In the past 2 decades, important insights have been gained regarding violence and trauma. Complications occur in how violence and trauma, their causes, and their effects on victims should be defined. Violence and abuse to women- physical, sexual, and emotional - are not rare events and are most often perpetrated by partners or acquaintances rather…

This study reports analyses and findings from a public opinion survey designed to explore beliefs about domestic violence (DV) -- what it is, when it is against the law, and how prevalent it is. The project interviewed 1,200 residents from six New York communities. The analyses reveal substantial first hand and second hand experience with DV and…

This report presents findings from a public opinion survey designed to measure beliefs about the causes of domestic violence (DV) based on telephone interviews with 1,200 residents across six New York State communities. Findings reveal substantial diversity and complexity among beliefs and interesting similarities and differences across open- and…

Presents an ecological model of intervention for physical abuse based on the Lazarus and Folkman conceptualization of stress and coping. Claims that the model identifies the stages that abused women may experience in their appraisal of the abuse experience. Focuses on barriers to ending abuse, stress and coping, and effective interventions. (RJM)

Studies beliefs about dating violence in a sample of 298 undergraduate and graduate students. After reading 15 vignettes, respondents were asked to rate how violent and abusive a depicted incident was, what they thought was likely to happen to the relationship in the future, and what should happen following the incident. Incidents varied along…

Survey vignette methodology was used to investigate undergraduate and graduate students' beliefs about what constitutes abusive behaviors in dating relationships. Although both contextual and demographic factors, especially gender and sexual orientation, affected student judgments of abusiveness, student characteristics explained relatively little…