This article examines the individual and social construction of empowerment for battered women who choose to stay with their abusers through a critical examination of the images of battered women who stay, constructed in the professional literature on various ecological levels, and a proposal of a constructivist model for empowering battered women who choose to stay that balances between their needs and rights. The model includes dimensions of physical and emotional distance as well as a time dimension. Key themes related to battered women's options along these dimensions are presented.

Based on in-depth interviews with preadolescents and their mothers, a detailed description is provided of the experience of children who were exposed to violence at home. Findings are organized into five semichronological phases: (a) living with ordinary fights, (b) witnessing violent events, (c) being challenged by mothers' public confrontations of the violence, (d) adjusting to new realities in the long-term aftermath of violence, and (e) living with violence as a history. Discussion centers on the meanings of secret, witnessing, and exposure. Results indicate potential directions for understanding, studying, and intervening with children exposed to women-battering.

No abstract

As this century ends there continues to be little public attention devoted to child witnesses of woman abuse and few social programs exist to meet their needs. This article presents the findings of a qualitative evaluation of a group program for children of battered women. Interviews were conducted with 16 mothers, 5 fathers, 9 group leaders, and 30 children who participated in 8 groups. Data also included observations of one complete group process (10 groups and 3 family sessions). Both intended and unintended results are presented and recommendations for practice are discussed.

The aim of this study is to investigate regeneration in a segmental bone defect using a novel fibrinogen-based hydrogel material. The use of hydrogels made from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugated to fibrinogen for this purpose may be better to conventional fibrin-based materials as it offers an additional degree of control over the structural characteristics and biodegradation of the material. At the same time, it maintains some of the inherent biofunctionality of the fibrinogen molecule. PEGylated fibrinogen hydrogels with various degrees of proteolytic resistance based on PEG and fibrinogen composition were designed for slow, intermediate, and fast biodegradation. The hydrogels were implanted into 7-mm segmental rat tibial defects without additional osteoinductive factors with the rationale that the ingrowth matrix will displace the normal fibrin clot while sustaining a similar healing effect for a longer duration. Histological and X-ray results confirmed that the extent and distribution of newly formed bone in the defect after 5 weeks strongly parallels the biodegradation pattern of the implanted material. When compared to nonunions in animals treated with the fast-degrading implants and untreated control animals, the rats implanted with the intermediate-degrading material exhibited osteoneogenesis. This data supports the hypothesis that the perseverance of the PEGylated fibrinogen material can be synchronized with the optimal healing characteristics of a segmental osseous defect and that the consequent sustained release of fibrinogen fragments facilitates the osteogenic response at the injury site. The PEGylated fibrinogen material may, therefore, be a highly efficacious material for promoting the healing of bone defects and especially nonunion fractures.