Chitra Raghavan

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice

In this webinar, we propose a framework that defines Trauma-coerced attachment (TCA; i.e., trauma bonding) as a type of dissociative disorder. Specifically, we align TCA with “Identity Disturbance due to Prolonged and Intense Coercive Persuasion” under the DSM-5’s Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) category. TCA is defined as a powerful d...

Sex trafficking occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud, or coercion to trap their victim into exploitative commercial sex work. Focusing on the fraud and coercion, Basra et al. proposed a new framework, Predatory Helpfulness, which consists of a two-prong process of both a grooming stage priming the victim for seduction, and a recruitment stage...

The understudied bodily harm women experience after commercial sex (CS) may be partially explained by the prominence of Cartesian mind-body dualism in psychological science. Accordingly, we qualitatively explored the mind-body relationship among 79 female sex trafficking survivors. Survivors reported long-term negative alterations in feelings about...

Purpose Coercive control is a power dynamic central to intimate partner violence (IPV) and consists of tactics to limit one’s partner’s autonomy through constraint, regulation of everyday life, isolation, pursuit, and intimidation and physical force. Such tactics may potentially signal a risk for future lethal or near lethal violence; hence, proper...

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed., text rev.; DSM-5-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2022) includes “Identity Disturbance due to Prolonged and Intense Coercive Persuasion” under its Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) category. Though this specification is clinically underutilized, intense responses to...

Despite forensic psychology’s early progressive history with race and gender, contemporary forensic psychology remains largely blind to race, gender, and sexuality with little inquiry into how culture, identity, and intersectionality impacts those in the criminal justice system. This chapter utilizes a psycho-legal case study to illuminate current...

Prior research on coercive control has focused on coercive behavioral tactics to better understand how coercion is exacted in abusive relationships. Furthering this body of research, this study extends coercive behavior to the linguistic domain, by examining the linguistic correlates of long-term coercive relationships. Using transcripts of wiretap...

Women involved in commercial sex rings are often isolated, with only each other as their primary social supports. Such relationships are marked by competition and distrust, promoting women’s belief that only the trafficker can be trusted. In a novel longitudinal case study, using a grounded theory approach and network analysis, we analyzed the soci...

The exotic aura surrounding Bali was embraced as a teaching and learning opportunity in the four-week, faculty-led study abroad programme at the centre of the present inquiry, which asked: how might a place-based pedagogical intervention shape student experiences of an exotified cultural environment? Grounded within sociocultural psychology and the...

Research on violence against men in commercial sex (MCS) has not used detailed assessments nor recruited from high-risk pools, potentially overlooking the violence that some men may experience from sex clients. Accordingly, we intentionally sought a high-risk sample of MCS to examine the experience of violence using a detailed narrative and self-re...

The study of sexual exploitation of trafficked victims cannot be done without understanding their enforced isolation. To better understand the dynamics of isolation, this study examined how traffickers used different elements of isolation and how such tactics may have contributed to the traffickers’ success in maintaining control over the victim(s)...

There is substantial evidence that women experience unwanted sex under nonviolent duress from partners. This study examined the relationship between coercive control and sexual coercion in heterosexual couples. Among a sample of 136 men arrested for domestic violence, extent of coercive control was used to predict the likelihood of using eight spec...

Using mixed methods, we explored the role of coercive controlling behaviors in a high-risk sample of 126 men in violent same-sex relationships. Contrary to a prediction that separate factors of physical violence and coercive control might emerge, a simple principle components analysis supported that male same-sex relationship intimate partner viole...

Trauma-coerced attachment (TCA)—often referred to as trauma bonding— has been noted and documented across various abusive contexts. TCA involves a powerful emotional dependency on the abusive partner and a shift in world- and self- view, which can result in feelings of gratitude or loyalty toward the abuser and denial or minimization of the coercio...

The current study sought to explore if perpetrators of intimate partner violence use coercive control behaviors in their first romantic relationship and subsequent treatment relationship, how behaviors are recalled, if there is a pattern in the behaviors used, and the denial and minimization techniques to explain coercive control behaviors. In thei...

Coercive control, a key element of intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as an abuse dynamic that intends to strip the target of autonomy and liberty. While coercive control is gaining popularity in the research world, little is known about its correlates and causes. This study sought to examine how shame and men's need for dominance, measure...

Coercive control, a key element of intimate partner violence (IPV), is defined as an abuse dynamic that intends to strip the target of autonomy and liberty. While coercive control is gaining popularity in the research world, little is known about its correlates and causes. This study sought to examine how shame and men’s need for dominance, measure...

This article builds upon existing place-based research through the application of a socio-spatial perspective to make sense of how students’ experiences in/of place shape, and are shaped by, the production of experiential learning space. Rather than focusing on the individual as the unit of analysis, this article is concerned with understanding how...

This article seeks to explore the relationship among three individual-level trait measures of masculinity and two aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV), physical violence and coercive control, in a sample of 137 heterosexual men court mandated to a batterers' treatment program. Results indicate that aspects of masculinity, specifically restric...

The present descriptive study analyzes stalking in a sample of 278 Spanish court cases involving partner violence and contrasts the benefits of the new bill article 172ter, which criminalizes stalking, compared with the Organic Law 1/2004 on partner violence. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the total sample included stalking behaviors, which manifest...

Although well documented across multiple abusive contexts, trauma bonding (here referred to as trauma-coerced bonding or trauma-coerced attachment) has yet to be systematically studied within the context of sex trafficking. The theory surrounding trauma-coerced bonding posits that victims of abuse can form powerful emotional attachments to their ab...

A vignette methodology was used to assess interrogation expectations (IE) among a diverse sample of adults. Vocabulary level, comprehension of Miranda rights, and demographic variables were also assessed. Substantial individual and racial/ethnic group variation in IE was found, with Black participants exhibiting significantly lower expectations of...

The goal of this study is to present the development and validation of a sexual coercion assessment instrument for college students, the Multidimensional Sexual Coercion Questionnaire (MSCQ). An exploratory factor analysis for ordinal Likert data, followed by a confirmatory factor analysis in 762 college students, revealed seven factors. These pert...

Reported rates of lethal and near-lethal violence by male same-sex intimate partners appear to be quite low. While these rates are undoubtedly lower than that of male to female intimate murders, the actual numbers are likely underestimated because of underreporting and misclassification. The goal of this study was to examine incidents of near-letha...

This volume introduces and critiques the various methodologies employed in current research on domestic violence. By discussing different methodologies side by side as they are applied to the same aspect of domestic violence, and by examining diverse populations (including international samples and sexual minorities), the editors provide insight in...

Male peer support theory is based on same-gender influences on men perpetrating dating violence against women. However, research indicates that male peer support theory might not hold for cross-gender influences and lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) relationships. This study examined across sexual orientation the composition of social support networ...

Contradicting the views commonly held by westerners, many Muslim countries in fact engage in a wide spectrum of reform, with the status of women as a central dimension. This anthology counters the myth that Islam and feminism are always or necessarily in opposition. A multidisciplinary group of scholars examine ideology, practice, and reform effort...

The central point of this paper argues that measuring physical violence alone is insufficient to detect relational distress in child custody/parenting time mediation samples. We present empirical findings from a large study attending custody/ parenting time mediation. Results suggest that the most economical and efficient screening tool should incl...

Research argues that coercive control (CC) is a special case of intimate partner violence (IPV). The present study hypothesized that instead CC is the motivator for other types of IPV, with control of the victim as the goal. When CC fails, physical types of IPV are used. This hypothesized relationship was tested using a large matched sample of 762...

The authors examined how witnessing community violence influenced social support networks and how these networks were associated with male-to-female intimate partner violence (IPV) in ethnically diverse male college students. The authors assessed whether male social support members themselves had perpetrated IPV (male network violence) and whether...

This study explores relationships among childhood sexual abuse (CSA), age of substance use initiation, additional traumatic events, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a sample of adolescents. A history of CSA that preceded substance use was not related to an earlier age of substance use initiation. Early initiation of substance use predict...

This study of a predominantly Hispanic sample of 92 male and 140 female college students examines both gender symmetry in intimate partner violence (IPV) and inconsistent relationships found in previous studies between sexist attitudes and IPV. Results indicate that although comparable numbers of men and women perpetrate and are victimized in their...

The bulk of eating disorder studies have focused on white, middle-upper class women, excluding ethnically and economically diverse women and men. Accordingly, our knowledge of prevalence rates and risk factors is reliant on this narrow literature. To expand upon the current literature, we examined eating disorders in ethnically diverse low-income,...

Although social networks and substance abuse have been extensively studied, less is known about the role social networks play in the context of neighborhood disorder and depression. Sixty-five women were recruited from CASAWORKS for Families, a national demonstration project for substance abusing women. Average participant age was 31; half of the s...

The links among social disorder, violence in the social support network (NIPV), community violence, and women's substance use were examined in a sample of 50 low-income, nonshelter women to predict intimate partner violence (IPV). The authors found that living in a neighborhood with higher levels of social disorder and using substances increased wo...

The goal of this study was to examine how individuals evaluate themselves and their ingroup on a series of values that vary in cultural importance across Asian American and North American cultural groups. Specifically, we examined cross-cultural differences in mean levels of culturally-based competencies, and explored whether there are also cross-c...

This study explores cross-sectional relationships among childhood sexual abuse (CSA), lifetime traumatic events (LTEs), age at first use of substances, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 644 low-income substance abusing women. History of CSA covaried with earlier age at substance use and higher reported rates of LTEs. Association between f...

This study examines the roles of physical and emotional abuse and resource utilization, relationship efficacy, and childhood abuse on relationship status (together or separated) in a sample of 69 low-income, nonsheltered battered women. Separate path models were conducted for physical and psychological abuse. Increased physical abuse was related to...

The authors examine the narratives of 24 substance-addicted welfare recipients to understand how their neighborhoods provide a particular context for substance abuse, violence, and social isolation. The authors also examine the relationships among substance abuse, violence, and social isolation. Overall, these narratives indicate that place of resi...

A conceptual framework is advanced that assumes that psychological symptoms emerge within multiple contexts, such as the workplace, and are influenced by the interplay of individual and situational risk and protective factors over time. This framework was utilized to examine the impact of work and work-family role stressors, coping, and work-relate...

We propose a taxonomy of emotional disturbances composed of (a) emotional valence disturbances, (b) emotional intensity/regulation disturbances, and (c) emotion disconnections. Our rationale for developing such a taxonomy is that it can draw additional attention to the importance of emotional disturbances and can provide a framework for organizing...

One goal of this paper is to present an integrated tripartite model of violence, with a focus on structural violence within an oppression paradigm. Using qualitative and quantitative data from 27 women (70% African American and 30% European American) who participated in a national substance abuse treatment demonstration program, we describe a model...

One goal of this paper is to present an integrated tripartite model of violence, with a focus on structural violence within an oppression paradigm. Using qualitative and quantitative data from 27 women (70% African American and 30% European American) who participated in a national substance abuse treatment demonstration program, we describe a model...

Two studies examined the relationship between culture and alexithymia. In Study 1, mean levels and correlates of alexithymia were examined in 3 cultures: European American (EA), Asian American (AA), and Malaysian college students. Both Asian groups had higher alexithymia levels than the EA group. Somatization was more strongly associated with alexi...

Two studies examined the relationship between culture and alexithymia. In Study 1, mean levels and correlates of alexithymia were examined in 3 cultures: European American (EA), Asian American (AA), and Malaysian college students. Both Asian groups had higher alexithymia levels than the EA group. Somatization was more strongly associated with alexi...

We examined the diathesis-stress model of sociotropy and autonomy in the prediction of dysphoria and self-reported hostility. Participants were 39 women who had recently relocated to the United States. Because participants relocated at approximately the same time and for the same reasons (husband enrolled in a university program), we were able to m...

Increasing evidence indicates that multiple risk factors can contribute directly to depression. The current work explores the direct relationships between the cognitive–personality characteristics of sociotropy–autonomy and depression in a sample of 43 patients with DSM-IV unipolar major depression and 43 nondepressed community controls. Controls w...

This chapter provides a scientific perspective on suffering and well-being. The authors describe the factors that contribute to emotional disturbances and point out that these factors range from the molecular to the societal. They show that emotional disturbances can best be understood by attending to interactions between different etiological fact...

Printout. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-50).