Sarah L. Cook

Revising the SES: A collaborative process to improve assessment of sexual aggression and victimization

The Sexual Experiences Survey (SES) assesses victimization and perpetration of unwanted sexual experiences (e.g., Koss, Gidycz, & Wisniewski, 1987). Revised versions of the SES that resulted from the work of the SES Collaboration are now available. This article reviews weaknesses of the SES that were identified, strengths that were preserved, and methodological considerations in the measurement of unwanted sexual experiences that informed the revisions. The primary changes include: more behavioral specificity; conversion to gender neutrality; full crossing of unwanted acts and coercive tactics; and revised and updated wording for assessing consent, alcohol-related incidents, unwanted acts, and coercive tactics. For illustration, the full text of the revised victimization version and its scoring rules are provided. The article concludes with suggestions for future research. These suggestions aim to involve researchers in a coordinated agenda to develop data that clarify methodological questions and contribute to continued improvement in assessing sexual victimization and perpetration.

The Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index Development and Application

Although research has documented the myriad ways that victims of IPV struggle to keep themselves safe, little research has gone the next step to investigate patterns in women’s use of strategies, the factors that influence choice of strategies, or which strategies are most effective. One obstacle to conducting such research is the absence of an instrument to measure the nature and extent of battered women’s strategic responses to violence across specific domains of strategies. This article describes the development of such an instrument, the Intimate Partner Violence Strategies Index, in the context of a longitudinal study of battered women’s experience over time.

Domestic Violence and Housing Problems A Contextual Analysis of Women's Help-seeking, Received Informal Support, and Formal System Response

This study examined housing problems and homelessness after separation in a sample of 110 women who had experienced domestic violence. Of the sample, 38% reported homelessness. Similar percentages reported housing problems (e.g., late paying rent, skipping meals, threatened with eviction). Predictors of more housing problems included experiencing a greater severity of violence, contacting fewer formal systems, having less informational support, and receiving a negative response from welfare. Womens odds of reporting homelessness were reduced by 30% if police officers responded positively. These findings highlight the importance of changing system responses in an effort to reduce womens housing problems and risks for homelessness after separation.

Emerging Issues in the Measurement of Rape Victimization

We provide an overview of emerging directions in the measurement of rape, the most extreme form of sexual victimization. The context for our overview is how operational definitions of rape have evolved, where consensus has emerged, and where it eludes the field. We discuss two approaches to the detection of rape victimization in survey methods, namely behaviorally specific questions and a new, two-stage approach, and how each can be evaluated in terms of validity. We point out promises and pitfalls of the two-stage approach and make suggestions for its implementation and evaluation. We conclude that all empirical research to date supports the use of behaviorally specific compared to broad questions, that a standard definition of rape and its components of act, tactics, and nonconsent is imperative to move the field forward, and that research to systematically validate methods of detecting rape victimization is needed. To that end, we propose an agenda.

Social support as a mediator of revictimization of low-income African American women.

Mediating effects of social support on the link between childhood maltreatment and adult intimate partner violence (IPV) were explored in a sample of 362 low-income, African American women. We examined relations between childhood maltreatment experiences (total maltreatment, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical neglect) and adult maltreatment (physical IPV and nonphysical IPV). Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed small, but significant, effects. Further, social support mediated revictimization. Social support fully mediated relations in which the form of childhood maltreatment was different than the form of adult IPV (e.g., the relation between childhood sexual abuse and adult nonphysical IPV), but only partially mediated the relations in which the form of childhood maltreatment was similar to adult IPV (e.g., the relation between childhood emotional abuse and adult nonphysical IPV). Implications for clinical interventions for women with intimate partner violence experiences are discussed.

The internal validity of the index of spouse abuse in African American women.

This study investigated the internal validity of the Index of Spouse Abuse (ISA) (Hudson & McIntosh, 1981) in a sample of 583 African American women who sought health care at a tertiary care hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Three models were tested with confirmatory factor techniques: (a) Hudson and McIntoshs original Index of Spouse Abuse two factor model; (b) Campbell, Campbell, Parker, and Ryans three factor model (Campbell, Campbell, King, Parker, & Ryan, 1994); and (c) an alternative model of physical and nonphysical abuse. This alternative model is based in part on Tolmans conceptualization of psychological abuse as a construct comprised of two related but distinct factors: controlling and emotionally abusive behaviors (Tolman, 1999). Results show that the alternative model fits the data better than the first two models. Findings support the continued use of the ISA, but with proposed modifications.

Self-Reports of Traumatic Events in a Random Sample of Incarcerated Women

Abstract As the number of incarcerated women increases, in-depth knowledge about womens life experiences is needed to direct treatment, pre-release planning, and supervision. This study describes the nature, scope, and socioeconomic correlates of traumatic life events in a random sample of 403 women entering a state correctional facility. Ninety-nine percent of the sample reported having experienced at least one traumatic life event; 81% experienced five or more. Reports of several experiences differed by age, race, and marital status. The most compelling findings were related to the experience of homelessness. Women who had been without a place to live for at least seven days were between 2.19 and 5.62 times more likely to have experienced 14 of 21 traumatic events. Most of these events were defined by interpersonal violence. Implications for correctional policy are discussed, particularly the potential for incarceration to replicate or ameliorate symptoms of traumatic stress through the structure and routine of the prison environment.

Suicidal Behavior Among Low-Income African American Women: A Comparison of First-Time and Repeat Suicide Attempters

This investigation ascertained dimensions of a suicide attempt and psychological and historical risk factors that differentiate low-income, female, African American suicide attempters as a function of having made a single, first-time attempt versus multiple attempts. Two groups were compared: first time attempters (n= 135) and repeat attempters (n= 139). Participants were recruited from a large, urban hospital following a suicide attempt (i.e., index suicide attempt). Sociodemographic characteristics, details of the index attempt (i.e., the attempt that prompted entry into the study), psychological functioning, hopelessness, substance abuse, and trauma history were assessed. The two groups were largely similar across sociodemographic characteristics. Multivariate analyses of variance were used to test hypotheses. Relative to first-time attempters, the attempts of repeat attempters involved higher levels of intent, planning, and perceived lethality and were associated with more psychological distress, hopelessness, substance abuse, and childhood trauma. Research and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Beyond Frequency and Severity Development and Validation of the Brief Coercion and Conflict Scales

Responding to calls for improved measurement in the field of domestic violence, this paper reports the development and initial validation of the Brief Coercion and Conflict Scales in a sample of incarcerated women. Confirmatory factor analyses tested the scales hypothesized structure and supported coercion and conflict as moderately and positively related but distinct constructs. Although women reported experiencing both conflict and coercion in their most recent relationship before incarceration, they reported that their experiences were more often marked by interpersonal conflict than by coercion. Further, the coercion and conflict scales differentially predicted womens behavioral and psychological responses to abuse. Only coercion consistently predicted strategic responses and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Overall, findings support the instrument as a viable option, but further psychometric evaluation of internal and external validity with additional samples is warranted.

Preliminary Findings from an Outcome Evaluation of an Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program for Adjudicated, African American, Adolescent Males

This study evaluated the efficacy of a five-session intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention program for adjudicated African American male adolescents. The program was guided by feminist theory and was culturally focused and gender specific. An experimental design was used to assess changes in knowledge of IPV and patriarchal attitudes at posttest and to test for the moderating effects of committing IPV and witnessing parental IPV. Results indicated higher levels of knowledge and less patriarchal attitudes among the intervention group as compared to the control group. Committing violence was not a significant moderator of intervention effectiveness; a witnessing parental violence by group interaction revealed that adolescents in the intervention group had significantly lower patriarchal attitudes compared with adolescents in the control group, but only for those who witnessed high levels of parental male-to-female violence.