Beliefs on Marital Violence Among Portuguese Adolescents: Monitoring Their Evolution and Relationship With Dating Violence.

In the last two decades, the problem of violence in the family sphere in particular and in intimate relationships in general has been on the agenda for Portuguese governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Several initiatives and campaigns have been launched, which are aimed at reducing occurrence of this violence, particularly among teenagers. This present study aims to assess the evolution in adolescents' attitudes and behaviors concerning intimate partner violence. We collected data from a sample of adolescents (n = 913) to compare with corresponding data collected 7 years ago by Neves and Nogueira (2010) in a sample that had identical sociodemographic characteristics (n = 899). Both cohorts resided in the same areas in the northeastern region of Portugal. The instruments used were the Scale of Beliefs about Marital Violence (ECVC) and the Marital Violence Inventory (IVC; Neves & Nogueira, 2010). The results indicate that although respondents tend to reject traditional beliefs on marital violence more now than in the past, especially male and older respondents, the percentage of dating violence reports has not decreased. Among girls, there was even an increase in perpetration of emotional and mild physical violence. We discuss possible reasons for this discrepancy between the evolution of attitudes and behaviors and make suggestions for improvement in the actions implemented among teenagers to increase their effectiveness.

Pobreza econômica e sociocultural no abuso de drogas: da responsabilidade individual à sociopolítica / Economic and sociocultural poverty in drug abuse: from individual to sociopolitical responsibility

Abstract Research on drug abuse has often ignored users' own opinions and perceptions about their addiction. In this study, we wanted to hear their voice on the reasons and motives why they engaged in drug abuse, and on the consequences this behavior had on their lives. Data were collected in Portugal from interviews with fifteen people under treatment for addictive behavior relative to alcohol and illegal drugs. The interviews were analyzed through Thematic Analysis and revealed the existence of several structural factors impacting on the lives of the participants, namely, gender discrimination, poor schooling, socioeconomic marginalization and exclusion associated to insufficient and inadequate public policies. The action of more symbolic structural factors - for instance, their widespread beliefs on drug addiction as a result of free will - through its internalization by families, friends and by addicts themselves, became visible in interviewees' narratives, in which the rejection by close ones, as well as their own feelings of guilt, sadness and self-disapproval, are prominent features. As a conclusion, we call attention to the need for an integrated public policy in the educational, health and justice areas, and the implementation of awareness-raising actions aimed at the general public, in order to attenuate the impact of structural factors on the lives of current and potential drug addicts.

Resumo A pesquisa sobre o abuso de drogas tem frequentemente ignorado as opiniões dos próprios usuários e as suas perceções sobre a sua dependência. Neste estudo, quisemos ouvir a sua voz sobre as razões e os motivos por que se engajaram no abuso de drogas e sobre as consequências que este comportamento teve nas suas vidas. Os dados foram coletados em Portugal a partir de entrevistas com quinze pessoas sob tratamento para comportamento aditivo em relação a álcool e drogas ilegais. As entrevistas foram analisadas através de análise temática e revelaram a existência de diversos fatores estruturais impactando na vida dos participantes, ou seja, discriminação de gênero, escolaridade baixa, marginalização socioeconômica e exclusão associados a políticas públicas insuficientes e inadequadas. A ação de fatores estruturais mais simbólicos - por exemplo, suas crenças generalizadas na toxicodependência como resultado do livre-arbítrio - através de sua interiorização pelas famílias, amigos e pelos viciados em si, tornou-se visível nas narrativas dos entrevistados, em que a rejeição pelos próximos, além de seus próprios sentimentos de culpa, tristeza e autodesaprovação, são características proeminentes. Como conclusão, chamamos atenção para a necessidade de uma política pública integrada nas áreas de educação, saúde e justiça, e a implementação de ações de sensibilização visando o público em geral, a fim de atenuar o impacto dos fatores estruturais sobre a vida dos atuais e potenciais viciados em drogas.

Beliefs on Marital Violence and Self-Reported Dating Violence: A Comparative Study of Cape Verdean and Portuguese Adolescents.

In this study, we compare Portuguese and Cape Verdean youths' upholding of traditional beliefs about intimate partner violence (IPV) and the frequency of self-reported violent behavior in dating relationships. The sample (n = 404) consisted of 183 Cape Verdean and 221 Portuguese secondary school students of both sexes (56 % female; mean age = 16). We used two questionnaires that had previously been validated in the Portuguese population. The results revealed that young Cape Verdean adolescents uphold stronger traditional beliefs than Portuguese adolescents do, but there were no differences in overall prevalence of abuse between the two samples. The relationship between traditional beliefs and self-reported violence was significant only in the Cape Verdean sample, suggesting that campaigns against IPV have not, so far, been as effective in Cape Verde as in Portugal.

Gender Norms in Portuguese College Students' Judgments in Familial Homicides: Bad Men and Mad Women.

The gender of the offender has been proved to be an important factor in judicial sentencing. In this study, we analyze the judgments of College students regarding perpetrators of familial homicides to evaluate the presence of these gender norms and biases in the larger society. The sample included 303 college students (54.8% female) enrolled in several social sciences and engineering courses. Participants were asked to read 12 vignettes based on real crimes taken from Portuguese newspapers. Half were related to infanticide, and half were related to intimate partner homicide. The sex of the offender was orthogonally manipulated to the type of crime. The results show that gender had an important impact on sentences, with males being more harshly penalized by reasons of perversity and women less penalized by reason of mental disorders. In addition, filicide was more heavily penalized than was intimate partner homicide. The results also revealed a tendency toward a retributive conception of punishment. We discuss how gender norms in justice seem to be embedded in society as well as the need for intervention against the punitive tendency of this population.

Attitudes towards same-sex marriage in Portugal: predictors and scale validation

The goal of the present research was to validate a Portuguese version of Pearl and Galupo’s (2007) Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ATSM). Participants were 1,402 heterosexual men and women that completed an on-line questionnaire. The final 15-item scale formed a single factor showing high internal consistency (α = .95). This one factor structure was backed-up by a confirmatory factorial analysis. In a general way, the results indicate a clearly positive attitude toward same-sex marriage (overall mean was 63.79, SD = 12.66, above the scale mid-point, t(1401) = 55.55, p < .001). Furthermore, analysis of the scale’s predictors demonstrates how a left-wing orientation (β = .22, p < .001) and the level of denial of deservingness for lesbian/gay discrimination (β = .30, p < .001) prove to be the best predictors of attitudes towards same-sex marriage. On the whole, these results indicate that the Portuguese ATSM version is a reliable instrument for carrying out scientific research and measuring and monitoring public opinion on this subject (AU)

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Reactions to intragroup deviance: does disidentification have a role?

In this study, we address previous evidence about the interchangeable use of derogation and disidentification in protecting the self from intragroup deviance. We argue that when the in-group stands for a valued social identity, members may disidentify from the group, but only if the immediate context provides no opportunity to derogate. In the present experiments (n = 80 and n = 79), we provided or did not provide participants with the opportunity to recommend a punishment for an in-group or an out-group deviant. We also measured in-group identification before and after exposure to deviant behavior and after judgment. The results show that participants first disidentified from the in-group but, when presented with an opportunity to judge the deviant, also derogated. Importantly, participants who could judge the deviant also recovered their initial in-group identification level. Participants' reactions to the out-group deviant suggest they used an intergroup rather than intragroup strategy.

Attitudes towards same-sex marriage in Portugal: predictors and scale validation.

The goal of the present research was to validate a Portuguese version of Pearl and Galupo's (2007) Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ATSM). Participants were 1,402 heterosexual men and women that completed an on-line questionnaire. The final 15-item scale formed a single factor showing high internal consistency (α = .95). This one factor structure was backed-up by a confirmatory factorial analysis. In a general way, the results indicate a clearly positive attitude toward same-sex marriage (overall mean was 63.79, SD = 12.66, above the scale mid-point, t(1401) = 55.55, p < .001). Furthermore, analysis of the scale's predictors demonstrates how a left-wing orientation (ß = .22, p < .001) and the level of denial of deservingness for lesbian/gay discrimination (ß = .30, p < .001) prove to be the best predictors of attitudes towards same-sex marriage. On the whole, these results indicate that the Portuguese ATSM version is a reliable instrument for carrying out scientific research and measuring and monitoring public opinion on this subject.