a b s t r a c tIn this study we apply the versatile/specialist offender debate to the research of intimate partner violence. We propose the existence of two types of imprisoned male batterers: the generalist and the specialist batterer. The individual, family, and community characteristics of these types of batterers are further explored in 110 imprisoned males in the Penitentiary of Villabona (Spain). As for the individual characteristics, results indicate that the generalist batterer present higher levels of psychopathology (specially antisocial and borderline personality), sexist attitudes, and substance dependence. Specialist batterers presented higher levels of conflict in their family of origin. Finally, generalist batterers reported coming from more socially disordered communities and showed lower levels of participation and integration in these communities than the specialist batterer. These results suggest that the classical distinctions among batterers based on psychopathology and context of violence (whether general or family only) might be of little utility when applied to imprisoned male batterers. Generalistas frente a especialistas: hacia una tipología de maltratadores encarceladosPalabras clave: Maltratador Encarcelado Tipología Psicopatología Comunidad Familia Historia delictiva r e s u m e n En este estudio aplicamos el debate del delincuente versátil/especialista a la investigación de la violencia de pareja. Proponemos que hay dos tipos de maltratadores masculinos en prisión: el generalista y el especialista. Se profundiza en la exploración de las características familiares, individuales y comunitarias de ambos tipos de maltratadores en 110 varones encarcelados en la prisión de Villabona (España). Sobre las características individuales los resultados indican que el maltratador generalista tiene niveles elevados de psicopatología (sobre todo personalidad antisocial y límite), actitudes sexistas y dependencia de sustancias. Los maltratadores especialistas tenían niveles elevados de conflicto con la familia de origen. Por último, los maltratadores generalistas afirmaban que procedían de comunidades más desestructuradas socialmente que los maltratadores especialistas. Estos resultados indican que la distinción clásica entre maltratadores según la psicopatología y el contexto de la violencia (únicamente la general o familiar) pudiera ser poco útil en el caso de los maltratadores masculinos encarcelados. In the last decades, the study of typologies of batterers has provided empirical evidence on the heterogeneous nature of partner violence and has pointed out how typologies could be of help in identifying different etiological mechanisms of partner violence (Capaldi & Kim, 2007). In their influential review, * Corresponding author. Despacho 233. Plaza Feijoo s/n. 33003 Oviedo, Spain.E-mail address: olaizola@uniovi.es (J. Herrero). Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) proposed that batterers might be classified along three dimensions: (a) severity and frequency of marital violence, (b) generality of ...

Recent literature has suggested that smartphone addiction is negatively associated with users’ psychosocial well-being. Much of the research on this subject, however, is of a correlational nature, which has been pointed out as an important limitation that does not allow distinguishing the antecedents of the consequences. In this study, 416 smartphone users were followed for 1 year (three waves separated by 6 months each) to assess the relationship between smartphone addiction and social support. Cross-lagged model results indicated that social support predicts later addiction to the smartphone and that smartphone addiction decreases social support over time. Growth mixture model results indicated that the decrease in social support during the follow-up year was higher for users with greater smartphone addiction at the beginning of the study. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance indicated that some personal characteristics of users (extroversion, neuroticism, and sensation-seeking) could affect the evolution of social support related to smartphone addiction. In general, these results suggest that the extensive use of a social communication technology such as the smartphone could have the paradoxical effect of diminishing the psychosocial well-being of its users.

Sexist attitudes have been claimed to play an important role in acceptability of intimate partner violence (IPV). Empirical evidence suggests that sexist individuals are also more accepting of violence in social relationships than non-sexist individuals. Results from multilevel regression models of data from 72,730 respondents of 51 countries around the world showed that (a) both sexism and acceptability of general violence in social relationships were positively related to acceptability of IPV and (b) the highest levels of acceptability of IPV were found among those sexist individuals who also present positive attitudes toward the use of violence in social relationships.

For approximately fifty years, scholars have empirically confirmed the benefits of social support for health and well-being. This empirical evidence comes from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies carried out both in the general and at-risk populations (Holt-Lunstad, Smith,

Objective: The influence of partners’ traditional gender role and partners’ level of general violence on intimate partner violence (IPV) against women has been studied separately most likely because they represent key aspects of apparently contrasting theoretical views. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the influence of both partners’ gender role and partners’ level of general violence on IPV against women. Method: Using data from 20,663 heterosexual women living with their partners from a probabilistic sample of 18- to 74-year-old women in the European Union, we investigated the association among physical and psychological IPV against women, partners’ traditional roles, and partners’ level of general violence. Results: The multilevel regression results indicated that, even after controlling for a number of interviewer, respondent, partner, and country-level characteristics, partners’ traditional gender role and partners’ level of general violence (main effects) were predictive of higher rates of physical and psychological IPV against women. Moreover, the greatest levels of IPV were observed in women who described their partners as both traditional and generally violent (interaction effect). Conclusions: The influence of partners’ traditional gender role and partners’ level of general violence on IPV against women has rarely been studied together most likely due to the apparently conflicting underlying theoretical assumptions. Our study provides empirical support for both views and suggests that intervention efforts focusing on both gender-based and non–gender-based violence are legitimate strategies for reducing the rates of IPV against women in society.