Ch12: Power and Violence

Question 1

power

Answer 1

the ability to influence or change the thoughts, feelings, or behaviours of others to suit our purposes and to resist their influence on us

Question 2

interdependency perspective on power

Answer 2

• power is based on the control of valuable resources
• person who has power does not have to possess the desired resources
• power from controlling a resource only comes if the other person wants it, the greater their need or desire = greater one’s power
• availability of alternative sources of desired resource influences the balance of one’s power
• balance of power may change when wife enters workforce
• the interactions of two partners emerge from their mutual influence on each other

Question 3

principle of lesser interest

Answer 3

in any partnership, the person who has less interest in continuing and maintaining the relationship has more power

Question 4

fate control

Answer 4

when one can control a partner’s outcome no matter what the partner does
ex. a women who does not want to have sex with her husband controls whether he has sex or not

Question 5

behaviour control

Answer 5

when changing one’s own behaviour encourages a partner to alter their actions in a desirable direction too

Question 6

counterpower

Answer 6

one partner may hold power in one aspect, while the other holds power in another aspect

Question 7

6 types of power

Answer 7

1. reward power- a persons ability to give rewards
2. coercive power- a persons ability to give punishments
3. legitimate power- exist when our partners believe that we have reasonable right to tell them what to do
4. referent power- when our partners adore us and wish to do what we want because they feel connected to us
5. expert power- when one partner recognizes our superior knowledge
6. informational power- when we have specific pieces of info that influences our partner’s behaviour

Question 8

Men, women, and the control of resources

Answer 8

• men and women generally face a disparity in relative resources
• social norms support and maintain male dominance
• wives control most household routines
• complete equality is difficult to attain

Question 9

dimensions of equity in relationships

Answer 9

1. relative status –> who’s interests matter more
2. attention to the other –> who is more likely to notice and attend to the feelings of their partner
3. patterns of accommodation –> whose accommodations are noticed
4. well-being –> who’s better off psychologically and physically

Question 10

ways in which power is expressed

Answer 10

• communication –> women tend not to speak to men with the same power they display towards other women
• non-verbal behaviour –> powerful people use larger interpersonal distances and assume postures that are less symmetrical and take up more space
• non-verbal sensitivity –> women are generally more accurate judges of others’ emotions // powerful people recognize emotion in others’ voices and facial expressions less accurately

Question 11

styles of power

Answer 11

• direct –> asking for something
• indirect –> doesn’t explicitly ask but hint at it
• bilateral –> seeking cooperation and collaboration from their partners
• unilateral –> doing what one wants without involving their partner

-people who hold more power tend to use bilateral style

Question 12

the process of power

Answer 12

• people who get what they want generally experience positive moods and well-being
• the feel in control of things
• however, they also typically do not see when there is an imbalance in power
• and, they usually judge other people’s negative behaviour harsher than their own comparable behaviour

Question 13

the outcome of power

Answer 13

• unfortunately, many cultures tend to unintentionally (or intentionally) perpetuate gender inequalities
• however, we should aim to create partnerships where both individuals’ wishes, and preferences are given equal weight
• people tend to be happier when there is a balance of power

Question 14

the two faces of power

Answer 14

• power does not always lead to greedy exploitation of another person
• sometimes power can be used to benefit another person
• when people care for one another and want to maintain a happy satisfying relationship, they will do things for one another
• however, power can also be used to control and dominate other people

Question 15

violence

Answer 15

when we behave in a manner that is intended to do physical harm to others

Question 16

types of couple violence

Answer 16

1. situational couple violence (SCV)
2. Intimate terrorism (IT)
3. violent resistance

Question 17

situational couple violence (SCV)

Answer 17

• most familiar type of violence
• typically erupts from heated conflicts that get out of hand
• occasional and usually mild, unlikely to escalate into serious, life-threatening forms of aggression
• tied to specific arguments
• often is mutual

Question 18

intimate terrorism (IT)

Answer 18

• where one partner uses violence as a tool to control and oppress the other
• associated with physical force and coercion
• occurs more often than SCV
• more likely than SCV to be one-sided
• tends to escalate over time
• may involve serious injuries
• men more likely

Question 19

facets of intimate terrorism

Answer 19

• isolation –> controlling where they go, what they do, who they see
• intimidation –> threatening, destroying property, abusing pets
• economic abuse –> taking money, preventing employments
• emotional abuse –> humiliating, disregarding, blaming
• minimizing –> denying any abuse

Question 20

violent resistance

Answer 20

where a partner forcibly fights back against intimate terrorism

• occurs in some but not all cases of IT
• least common of the three

Question 21

gender difference in intimate violence

Answer 21

• women direct just as much or even more violence at their partners, but severity between men and women differs
• women are more likely to engage in indirect aggression –> ruining someone’s reputation, gossiping

Question 22

mate-guarding

Answer 22

-we work to regulate and control our partners’ access to potential rivals and vice versa

Question 23

I^3 model

Answer 23

• model that explains what leads to SCV
  1. instigating triggers
  2. impelling influences
  3. inhibiting influences

Question 24

instigating triggers

Answer 24

• cause one or both partners to be frustrated or on edge
• starts the path to SCV
• anything in the couple’s interaction that causes frustration or aggravation can set the model into motion
• verbal or physical abuse is a particularly strong instigator

Question 25

impelling influences

Answer 25

• make it more likely that the partner will experience violent impulses
• influences based on:
  
  • early life experiences
  • personal characteristics –> high in neuroticism
  • may be specific attitudes towards violence
  • couples’ patterns of interaction –> past violence

Question 26

inhibiting influences

Answer 26

• encourage the partners to refrain from acting on those impulses
• we refrain from acting on violent impulses because either:
  1. the cause of them was too weak
  2. the inhibiting forces pulling us away from physical action were very strong

Question 27

4 types of influences for inhibitory and impelling

Answer 27

• distal –> your background
• dispositional –> personality, personal beliefs
• relational –> current status of relationship
• situational –> depends on current context

Question 28

people who commit IT fall into two groups

Answer 28

1. resorting to violence to keep their partner from leaving

2. people who are antisocial or narcissistic use violence to get their way

Question 29

why do people commit IT

Answer 29

• generally have a history of witnessing and/or experiencing violence themselves (tends to be intergenerational)
• tend to feel inadequate and therefore use violence to feel powerful
• may rationalize their use of violence
• children from violent homes are more likely than others to misbehave, but many never do

Question 30

stalking

Answer 30

• repeated, malicious following and harassing of an unwilling target that may include unwanted phone calls, letters, and text messages, surveillance, and other invasions of privacy
• women are more likely to be victims than men
• police are only consulted half the time

Question 31

why do people remain in violent relationships?

Answer 31

• don’t think they will be better off elsewhere
• fear of greater violence may prevent them from leaving
• some people don’t want to leave
• cost of leaving may seem too high

Question 32

prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in canada

Answer 32

• more than 40% of women and 33% of men have experienced some form of IPV in their lifetime
• more than 1/10 people have experience IPV in the past 12 months
• more than 1/4 of IPV victims experience violence or abuse monthly or more in the previous year
• 1/10 women experience violence or abuse almost daily

Question 33

who is more likely to be involved with IPV in Canada

Answer 33

• women
• indigenous women
• LGBTQ individuals
• women with disabilities
• young women
• lower socioeconomic status people
• people with early experience of child abuse
• when a couple has a history of angry disputes