Psycho-social factors affecting elders' maltreatment in long-term care facilities.

AIM: To examine and analyse major variables affecting maltreatment of elderly nursing home residents. The study was based on two theoretical paradigms: the theoretical model for predicting causes of maltreatment of elderly residents developed by Pillemer, and the Theory of Reasoned Action developed by Ajzen & Fishbein. METHODS: The study employed a correlational quantitative method. The research population consisted of the staff of 22 nursing homes in Israel. Six hundred questionnaires were distributed in these facilities and 510 were completed and returned (85%). In addition, 24 questionnaires were distributed among directors of the facilities and 22 were returned (91.6%). FINDINGS: Slightly more than half of the staff sampled reported abuse of elderly residents over the past year, as manifested in one or more of types of maltreatment. The total number of various types of maltreatment reported was 513. About two-thirds of the cases were incidents of neglect. Seventy per cent of respondents reported that they had been present at incidents in which another staff member abused an elderly resident in one or more types of maltreatment, and in such situations mental abuse and mental neglect were the most prevalent forms of maltreatment. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This is the first study to examine elder maltreatment in the long-term care population of Israel. The research findings produce an expanded and improved research model investigating elder maltreatment in long-term nursing homes.

Choice and empowerment for battered women who stay: toward a constructivist model.

This article examines the individual and social construction of empowerment for battered women who choose to stay with their abusers through a critical examination of the images of battered women who stay, constructed in the professional literature on various ecological levels, and a proposal of a constructivist model for empowering battered women who choose to stay that balances between their needs and rights. The model includes dimensions of physical and emotional distance as well as a time dimension. Key themes related to battered women's options along these dimensions are presented.

Awareness of guilt and shame in intimate violence.

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of moral feelings--guilt and shame--in the emergence and aftermath of intimate violence, and the way in which these emotions affect the self and behaviors of those involved. This is a phenomenological study using content analysis of in-depth interviews with 20 male batterers and their female partners. The findings indicate that the extent of authenticity and assumption of responsibility concerning moral feelings will determine whether these will or will not lead to intimate violence. Thus it becomes possible to trace five alternative paths of the relationship between moral feelings and intimate violence. Implications for theorizing and future research about the role of moral feelings in intimate violence are suggested.

Talking violent. A phenomenological study of metaphors battering men use.

PIP: This analysis examined the language and metaphors used by men who perpetrated domestic violence in an attempt to shed light on the impulsive and reflective aspects of violent acts as they appear in the context of batterers' experiences. The study is introduced with a brief review of the literature on "intimate violence" to show that it is recognized that batterers rarely define their behavior as violent and aberrant and that they suffer cognitive distortions and an inability to identify emotions accurately. Data were gathered through in-depth, semistructured interviews with 35 couples in Israel who reported at least one incidence of violence in the prior year. Content analysis of the interviews revealed that the men used 1) war metaphors to construct and express conflict and violence, 2) metaphors that presented the self as a dangerous space characterized by inner struggles, and 3) metaphors of de-escalation and balancing. The discussion notes that the metaphors of war were interconnected (war with the self and with the world) and allowed men to threaten violence as a means of self defense and, paradoxically, to attempt to gain self-control by losing control. For these men, the world was dichotomous and life was a constant struggle against real and imagined enemies. Survival depended upon suppression of feelings of weakness (symbolized by the feminine). Interventions should examine metaphors used by batterers and help men develop an alternative metaphoric structure that renders violence foreign and meaningless. This requires that clinicians first assess their own use of metaphors.^ieng

Woman battering in Israel: the relative contributions of interpersonal factors.

Interpersonal factors were examined in 60 couples who reported violence by male against female partner and in 60 couples who did not. Violent men reported lower partnership quality and less social support than did nonviolent men. Battered women reported lower partnership quality but more positive social support than did women with nonviolent partners. Level of violence was predicted by level of child-rearing conflict and the availability of social support for the violent men.

PIP: This paper seeks to examine whether Israeli couples who report interpersonal violence would also report low-quality lives, conflict child-related interactions, and unsatisfactory social support outside the marriage. The sample included 60 violent men and their partners, matched with 60 nonviolent couples. Analyses were performed to determine differences between violent spouse and nonviolent spouse. Men's use of physical violence in relation to intimate and social relationships was also examined. Findings indicated that violent men and battered women tend to live with distinctly lower-quality marital relationships. Moreover, violent men had less social support than nonviolent men; whereas battered women had more positive social support than women with nonviolent partners did. Men's physical violence toward women was found to be associated with men's perception of high conflict over child rearing and the availability of close social support. Finally, the results of this study emphasize the importance of interpersonal relationship factors, both within and outside the marriage, when understanding relationships wherein men abuse their women partners.

Moral development and discipline encounter in delinquent and nondelinquent adolescents.

The present study tested whether Hoffman's conceptualization of the relationship between disciplinary techniques and moral development can account for findings that delinquents score lower than nondelinquents on various measures of moral development. Twenty-six delinquent adolescents, 20 middle class nondelinquents, and 20 lower class non-delinquents were assessed on moral development using the following measures: resistance to temptation, moral stage, feelings after offense, judgment about the severity of punishment, and confession. The use of induction by parents was examined with a Q-sort administered to adolescents and their parents. On most measures of moral development delinquents performed lower than nondelinquents. Less induction was found to be used with delinquents than with nondelinquents. Induction was positively related to most moral measures. It was concluded that disciplinary methods may account for differential moral development of delinquent versus nondelinquent adolescents.