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Cycle of Violence
Abstract
In 1979, Lenore Walker published The Battered Woman within which she proposed her tension‐reduction theory of three distinct stages associated with recurring battering in cases of domestic violence: the tension‐building phase, the acute battering incident, and the honeymoon phase. Instead of seeing domestic violence as a set of randomly occurring episodes of violence, Walker demonstrated how the violence followed a predictable cycle or pattern that repeated itself. With each cycle, the length of time required to complete it becomes shorter and the violence within it increases. To explain why women stay in the abusive relationship, Walker incorporated such concepts as learned helplessness, battered woman syndrome, and posttraumatic stress syndrome. Tests of Walker's theory have found it to have limitations in accounting for bi‐directional abuse, recognizing the intermittent occurrence of violence, and explaining the range of nonviolent, controlling behaviors used by batterers as proposed in the Duluth model.
... Bu ifadelerle ilişkinin "eski" haline dönmesi için çabalayan erkek çok geçmeden gerginliğin yükselmesiyle birlikte yeniden fiziksel şiddete başvurur. Bu döngü kadının şiddetten uzaklaşmasını güçleştirse de kadının fiziksel şiddete maruz bırakılmadığı zamanların az da olsa istisna zamanların bulunduğu anlamına gelir(Wilson, 2019). Budurumun tersine psikolojik şiddet, baskı ve güçsüzleştirme yoluyla kadının ruh sağlığına zarar verme amacını taşır. ...
TR
Şiddet, kapsamı her geçen gün daha da genişleyen bir fenomen haline gelmektedir. Buna rağmen şiddet denildiğinde doğrudan fiziksel güç kullanımına dayalı fiziksel şiddet akıllarda belirse de şiddetin farklı görünümleri bulunur, psikolojik şiddet de bu şiddet biçimlerinden yalnızca biridir. Sıklıkla fark edilmeyen, fark edilse de temelinde sevginin bulunduğu düşünülen psikolojik şiddet, toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin neden olduğu ve şekillendirdiği problemlerden biridir. Toplumsal cinsiyet rolleri doğrultusunda kadının mağdur, erkeğin fail olarak yeniden etiketlendiği ataerkil toplumsal yaşam düzeninde psikolojik şiddetin bir tür ilişki biçimi olduğuna dair fikirler de bulunmaktadır. Eril temellere dayanan zarar verici ilişki biçimlerinin yaygınlığı nedeniyle psikolojik şiddeti tanımlamak zorlaşmaktadır. Niteliği bakımından fiziksel iz bırakmaması nedeniyle gözlem yoluyla fark edilmesi güçleşen psikolojik şiddetin ağır sonuçları olabilir. Psikolojik şiddet, “basit” hakaret ve tehditlerle başlasa da fiziksel, ekonomik ve cinsel şiddeti de ortaya çıkarabilir. Dilde başlayan şiddet, kadın cinayetlerine kadar uzanan patolojik bir süreci içinde barındırır. Psikolojik şiddetle mücadele edebilmek için öncelikle bu şiddet türünü anlamak gerekir. O nedenle psikolojik şiddeti farklı araştırmalardan destek alarak örneklerle tanımlamak psikolojik şiddeti anlamak için geniş bir çerçeve çizecektir. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı psikolojik şiddeti somutlaştırarak ne olduğunu anlamaktır. Şiddeti psikolojik hale getiren davranışları ve söylemleri detaylandırarak romantik ilişkilerde halihazırda mevcut olan şiddetin fark edilmesini kolaylaştırmak ve psikolojik şiddetle mücadelede yürütülebilecek sosyal hizmet uygulamalarına değinmek bu çalışmanın amacını detaylandırır. Şiddete maruz bırakılan kadınlarla çalışan meslek elemanları için birer uyarı niteliği taşıyan psikolojik şiddet unsurlarının farkında olmak, şiddetle daha erken mücadele edebilmek için önemlidir. Önleyici uygulamaların mümkün kılınması için psikolojik şiddet tanımına dahil edilebilen her eylem ve söylemin farkında olunmalı ve mevcut mevzuat şiddetle mücadele doğrultusunda daha etkin uygulanmalıdır.
ENG
Violence is becoming a phenomenon which scope is expanding day by day. However, when violence is mentioned, although physical violence based on the use of physical force appears in mind, there are different kinds of violence, and psychological violence is only one of these forms of violence. Psychological violence, which is often not noticed and thought to be based on love, is one of the problems caused and shaped by gender. There are also ideas that psychological violence is a form of relationship in the patriarchal social life order, where women are (re)stigmatization as victims and men as perpetrators in line with gender roles. It is difficult to define psychological violence due to the prevalence of harmful relationship styles based on masculine foundations. Psychological violence, which is difficult to detect through observation due to its nature, can have serious consequences. Although psychological violence starts with “simple” insults and threats, it can also reveal physical, economic and sexual violence. Violence that begins in the language includes a pathological process that extends to femicide. To combat psychological violence, it is necessary to understand this type of violence first. Therefore, defining psychological violence with examples with the support of different studies will draw a broad framework for understanding psychological violence. The main purpose of this study is to understand what it is by concretizing psychological violence. By detailing the behaviors and discourses that make violence psychological, it will make it easier to recognize the violence that is already present in romantic relationships and to touch on the social work practices that can be carried out in the fight against psychological violence, detailing the purpose of this study. It is important to be aware of the elements of psychological violence, which serve as a warning for professionals working with women who have been subjected to violence, to be able to combat violence earlier. To enable preventive practices, every action and discourse that can be included in the definition of psychological violence should be aware of and the current legislation should be implemented more effectively in line with the fight against violence.
Elder abuse is an increasingly significant public health and human rights issue in aging and long-lived societies. Despite existing intervention strategies, the lack of emergency housing tailored to older victims of abuse remains a critical gap. This study explores professionals’ perceptions of elder abuse, response measures, and challenges in addressing abuse, with a focus on rural regions. A survey was conducted among 100 first responders—social workers and police officers—who intervene in cases of elder abuse. Results indicate significant differences in perceptions of elder abuse severity, with social workers consistently rating all forms of elder abuse as more severe compared to police officers. Both groups highlighted the necessity of multidisciplinary teams, crisis centers, and safe houses as essential responses but recognized a lack of specialized infrastructure and resources as a significant challenge. Respondents emphasized that victims’ reluctance to report abuse due to family dynamics, shame, and isolation further complicates intervention efforts. Good practices identified interinstitutional collaboration, building victim trust, and proactive interventions. The findings underscore the need for age-appropriate safe spaces, improved professional training, and enhanced community awareness to address elder abuse effectively.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a rising issue in Bhutan and has pervaded Bhutanese women’s lives silently. The information about Bhutanese women’s help seeking behaviours is scarce. This study aimed to explore the sensitising concepts about how and when Bhutanese women recognised IPV and responded to it. Fifteen women who had experienced IPV and seeking support services at RENEW (Respect, Educate, Nurture, Empower Women) were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to establish the patterns of responses and finalise themes to better understand the phenomenon under enquiry. Six distinct turning points were identified which motivated women’s help-seeking behaviours. These include: 1) Increased threats to self-esteem and dignity, 2) Failure to change his behaviours, 3) Increased severity of violence, 4) Concerns for parents, 5) Gaining positive support, and 6) Reflecting and rewinding the experience of IPV. These novel findings highlight the importance of knowledge, positive response, and individual values in relation to women’s help-seeking behaviours. This article makes recommendations for relevant practice and policy makers in Bhutan to positively influence women’s help-seeking behaviours.
This study explores the dynamics of Intimate Partner Violence dynamics and the help-seeking experiences of immigrant women during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Portugal through an intersectional framework. Despite ample literature on intimate partner violence, few studies have explicitly focused on the compounded challenges faced by immigrant women during a global health crisis. Through qualitative research, we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with immigrants who experienced intimate partner violence during the pandemic. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results reveal that the pandemic exacerbated violence dynamics, with most participants reporting an increase in violence and a diversification in its types. Additionally, the coping mechanisms employed by victims were often ineffective in mitigating this violence. Regarding help-seeking, the study identified five main barriers, highlighting the role of cultural barriers, isolation, lack of knowledge about available resources, economic dependency, and fear of legal repercussions. These barriers compounded the difficulties faced by victims in accessing support. This research reinforces the transversal impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the lives of immigrant women who faced intimate partner violence, emphasizing the need to adopt an intersectional approach that addresses the unique challenges faced by this vulnerable population. Actions needed include culturally tailored educational campaigns to raise awareness of violence and available resources, community-building initiatives to reduce isolation, and policy reforms to improve the accessibility and responsiveness of support services for this population.
In the extensive research on intimate partner violence (IPV), the emphasis on female victimization has led to a detailed exploration of intimate partner femicide (IPF) as its most severe outcome. Although numerous studies have investigated IPF risk factors, the specific situational triggers leading to these incidents remain under-examined, particularly in the Chinese context, where research on this topic is notably limited. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 238 Chinese judicial cases of IPF involving married females. Utilizing an ecological framework and qualitative analysis, the study identifies situational triggers of IPF across various levels: societal (e.g. bride price conflicts, return to Niangjia, oppression and termination of economic dependence in uxorilocal marriage), relationship (e.g. broken intimate relationships, infidelity, and situational arguments in marital life), and individual (e.g. offender with mental illness, offender suicide, and alcohol use by the offender). The study, however, finds no evidence that community-level factors serve as situational triggers of IPF. This study not only empirically validates the identified situational triggers of IPF but also enhances the ecological framework’s applicability in understanding this phenomenon.
This article provides an overview of the Survivors: Local Stories of Domestic Violence (hereafter, Survivors) civic engagement project. Survivors’ learning objectives were to increase the understanding of the complexity of intimate partner abuse and foster empathy in outsiders’ responses, something at the cornerstone of the #MeToo social movement and connected to trauma-informed teaching. To accomplish these goals, students were given quotes from individuals who suffered abuse and were asked to create a “body” that reflected the abuse and the “after” (coping/healing). This project was then presented at a local theater and included community members who read the quotes while the students presented their work. After the event, event participants were invited to submit their feedback via a brief survey or interviews, which resulted in involvement from 45 individuals. Analysis of both items reveals that Survivors was a meaningful experience for the students and community members involved.
Introduction:
The partner violence literature describes 3 dominant models of dynamics of partner aggression: cycle of violence, family systems theory, and Duluth model (power and control wheel). Complexity science describes 3 patterns of system dynamics: periodic, chaotic, and random. Are these parallel patterns? In this analysis, investigators calculated dynamic patterns (periodic, chaotic, and random) using 84 daily reports of male-to-female aggression and assessed the "fit" between time-series-derived patterns of male partners' violent behaviors and literature-based models of violence dynamics.
Method:
Participants were 200 women in moderately violent intimate relationships who completed a telephone survey about their relationships every day for 12 weeks. They also completed baseline and end-of-study surveys and maintained telephone contact with the study team weekly. Of 200 participants, 135 women provided enough data to be assigned to period, chaotic, or random groups.
Results:
Group membership included 16 women in periodic, 40 in chaotic, and 79 in random groups. Consistent with the cycle of violence, periodic women found violence to be predictable and controllable. Consistent with the Duluth model, women in the random group found violence to be unpredictable and out of their control, occurring with high frequency. The chaotic group had the lowest frequency and severity of violence, lowest stress and arguments, and the highest marital satisfaction.
Discussion:
The most common dynamic pattern in partner violence is random, which exhibits high frequency and unpredictability of aggression. Complexity science suggests interventions in random systems have unpredictable outcomes, posing great challenges for clinicians who work with victims of violence. (PsycINFO Database Record
A contemporary psychoanalytic view of relational masochism is presented and applied to the 2 major psychological paradigms used to understand domestic violence: traumatic bonding (D. G. Dutton and S. Painter; 1981) and the cycle theory of violence (L. Walker; 1979, 1984). Some of the prominent dynamics of relational masochism are considered: (1) the attempted control over the love object; (2) defensive operations of denial, identification, and projection; (3) low self-esteem; and (4) depressive affect. The relationship between child abuse, future spouse abuse, and difficulties in separating from the abusive partner is examined. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The concept of a battered woman syndrome was tested by assessing 50 battered women and 25 emotionally abused women who had recently left their relationships. For both groups, essential features of the syndrome were present and were significantly interrelated. Dynamic features of the prior abusive relationship correlated significantly with these sequelae. The concept of intermittency is proposed as an alternative to the cycle of violence theory as main contributor to the syndrome. Predictability of abuse was found to be unrelated to the intermittency measure.
This article explores how the acceptance of the battered woman syndrome as the explanation for why abusive relationships continue can be understood as a cultural compromise. The syndrome's portrayal of battered women as passive victims resulted in an exclusive definition of who “counts” as a victim. It further emphasized many abused women's weaknesses rather than their resourcefulness and overlooked the plights of a great variety of women in need of help. More important, it placed emphasis on individualized solutions for domestic violence rather than addressing structural inequalities in American society. These issues ultimately led to a critique by other advocates of the battered woman syndrome as an inadequate and flawed explanation for domestic violence. Yet despite its weaknesses, the syndrome allowed advocates the chance to appeal to the larger public and, ultimately, begin the process of alleviating structural inequalities.
Suggests the construct of learned helplessness (LH) as a psychological rationale for why battered women become victims. Published literature and the author's clinical experiences in the US and Great Britain provide material for analysis and treatment recommendations. The LH theory has 3 basic components: (a) information about what should happen (the contingency), (b) cognitive representation about the contingency, and (c) behavior. It is suggested that the sex-role socialization process may be responsible for the LH behavior seen in adult women, specifically battered women. The LH theory proposes that the only successful treatment to reverse the cognitive, emotional, and motivational deficits is to learn under which conditions responses will be effective in producing results. The existence of a 3-phase cycle of violence has been isolated from the stories of battered women: tension-building, explosion of acute battering incidents, and calm, loving respite. The phases vary in time and intensity both within the same couple and between different couples. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Intimate partner violence (IPV), also known as domestic abuse or relationship violence, has generated a large research literature
for the last half-century, particularly in the areas of criminal justice, psychology, and the social sciences. Interventions
for victims and perpetrators of IPV have largely been sequestered to separately evolving efforts of law enforcement and the
psychotherapeutic community (Chang et al. Women’s Health Issues, 15(1), 21–30, 2005; Dalton Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 15(1), 59–75, 2007; Dobash and Dobash 2000; Feder et al. 2008; Gerbert et al. Journal of Family Practice, 49(10), 889–895, 2000; Wathen and MacMillan. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289(5), 589–600, 2003). This article presents a brief overview of the historical evolution and development of these discrete perspectives and identifies
and assesses current collaborative interventions rooted in these historical precedents. In conclusion, the authors provide
a summative discussion of the most current findings of research into IPV interventions, with a particular focus on the changing
roles of race and gender in both the criminal prosecution of IPV and services provided to IPV perpetrators and victims.
KeywordsBatterer programs–Intimate partner violence
This article features a critical review of accumulated research and conceptual issues regarding Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS). BWS is recognized as important in providing legal defense to victims and as basis for diagnosis and treatment. However, there has been confusion as to the definition of BWS such as the use of violence committed against the woman as the defining characteristic. The study introduced by Walker demonstrated cycle of violence and learned helplessness to battered women. In addition, studies found out that BWS, manifested in a form of depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, physical symptoms, is evident in some abused women putting them at risk of suicide and homicide. Symptoms attributed to battering may also be a result of stress from a troubled relationship. The Learned Helplessness and Grief Theory (Campbell, 1989) explains the depression in battered women. Moreover, researchers are in disagreement of the factors that affect the level of trauma such as frequency of abuse, educational status and severity of sexual and emotional abuse. The issue on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and learned helplessness in BWS remained unresolved. Some researchers view battered women in the context of "survivors rather than victims". Furthermore, studies prove that battered women may experience stages of abuse where the manifestations of BWS are part of the steps to conflict resolution. Basing on these descriptions and findings, it is made clear that not all battered women experience BWS.
Physically disabled women are a population at significant risk for intimate partner violence.
This study used a qualitative research design to address the abuse experience of physically disabled women.
The participants identified multiple incidences of abuse, focusing on how the abuse began, proceeded, and terminated. A model was constructed to depict the abuse experience. The progression of abuse triggers, responses of the women, the abuse episode, the after-effects, and the slow return to usual routines were identified.
A model, which is different from Walker's Cycle of Violence (Walker, 1979; 2000), was constructed to demonstrate the journey of women with disabilities through the abuse.
The construct of Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS) has been conceptualized as a subcategory of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is composed of the following symptoms: (a) re-experiencing the battering as if it were reoccurring even when it is not, (b) attempts to avoid the psychological impact of battering by avoiding activities, people, and emotions, (c) hyperarousal or hypervigilance, (d) disrupted interpersonal relationships, (e) body image distortion or other somatic concerns, and (f) sexuality and intimacy issues. This article presents empirical data derived from administering the Battered Woman Syndrome Questionnaire (BWSQ) to women of four countries--United States, Spain, Greece, and Russia. The data support a theory of BWS.