American Psychologist publishes special section on domestic violence around the world

While nations have unique factors that contribute to violence in their societies, psychologists have found that the causes and consequences of domestic violence are similar from country to country, according to a special section published in the January American Psychologist (Vol. 54, No. 1).

'Psychologists all over the world have attempted to study the problem as well as design intervention programs to stop, prevent and heal those who have been exposed to domestic violence,' says Lenore Walker, president of Section IV (Clinical Psychology of Women) of Div. 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology). Walker, past chair of the Committee on International Relations in Psychology, edited the special section that focuses on programs in Chile, Japan, Russia, Greece, Argentina, Nicaragua, Israel and Mexico. Topics include:

 An innovative training program for batterers in Argentina and Uruguay that uses an ecological approach rather than the educational or clinical approach typically used in North America.

 A prevention program in Israel for high-risk girls who come from homes that experience domestic violence.

 A study of Russian women, who receive little support in that country's legal system. Russia has no women's shelters and no words to define or describe a 'batterer' or a 'battered woman.'

 A study of social and psychological attitudes in Greece, where religion and society are more accepting of a husband's control over his wife.

 A prevention program in Mexico City, where many of the women in the community have fled the city after being battered.

'These articles were chosen as representative of the variety of interventions by psychologists and other scientists and advocates working together,' says Walker, executive director of the Domestic Violence Institute of Denver, which has affiliate centers around the world.

Walker hopes that the section will provoke discussion by psychologists in different countries, stimulate cross-cultural research and aid in the development of more creative intervention and prevention strategies.

-L. Rabasca



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