Functioning in Adolescent Romantic Couples

This study used a multidimensional assessment of interpersonal power to examine associations between indices of relationship power and relationship functioning in 92 adolescent romantic couples recruited from rural communities in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. Significant differences emerged between girlfriends and boyfriends in their reports of decision making authority, perceptions of humiliating behaviors by the partner, and ratings of themselves giving-in to their partners in a videotaped interaction task. In addition, indices of interpersonal power were associated with dating aggression and relationship satisfaction for both girlfriends and boyfriends, although gender differences emerged in the patterns of association between power and outcomes. Results are discussed in light of current developmental, feminist, and social psychological theories of interpersonal power in romantic relationships.