Jill T. Messing

Workplace violence: prevalence and risk factors in the safe at work study.

Objective: Nurses face one of the highest rates of reported workplace violence (WPV). This research examined the prevalence of WPV and demographic, work-related, and adult and childhood abuse histories as risk factors for WPV among 2166 nurses/nursing personnel across four health care institutions in one US metropolitan area. Methods: Using data from an online cross-sectional survey, multivariate logistic regression was utilized to determine risk factors for physical and psychological WPV. Results: Almost one-third (30%) of nurses/nursing personnel experienced WPV (19.4% physical, 19.9% psychological). Risk factors included being a nurse, white, male, working in the emergency department, older age, longer employment, childhood abuse, and intimate partner violence. Conclusions: Adult and childhood abuse histories have not been considered in previous large-scale investigations, but were significant risk factors along with other previously identified risk factors for WPV.

The Average Predictive Validity of Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment Instruments

The field of intimate partner violence (IPV) risk assessment (predicting recidivism, lethality) is fast growing, and the majority of research examining the predictive validity of IPV risk assessment instruments has been conducted in the past decade. This study examines the average predictive validity weighted by sample size of five stand alone IPV risk assessment instruments that have been validated in multiple research studies using the Receiver Operating Characteristic Area Under the Curve (AUC). The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) has the highest average weighted AUC (=.666, k=5) followed, in order of most to least predictive, by the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA; AUC=.628, k=6), the Danger Assessment (DA; AUC=.618, k=4), the Domestic Violence Screening Inventory (DVSI; AUC=.582, k=3), and the Kingston Screening Instrument for Domestic Violence (K-SID; AUC=.537, k=2). The effect size for the average AUCs for IPV risk assessment instruments is small, with the exception of a medium effect size for the ODARA. Of the 20 measures of predictive validity included in this analysis, the risk assessment was administered correctly in nine (45%). IPV risk assessment is relatively new, and the use of proxy instruments and utilization of risk assessment instruments in settings for which they were not created is widespread. While waiting for a more rigorous body of research, factors in addition to predictive validity must be taken into consideration (e.g., setting, outcome, skills of the assessor, access to information) when choosing which risk assessment instrument is appropriate for use in a particular practice setting.

Another Side of Multiple Murder: Women Killers in the Domestic Context

Although both female and male multiple murderers have been studied, little attention has been paid to women who commit multiple murder. Using a national database of news paper accounts from two archives, Lexis-Nexis and ProQuest, this article isolates an exploratory sample of U.S. women who, between 1993 and 2001, killed two or more victims during a single episode of domestic violence. These 32 cases are, in some respects, similar to cases of male mass murder but are distinct in other ways. Most significantly, these murders are well planned and the victims are largely, although not entirely, the woman’s own children. These cases are examined in terms of the social characteristics of the offenders as well as their relationship to the victims and the way in which these murders appear to develop. The article concludes that especially with the child killings, there are certain common predisposing factors and precipitating events that play key roles.

Prevalence and Correlates of Suicidal Behavior among Adult Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence.

The prevalence and correlates of suicidal threats and attempts among 662 racially and ethnically diverse adult female victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) were studied. One in five women had threatened or attempted suicide during her lifetime. They observed that multiple logistic regression results indicated that women at greater risk of severe or potentially lethal assaults as measured by the Danger Assessment and those who reported having a chronic or disabling illness were more likely to have threatened or attempted suicide. A linear association was found between age and suicide threats/attempts, with younger women having increased odds. Finally, African American IPV victims were less likely to have threatened or attempted suicide as compared to Latina victims. Study implications are discussed.

Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Women: Factors That Predict Leaving an Abusive Relationship

This research used logistic regression to test components of Choice and Lamke’s (1997) two-part decision-making model and Hamby’s (2008) holistic risk assessment as predictors of the decision to separate from an abusive partner, comparing significant predictors for immigrant (n = 497) and nonimmigrant (n = 808) women. Findings demonstrated that immigrant women reported higher levels of perceived risks/barriers to leaving, provided some support for the use of a holistic risk assessment in understanding women’s decisions to leave, and demonstrated that immigrant and nonimmigrant women have both similarities and differences in the factors that predict leaving. Clinical and policy implications are addressed.

Use of Online Safety Decision Aid by Abused Women: Effect on Decisional Conflict in a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND An Internet safety decision aid was developed to help abused women understand their risk for repeat and near-lethal intimate partner violence, clarify priorities related to safety, and develop an action plan customized to these priorities. PURPOSE To test the effectiveness of a safety decision aid compared with usual safety planning (control) delivered through a secure website, using a multistate RCT design. The paper evaluates the effectiveness of the safety decision aid in reducing decisional conflict after a single use by abused women. DESIGN RCT referred to as Internet Resource for Intervention and Safety (IRIS). SETTING/PARTICIPANTS Abused women who spoke English (n=708) were enrolled in a four-state RCT. INTERVENTION The intervention was an interactive safety decision aid with personalized safety plan; the control condition was usual safety planning resources. Both were delivered to participants through the secure study website. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES This paper compares womens decisional conflict about safety: total decisional conflict and the four subscales of this measure (feeling: uninformed, uncertain, unsupported, and unclear about safety priorities) between intervention/control conditions. Data were collected from March 2011 to May 2013 and analyzed from January to March 2014. RESULTS Immediately following the first use of the interactive safety decision aid, intervention women had significantly lower total decisional conflict than control women, controlling for baseline value of decisional conflict (p=0.002, effect size=0.12). After controlling for baseline values, the safety decision aid group had significantly greater reduction in feeling uncertain (p=0.006, effect size=0.07) and in feeling unsupported (p=0.008, effect size=0.07) about safety than the usual safety planning group. CONCLUSIONS Abused women randomized to the safety decision aid reported less decisional conflict about their safety in the abusive intimate relationship after one use compared to women randomized to the usual safety planning condition.

Intimate partner violence and abuse among female nurses and nursing personnel: Prevalence and risk factors

This study examines the prevalence and risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) and intimate partner abuse (IPA) against female nurses and nursing personnel (n == 1981). Data were collected through online surveys conducted at three hospitals and one geriatric care center in a Mid-Atlantic US metropolitan area. Lifetime physical or sexual IPV was reported by 25%% of participants and 22.8%% reported experiencing lifetime emotional abuse by an intimate partner. Logistic regression analyses identified independent variables statistically related to IPV and IPA, including increased age, having children, not being married, and experiences of childhood abuse. Implications for women in the workplace are discussed.

Factors related to posttraumatic stress symptoms in women experiencing police-involved intimate partner violence.

Relationships among intimate partner violence (IPV), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, health, and danger, using M.A. Duttons Empowerment framework, were examined among 423 ethnically diverse women in contact with police due to IPV. Significant predictors of PTSD symptoms in multivariate analysis included Danger Assessment score, poor overall health, abuse leading to pain, victim expectations of future injury victimization, feeling unsafe, and shame. Results provide further evidence supporting routine assessment for violent trauma and PTSD as well as the need for research testing holistic interventions for women traumatized by violence.

Latinas’ Perceptions of Law Enforcement Fear of Deportation, Crime Reporting, and Trust in the System

Latinas may be unlikely to report violent crime, particularly when undocumented. This research examines the impact of fear of deportation and trust in the procedural fairness of the justice system on willingness to report violent crime victimization among a sample of Latinas (N = 1,049) in the United States. Fear of deportation was a significant predictor of Latinas’ perceptions of the procedural fairness of the criminal justice system. However, trust in the police is more important than fear of deportation in Latinas’ willingness to report violent crime victimization. Social workers can provide rights-based education and encourage relationship building between police and Latino communities.

Intimate Partner Sexual Violence: A Review of Terms, Definitions, and Prevalence.

Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is a significant aspect of intimate partner violence (IPV). While intimate partners commit one third of sexual assaults, IPSV is often overlooked in studies about IPV and in research on sexual violence. There are difficulties identifying, defining, and measuring IPSV, and research lacks consistency in terminology and measurement. The purpose of this article is to review the terms, definitions, and measurements associated with IPSV. Academic journals and nonscholarly documents from the United States were searched for articles and reports associated with the study of sexual violence and IPV. Forty-nine documents met the criteria for inclusion. A four-part taxonomy defining IPSV was developed, which included IPSV, intimate partner sexual coercion, intimate partner sexual abuse, and intimate partner forced sexual activity. The average weighted prevalence rates of these various forms of IPSV were calculated across included research studies. However, the measurements generally used to assess IPV do not adequately measure IPSV. Future research should consist terms to ensure consistent conceptualization and measurement of IPSV and to inform practice with survivors.