The Perpetration of Spousal Abuse by Male Combat Veterans: Recommendations for Individualized Group Domestic Violence Treatment for Veterans

Recent estimates suggest that spousal abuse is, in fact, on the rise in the U.S. military (The Miles Foundation, 2005). As research specific to the impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on U.S. soldiers has grown since the Vietnam War, clinicians and researchers have begun to investigate how combat-related trauma affects veterans in terms of aggression, hostility and social/emotional functioning. The training and stressors experienced by soldiers in the military are unique and affect all aspects of the veteran's functioning. This paper discusses questions related to why combat veterans may be at increased risk to commit spousal abuse (verbal, psychological, and physical), the relationship between PTSD, substance use, and violence, and the advantages to individualizing group domestic violence (DV) treatment programs for combat veterans. Recommendations will be made for a DV treatment program specifically for combat veterans who also suffer from PTSD.

Condutas agressivas, bullying e integração social em crianças em idade escolar

Nos últimos anos, quer os comportamentos agressivos, quer o bullying têm vindo a constituir uma crescente preocupação para a comunidade educativa. Tem havido muita investigação sobre este fenómeno mas a maioria tem incidido em escolas situadas em contextos urbanos. Os objetivos da investigação que se apresenta foram: Obter dados que permitam conhecer o tipo e a frequência de bullying em crianças, bem como identificar quais os locais mais frequentes onde ocorre numa escola situada numa zona rural. Conhecer qual a relação entre a integração social no grupo de pares (através do estatuto sociométrico) e os vários padrões de comportamento social, nomeadamente comportamentos pró-sociais, liderança, isolamento social e, em particular, agressão e vitimação (quer na perspetiva do próprio, quer na perspetiva dos pares). Deste modo, dois questionários foram aplicados a 87 crianças: uma adaptação do questionário de autorrelato sobre agressividade entre alunos na escola (QAEANE) de Pereira (1994) (composto por 10 perguntas, relativas às ocorrências de bullying, na perspetiva da vítima e do agressor, bem como sobre os locais em que ocorre); e um questionário de heterorrelato, isto é, de nomeação de pares (QNP), composto por duas partes: a primeira com 4 perguntas que estuda a sociometria (índices de preferências e rejeições) e a segunda com 5 perguntas permitindo estudar os atributos percebidos pelos colegas (agressão; isolamento social; liderança; conduta pró-social e vitimação). Os resultados permitiram concluir que o bullying também ocorre em zonas rurais mas de forma bastante menos frequente quando se compara com os dados de Pereira (2008) obtidos em zonas urbanas e que o local mais frequente onde ocorre é o recreio. Verificou-se ainda que quer os agressores, quer as vítimas são mais rejeitados pelos pares do que os não envolvidos. Discutem-se algumas formas de prevenção destes comportamentos no 1.º ciclo do ensino básico.

School Bullying Prevention Task Force report /

The Task Force was charged with exploring the causes and consequences of bullying in schools in this State, identifying promising practices that reduce incidences of bullying, highlighting training and technical assistance opportunities for schools to effectively address bullying, evaluating the effectiveness of schools current anti-bullying policies and other bullying prevention programs, and other related issues. Under tight time constraints, the Task Force has met that change. The Illinois State Board of Education will post this report on its webpage devoted to the Task Force (http://www.isbe.net/SBPTF/default.htm). Moreover in the near future, the Task Force will produce an Executive Summary of this report which the ISBE will also include on the Task Force webpage.

Workplace conflict, bullying, and counterproductive behaviors

Using a multi-method approach, this paper presents both a qualitative and quantitative examination of workplace conflict, the emotional reactions to bullying and counterproductive behaviors. Three studies were undertaken for the present research. Data for Study 1 emerged from semi-structured interviews conducted with 50 group leaders and members from six workgroups in two large organizations. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using systematic interpretative techniques. Findings from Study 1 showed that conflict induced a variety of emotional and behavioral responses. Data from Study 2 were collected from 660 employees from 7 public sector organizations using a structured open-ended survey. Results from Study 2 revealed that the majority of respondents perceived their managers as bullies. Study 3 surveyed 510 staff in 122 workgroups from five organizations. Regression analysis revealed that differing conflict events were associated with bullying, emotional reactions and counterproductive behaviors. In particular, prolonged conflict increased incidents of bullying. Higher levels of bullying were predictive of workplace counterproductive behaviors such as purposely wasting company material and supplies, purposely doing one's work incorrectly and purposely damaging a valuable piece of property belonging to the employer.

How adolescents cope with bullying

Bullying is a stressful event for adolescents at school and was the fourth most common reason for calls to Kids Help Line in 2002. This study sought to examine coping styles used by students affected by bullying in Years 8 and 10 attending three Queensland high schools. Eighty-eight students completed the Bully Survey containing questions about bullying experiences and the way they coped in those situations. No year level differences were found in terms of the type of bullying experienced or the way in which students coped with these experiences. A significant interaction was found between duration of bullying and perceived control for the proportional use of disengagement coping (i.e., denial, avoidance and wishful thinking strategies). A significant simple main effect was found between perceived stressfulness and proportional use of involuntary engagement coping (i.e., rumination, intrusive thoughts, emotional arousal, physiological arousal and impulsive actions). Implications of these findings for schools are discussed.