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Violence and Abuse

Terms in this set (73)

Intimate Partner Violence
IPV is actual or threatened physical or sexual violence or psychological abuse

Common terms to describe IPV are domestic violence (DV), intimate partner violence (IPV), family violence, and abuse

Nurse may be first to identify signs of IPV
Intimate Partner Violence: Definition
A pattern of abusive behaviors used by one individual to maintain power and control over a partner in the context of an intimate of family relationship

Abuse may be physical, emotional, sexual, financial

It is a cycle/pattern

Distinguished as abuse when one person has power and control over the other
Intimate Partner Violence: Intimate Partner Relationships
Dating partners
Married partners

Same sex partners

Living together

Have a child in common

Roommates

Adult child/parent

Siblings

Caregiver
Intimate Partner Violence: Power and Control
Using coercion and threats

Using intimidation

Using emotional abuse

Using isolation

Denying, minimizing, and blaming

Using children

Using privilege

Using economic abuse
Intimate Partner Violence: Power and Control: First Tactic
Often starts with isolation so woman has no support system
Intimate Partner Violence: Incidence
Mostly women
- 1 in 3 women
- 1 in 4 men (stats vary)

Most common between 18-24 years
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV
Generation-to-generation continuum of violence

Cycle of violence
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV: Generation-to-Generation Continuum of Violence
Children exposed to IPV more likely to become victims or perpetrators in adulthood

When parent is abused, children are usually abused as well

Exposure connected to developmental difficulties, problem behavior, and physical and mental health effects
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV: Cycle of Violence
Three distinct phases:
- Tension-building phase
- Acute battering phase
- Honeymoon phase

Begins with tension-building arguments, progresses to violence, and settles into a making-up/calm period

Increases in frequency and severity as it is repeated, growing more dangerous

Honeymoon phase shortens and eventually disappears and abuser no longer feels need to apologize

Being forced to walk on eggshells to avoid angering partner, causes chronic tension in women that leads to poor general health
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV: Cycle of Violence: Tension-Building Phase
First and usually longest phase when tension escalates

Woman might sense partner's growing anger and blame herself

Woman takes responsibility for keeping situation from exploding, and, in her mind, any resulting violence will be her fault for failing to do so
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV: Cycle of Violence: Acute Battering Phase
Second phase is explosion of violence

Batterer loses control and victim may be assaulted or murdered

Afterward, victims consider themselves lucky that abuse was not worse, no matter how severe their injuries

Victims often deny seriousness of injuries and refuse to seek treatment
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV: Cycle of Violence: Honeymoon Phase
Third phase is a period of calm, loving, contrite behavior from batterer

He may be genuinely sorry for pain he caused

He attempts to make up for brutal behavior and believes he can control himself

Victim wants to believe partner can change and feels responsible for causing incident
Intimate Partner Violence: Characteristics of IPV: Cycle of Violence: Female Victim and Male Abuser Example
Phase 1—Tension building:
- Verbal or minor battery occurs
- Almost any subject, such as housekeeping or money, may trigger buildup of tension
- There is a breakdown of communication
- Victim attempts to calm abuser
- Victim feels like "walking on egg shells" around abuser

Phase 2—Acute battering:
- Uncontrollable discharge of tension
- Violence is rarely triggered by victim's behavior, and she is battered no matter what her response
- Start of battering episode is unpredictable and beyond victim's control

Phase 3—Reconciliation (honeymoon)/calm phase:
- First, abuser is ashamed of his behavior and tries to minimize abuse and blame it on partner
- Batterer becomes loving, kind, and apologetic and expresses guilt then works on making victim feel responsible
- This loving behavior strengthens bond between partners and convinces victim, once again, leaving relationship is not necessary
Intimate Partner Violence: Types of Abuse
Emotional abuse:
- promising, swearing, or threatening to hit
- forcing to perform degrading or humiliating acts
- threatening to harm children, pets, or close friends
- humiliating by name-calling and insults
- threatening to leave her and the children
- isolation from family and friends
- destroying valued possessions
- controlling every move

Physical abuse:
- hitting or grabbing so hard it leaves marks
- throwing things
- slapping, spitting at, biting, burning, pushing, choking, or shoving
- kicking or punching, or slamming against things
- attacking with a knife, gun, rope, or electrical cord
- controlling access to health care for injury

Financial abuse:
- preventing from getting job
- sabotaging current job
- controlling how all money is spent
- failing to contribute financially

Sexual abuse:
- forcing to have vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse
- biting breasts or genitals
- shoving objects into vagina or anus
- forcing to do something sexual that she finds degrading or humiliating
- forcing to perform sexual acts on other people or animals
Intimate Partner Violence: Myths and Facts About Intimate Partner Violence
Battering of women occurs only in lower socioeconomic classes.
- Violence occurs in all socioeconomic classes.

Substance abuse causes the violence.
- Violence is a learned behavior and can be changed.
- Presence of drugs and alcohol can make a bad problem worse.

Men have the right to discipline their partners. Battering is not a crime
- In the past, our patriarchal legal system afforded men the right to physically chastise their wives and children; we no longer live under that system.
- Women and children are no longer considered the property of men, and violence against them is a crime in every state.

Violence occurs to only a small percentage of women.
- One in four women will be victims of violence.

Intimate partner violence is typically a one time, isolated occurrence.
- Battering is a pattern of coercion and control that one person exerts over another.
- It is repeated using a number of tactics, including intimidation, threats, physical injury, economic deprivation, isolation, and sexual abuse.
- The various forms of abuse utilized by batterers help to maintain power and control over their victims.

Women can easily choose to leave an abusive relationship.
- Women stay in the abusive relationship because they feel they have no options.

Only men with mental health problems commit violence against women.
- Abusers often seem normal and do not appear to suffer from personality disorders or other forms of mental illness.

Pregnant women are protected from abuse by their partners.
- One in five women is physically abused during pregnancy.
- The effects of violence on infant outcomes can include preterm delivery, fetal distress, low birth weight, and child abuse.

Women provoke their partners to abuse them.
- Women may be willing to blame themselves for someone else's bad behavior, but nobody deserves to be beaten.

Violent tendencies have gone on for generations and are accepted.
- The police, justice system, and society are beginning to make IPV socially unacceptable.

IPV is only a heterosexual issue.
- There is as much IPV in the LGBT population with the added psychological abuse of "outing."
- Outing is when one partner threatens to disclose the others sexual preference in an effort to maintain power and control.
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