Department of Psychology

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Browsing by Subject "Abuse"

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    Abused women's understandings of intimate partner violence and the link to intimate femicide
    (Institute for qualitative research, 2016) Dekel, Bianca; Andipatin, Michelle
    In this article, we explore how women survivors of intimate partner violence understand the abuse they endured and the possible link to intimate femicide. This is a qualitative study based on a feminist poststructuralist perspective. Seven South African women, aged 23 to 50 years, with a history of different manifestations of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) participated in open-ended interviews. The data was analyzed by means of discourse analysis. In their explanations, the women constructed gendered identities, which reflected contradictory and ambiguous subjective experiences. The women's understandings were filtered through the particular social context in which their abusive experiences occurred. The findings highlighted that contemplating femicide was too threatening, and consequently participants drew on discourses of femininity, romantic love, and others to justify their remaining in their violence-ridden relationships. It emphasizes the need for additional engagement in women's understandings of intimate femicide, as women who live in abusive relationships have largely been consigned to the periphery.
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    Mediation of detention trauma via perceived locus of control
    (South African Journal of Psychology, 1990) Perkel, Adrian K.
    Political detention in South Africa has been documented to contain conditions inherently detrimental to psychological health. Reports indicate high levels of stress reponses associated with conditions of solitary confinement, and physical and psychological abuse — particularly in the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Amongst the moderating variables that may mediate between detention stress and post-detention trauma is perceived locus of control. In the present study the author aimed to determine post-detention sequelae and the moderating influence of perceived locus of control in this specific context. A Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder scale was combined with an Index of Well-being scale and correlated with a Detention Locus of Control scale to assess mediation significance of experienced ‘traumatization’. Results indicated a positive correlation with those who are internal in their perceived locus of control suffering reduced post-stress sequelae, compared to those who are more externally oriented. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed with specific reference to therapeutic intervention in the clinical context. © 1990, South African Psychological Association and the Psychological Institute of the Republic of South Africa. All rights reserved.