Teresa Chandler Sabourin

Verbal aggression in violent and nonviolent marital disputes

Recent research suggests that verbal aggression may function as a catalyst to violence between spouses in marital disputes. Communication skills deficiencies may predispose spouses to rely upon verbal aggression in family conflict situations instead of more constructive forms of communication such as argumentation. This suggests a need to understand better the role of verbal aggression in interspousal violence. A study is presented which compared a sample of nonabused wives to a clinical sample of abused wives in terms of self‐reports of the use of verbal aggression by the husband and wife in their most recent dispute. While there were several differences between the two groups, of the ten types of verbally aggressive messages examined, character attacks most clearly differentiated violent from nonviolent marital disputes. Two hypotheses which predicted the degree of verbal aggression in violent and nonviolent disputes and the relationship between husband and wife usage were supported. Implications are di...

Accounting for violence: An analysis of male spousal abuse narratives

Abstract Domestic violence is pervasive in the United States. In addition to the immediate damage caused to victims, abuse is also often transmitted cross‐generationally. Because abusers’ perceptions can reinforce and justify violent behavior, understanding how abusive men perceive their abuse is important. Interviews with 15 abusive males focusing on the accounts of abuse from the males perspective were conducted. The results from the analysis are divided into three areas: (a) attributions about self and other, (b) types of accounts about the abusive situation, and (c) an analysis of an entire narrative from one of the men. The implications of these results for practitioners of treatment for battering males is discussed.

The role of negative reciprocity in spouse abuse: A relational control analysis

Abstract This study examined the relational control patterns of ten abusive couples to identify patterns of negative reciprocity. Compared to non‐abusive couples, spouses in abusive relationships tended to escalate their verbal exchanges by consistently responding with one‐up moves to each others’ comments, regardless of the direction of control. This domineering pattern in which both spouses assert, but neither accepts the others effort at control, may be a result of skill deficiency in arguing constructively. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of dyadic level treatment and interpersonal skills training.

Communication and the experience of dialectical tensions in family life: An examination of abusive and nonabusive families

This study uses a dialectical perspective to examine the communication behavior of 10 couples with a history of abuse and 10 nonabusive couples. Each couple was asked to discuss their daily routines, and the conversations were collectively analyzed through a grounded theory approach. Seven communication‐based differences were identified: vague vs. precise language, opposition vs. collaboration, relational vs. content talk, despair vs. optimism, interfering vs. facilitating interdependence, complaints vs. compliments, and ineffective vs. effective change. In addition, the discovery of these differences provided a vehicle for understanding how the couples manage dialectical tensions. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of a culturally based frame for understanding abusive families.

Sex still counts: Women's use of televised advertising during the decade of the 80's

Abstract In an effort to determine if significant differences exist in the televised negative commercials of female and male candidates, the advertising spots used by women who ran for a major political office during the decade of the 80s were compared with a sample used by men running for major political office in those same years. An analysis of the verbal, visual and production strategies contained in the ads revealed that enough differences exist to document the emergence of a female style in the utilization of televised negative advertising.

Argumentative skill deficiency and its relationship to quality of marriage

This study investigates the relationship between verbal aggression, argumentativeness, and marital quality in a sample of non‐distressed couples. The traits of verbal aggression and argumentativeness are predicted to have different effects on marital quality; specifically, verbal aggression is hypothesized to have an inverse relation to marital quality while argumentativeness is posited to have a positive relationship. Results show support for the first hypothesis and partial support for the second hypothesis. Implications of these results for conflict resolution in marriage are discussed.

The Theory of Shared Communication: How Parents of Technology-Dependent Children Communicate With Nurses on the Inpatient Unit

Care may be compromised for hospitalized technology-dependent children if nurses do not communicate with parents to include their knowledge in the childs plan of care. A qualitative study using grounded theory methodology was undertaken to identify parental perceptions and experiences of communication with nurses. The Theory of Shared Communication was the result of this study and includes questioning, listening, explaining, advocating, verifying understanding and negotiating roles to achieve the outcome of mutual understanding of the childs plan of care. Nurses should be aware of parent perceptions about communication when working with families to optimize the care they provide.

Collaborative Production of Proposals in Group Decision Making

This study suggests that argument as a language game in group interaction can be analyzed, using a discourse-analytic approach, to inform small group scholars about the relationship between influence and decision outcomes. To accomplish its purpose, the study analyzes a decision-making episode in an organizational group and focuses upon one specific speech act, the proposal. As a speech act, the proposal is central to the decision-making quality of the group in that it entails the structural expansion necessary for consensus-seeking discussion. The article shows how the development of the proposal in group interaction can satisfy the requirements for effective group decisions as outlined by Hirokawa (1988).