563347
research-article2014
VAWXXX10.1177/1077801214563347Violence Against Women
Editorial
Editor’s Introduction
Violence Against Women 2014, Vol. 20(12) 1404–1406 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1077801214563347 vaw.sagepub.com
Although many women who experience abuse state that their faith and spirituality were instrumental in coping with and healing from the harm, some also report how religion was used against them—by their abusive partners and when they sought help from others to address the abuse. Shane Sharp’s article, which opens this issue of Violence Against Women, looks specifically at one Christian doctrine, the doctrine of submission, and how batterers may use it as a tool of coercive control. But victims of this type of coercive control, Sharp finds, can successfully resist it by drawing on their religious capital, particularly if they have strong interpretive confidence. Sharp illustrates differences in religious capital and interpretive confidence—their impact on victims’ resistance—among the sample of abused women he interviewed. Susanne Yuk-Ping Choi, Adam Ka-Lok Cehung, Yuet-Wah Cheung, and Roman David extend resource theory by examining the subjective indicators of husband’s financial strain and partners’ appraisal of each other’s financial and non-financial contributions to the family in terms of their ability to predict intimate partner violence (IPV). Moreover, they analyze the role of these factors in the context of other variables that have been found to be predictive of IPV, including the husband’s absolute socioeconomic resources, the wife’s economic dependence, and the partners’ resources relative to one another. Their findings provide partial support for both absolute and relative resource theories, but as the title of their article suggests, the findings also indicate that it is important to consider the influence of subjective measures of partners’ resources to get a fuller picture of IPV risk. Many articles addressing women’s use of violence in intimate relationships have been published in this journal. Of particular concern has been the increase in the number of women charged with domestic assault, especially since the adoption in some jurisdictions of mandatory or preferred arrest and pro-charging policies. Julie Poon, Myrna Dawson, and Mavis Morton examine whether the contexts in which women alone are charged are different from those in which men alone are charged, or when both partner are charged. They report that charges are more likely to be laid against women who are young, who are in legal or common-law relationships, and who live in rural jurisdictions. Poon and her colleagues also found that dual charging is more common for women in current or dating relationships. Researchers and advocates have long urged health care providers to screen patients for IPV but have found reluctance on the part of many to do so. Ahlam Al-Natour, Gordon Gillespie, Diane Felblinger, and Leigh Wang studied IPV screening among nurses in Jordan to determine their rate of screening, the barriers to screening, and
Downloaded from vaw.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on March 11, 2015
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whether nurses who have personally experienced IPV differ in their willingness to screen compared with nurses who have not experienced IPV. Al-Natour et al. found that Jordanian nurses are even less likely to screen their patients for IPV than U.S. nurses are, but they found no differences in willingness to screen between nurses who had and had not personally experienced abuse. The most frequently reported obstacles to screening had to do with the weak system support for screening, such as lack of information about IPV and lack of access to social workers and other social service providers who could further assist IPV victims. Anita Raj, Charlemagne Gomez, and Jay Silverman also conducted research in the Middle East, but the purpose of their study was to identify Afghan perspectives on the causes of and potential solutions to child and forced marriage in Afghanistan. They interviewed community leaders, including religious officials, police, teachers, politicians, and policy makers, and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in three Afghan cities. Their interviewees named several factors as contributors to these problems, such as poverty, sexism, adherence to tradition, lack of knowledge or understanding of religious tenets and laws regarding the practices, and the insecurity produced by conflict in the region. Although the informants suggested ways to reduce child and forced marriage in Afghanistan, it is discouraging that they felt that little can be done to help girls who are already married. Alice Cepeda and Kathryn Nowotny turn our attention to violence against female sex workers in the U.S.–Mexican border towns of Nuevo Laredo and Cuidad Juarez. Their life history interviews with sex workers who work in different venues revealed violence perpetrated not only by clients but also by police, bar owners, and even other female sex workers. Dominant gender ideologies that devalue women, especially women engaged in sex work, clearly contribute to and legitimate this violence. Cepeda and Nowotney found that women who worked in certain venues and geographic areas were at greater risk, but the rates of victimization were very high for all of the women in this study. This issue of the journal also includes responses to two articles previously published in the journal. Eleanor Lyon and Cris Sullivan respond to Mihan Lee’s (2013) article, and Edward Gondolf responds to Murray Straus’ (2014) critique of an earlier article by Gondolf (2012). Finally, an announcement: I will no longer open each issue of the journal with an Editor’s Introduction. I have decided to forego future introductions to conserve pages for the publication of accepted manuscripts. Although the acceptance rate remains low, the large number of submissions annually has produced an embarrassment of riches: a very large backlog of manuscripts waiting to appear in print. Consequently, I prefer that all pages allocated per volume be used for authors’ work, rather than my commentary on that work. Special issues, though, will continue to include Guest Editors’ Introductions. Claire M. Renzetti Editor
Downloaded from vaw.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on March 11, 2015
1406
Violence Against Women 20(12)
References Gondolf, E. (2012). Physical tactics of female partners against male batterer program participants. Violence Against Women, 18, 1027-1044. Lee, M. (2013). Breaking barriers: Addressing structural obstacles to social service provision for Asian survivors of domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 19, 1350-1369. Straus, M. A. (2014). Addressing violence by female partners is vital to prevent or stop violence against women: Evidence from the multisite batterer intervention evaluation. Violence Against Women, 20, 889-899.
Downloaded from vaw.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on March 11, 2015
research-article2014
VAWXXX10.1177/1077801214563347Violence Against Women
Editorial
Editor’s Introduction
Violence Against Women 2014, Vol. 20(12) 1404–1406 © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1077801214563347 vaw.sagepub.com
Although many women who experience abuse state that their faith and spirituality were instrumental in coping with and healing from the harm, some also report how religion was used against them—by their abusive partners and when they sought help from others to address the abuse. Shane Sharp’s article, which opens this issue of Violence Against Women, looks specifically at one Christian doctrine, the doctrine of submission, and how batterers may use it as a tool of coercive control. But victims of this type of coercive control, Sharp finds, can successfully resist it by drawing on their religious capital, particularly if they have strong interpretive confidence. Sharp illustrates differences in religious capital and interpretive confidence—their impact on victims’ resistance—among the sample of abused women he interviewed. Susanne Yuk-Ping Choi, Adam Ka-Lok Cehung, Yuet-Wah Cheung, and Roman David extend resource theory by examining the subjective indicators of husband’s financial strain and partners’ appraisal of each other’s financial and non-financial contributions to the family in terms of their ability to predict intimate partner violence (IPV). Moreover, they analyze the role of these factors in the context of other variables that have been found to be predictive of IPV, including the husband’s absolute socioeconomic resources, the wife’s economic dependence, and the partners’ resources relative to one another. Their findings provide partial support for both absolute and relative resource theories, but as the title of their article suggests, the findings also indicate that it is important to consider the influence of subjective measures of partners’ resources to get a fuller picture of IPV risk. Many articles addressing women’s use of violence in intimate relationships have been published in this journal. Of particular concern has been the increase in the number of women charged with domestic assault, especially since the adoption in some jurisdictions of mandatory or preferred arrest and pro-charging policies. Julie Poon, Myrna Dawson, and Mavis Morton examine whether the contexts in which women alone are charged are different from those in which men alone are charged, or when both partner are charged. They report that charges are more likely to be laid against women who are young, who are in legal or common-law relationships, and who live in rural jurisdictions. Poon and her colleagues also found that dual charging is more common for women in current or dating relationships. Researchers and advocates have long urged health care providers to screen patients for IPV but have found reluctance on the part of many to do so. Ahlam Al-Natour, Gordon Gillespie, Diane Felblinger, and Leigh Wang studied IPV screening among nurses in Jordan to determine their rate of screening, the barriers to screening, and
Downloaded from vaw.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on March 11, 2015
1405
whether nurses who have personally experienced IPV differ in their willingness to screen compared with nurses who have not experienced IPV. Al-Natour et al. found that Jordanian nurses are even less likely to screen their patients for IPV than U.S. nurses are, but they found no differences in willingness to screen between nurses who had and had not personally experienced abuse. The most frequently reported obstacles to screening had to do with the weak system support for screening, such as lack of information about IPV and lack of access to social workers and other social service providers who could further assist IPV victims. Anita Raj, Charlemagne Gomez, and Jay Silverman also conducted research in the Middle East, but the purpose of their study was to identify Afghan perspectives on the causes of and potential solutions to child and forced marriage in Afghanistan. They interviewed community leaders, including religious officials, police, teachers, politicians, and policy makers, and representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in three Afghan cities. Their interviewees named several factors as contributors to these problems, such as poverty, sexism, adherence to tradition, lack of knowledge or understanding of religious tenets and laws regarding the practices, and the insecurity produced by conflict in the region. Although the informants suggested ways to reduce child and forced marriage in Afghanistan, it is discouraging that they felt that little can be done to help girls who are already married. Alice Cepeda and Kathryn Nowotny turn our attention to violence against female sex workers in the U.S.–Mexican border towns of Nuevo Laredo and Cuidad Juarez. Their life history interviews with sex workers who work in different venues revealed violence perpetrated not only by clients but also by police, bar owners, and even other female sex workers. Dominant gender ideologies that devalue women, especially women engaged in sex work, clearly contribute to and legitimate this violence. Cepeda and Nowotney found that women who worked in certain venues and geographic areas were at greater risk, but the rates of victimization were very high for all of the women in this study. This issue of the journal also includes responses to two articles previously published in the journal. Eleanor Lyon and Cris Sullivan respond to Mihan Lee’s (2013) article, and Edward Gondolf responds to Murray Straus’ (2014) critique of an earlier article by Gondolf (2012). Finally, an announcement: I will no longer open each issue of the journal with an Editor’s Introduction. I have decided to forego future introductions to conserve pages for the publication of accepted manuscripts. Although the acceptance rate remains low, the large number of submissions annually has produced an embarrassment of riches: a very large backlog of manuscripts waiting to appear in print. Consequently, I prefer that all pages allocated per volume be used for authors’ work, rather than my commentary on that work. Special issues, though, will continue to include Guest Editors’ Introductions. Claire M. Renzetti Editor
Downloaded from vaw.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on March 11, 2015
1406
Violence Against Women 20(12)
References Gondolf, E. (2012). Physical tactics of female partners against male batterer program participants. Violence Against Women, 18, 1027-1044. Lee, M. (2013). Breaking barriers: Addressing structural obstacles to social service provision for Asian survivors of domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 19, 1350-1369. Straus, M. A. (2014). Addressing violence by female partners is vital to prevent or stop violence against women: Evidence from the multisite batterer intervention evaluation. Violence Against Women, 20, 889-899.
Downloaded from vaw.sagepub.com at UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA on March 11, 2015
