Thousands of women each year initiate the process of obtaining a restraining order against a violent partner. Although many women request an emergency restraining order, many fail to return to obtain a final 1-year order. The present study examined factors associated with completion of this process. Sixty-five women who initiated the process of securing a restraining order against a male partner participated in the study. Participants completed an interview, self-report measures, and were followed up to determine final restraining order status. Less than half of the women who initiated the process obtained final orders. Women who indicated an attachment to the abusive partner were less likely to complete the process. Perceived threat to the women facilitated persistence with the process; however, when the threat involved her children, women were less likely to persist. Understanding factors influencing persistence in help seeking, especially attachment and threat, is a crucial step toward enhancing interventions to facilitate efforts toward violence-free lives.

Psychopathy is a condition with important consequences both for individuals who experience it and for the communities in which they live. Although the assessment of psychopathy among adolescents remains controversial, some evidence suggests that the affective and behavioral traits of adult psychopathy begin to emerge in childhood

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The present study explored the relationship among attributions of self-blame, perceived control, and psychological adjustment in battered women. A total of 160 women who experienced physical violence in an intimate relationship completed ratings of characterological self-blame, behavioral self-blame, perceived control, and adjustment. Women currently involved with violent partners reported the highest rates of characterological and behavioral self-blame and the lowest level of perceived control. Both dimensions of self-blame were positively correlated with symptoms. Perceived control was associated with lower symptoms. Characterological self-blame, behavioral self-blame, and perceived control moderated the relationship between violence and adjustment. The implications for understanding the process by which self-blame and perceived control moderate psychological adjustment are discussed.

There is growing attention to the importance of violence risk communication, and emerging empirical evidence of how evaluating clinicians who conduct risk assessments communicate their conclusions about the risk of violence toward others. The present study addressed the perceived value of different forms of risk communication through a national survey of practicing psychologists (N = 1,000). Responses were received from a total of 256 participants, who responded to eight vignettes in which three factors relevant to risk communication were systematically varied in a 2 x 2 x 2 within-subjects design, counterbalanced for order: (i) risk model (prediction oriented versus management oriented), (ii) risk level (high risk versus low risk), and (iii) risk factors (static versus dynamic). Participants were asked to rate the value of six styles of risk communication for each of eight vignettes. The most highly valued style of risk communication involved identifying risk factors applicable to the individual, and specifying interventions to reduce risk. These results were consistent with findings from several previous studies in this area, and reflect an emerging trend in preferences for style and context of risk communication of violence.