Domestic Abuse
In several speeches in 1989, the Uni
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In several speeches in 1989, the United States Surgeon General indicated that over 2 million women are physically assaulted by their spouses or partners each year (Geffner & Rosenbaum, 1990). The O.J. Simpson trial, despite its many sideshows, managed to place the issue of domestic abuse more firmly on the center stage of public discourse. The growing awareness of the seriousness of the domestic abuse problem has resulted in the legal system taking such cases more seriously. In addition to increased incarceration and punishment, many judges have begun referring men who abuse their partners in domestic abuse intervention programs. However, few studies have been made to assess the effectiveness of such programs. Those studies that have been conducted have only drawn weak conclusions, due to their limited sample sizes. Further, there tends to be a lack of control for history, maturation, lurking variables, and other methodological concerns. This study will examine one particular intervention program, controlling for these various concerns, in order to assess both its immediate effectiveness in preventing abuse, as well as the stability and longevity of those effects.Just as the social problem of domestic abuse has only lately gained public notice, the scholarly study of domestic abuse is a recent development. Edleson and Tolman (1992) note that most historical reviews of the subject are sketchy, touching on some ancient Roman writings,
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ticipants in follow-up are more likely to be abusive, and therefore success rates based on program completers may be biased" (80).
The second methodological concern is the source of data for many previous studies. Some studies use police reports, which is a poor choice since many if not most incidents of abuse go officially unreported (Dutton, 1986). Most studies instead use self-reports through surveys or interviews of abusers. There is some evidence that suggests that such methods tend to underreport incidence as well (e.g., Edleson, & Brygger, 1986; Jouriles, & O'Leary, 1985). The best sources for data are either female (victim) self-reports, or combined male-female reports. However, only a minority of studies use such sources.
The third and most serious methodological problem is the differing conceptual definition of abuse. Typically, abuse and battery are treated interchangeably, the focus being on actual physical violence. However, feminist theory holds that psychological abuse can be nearly as severe. Most previous studies define successful outcomes as the reduction or disappearance of physical violence (Edleson & Tolman, 1992, 79). Other researchers report, however, that the absence of physical abuse often doe
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Approximate Word count = 3664
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)
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