The prevalence of emotional and verbal intimate partner violence (IPV) has received significant attention from psychologists and human rights lobbyists globally. Scholars assert that the probability of emotional abuse escalating to physical IPV is high. Moreover, women tend to be more receptors of emotional and verbal IPV than men in intimate relationship, such as former or current spouses or boyfriend and girlfriend relations. According to research, the occurrence of IPV may be assessed through hypothetical factors backed by the social-ecological theory.
Literature Review
Emotional, intimate partner violence includes any action perpetrated by an individual that aims to dominate, assault, isolate, ridicule, or degrade a present or past lover. The abuse's purpose is to destabilize the psychological well-being of the recipient and results in physical violence in most instances (Karakurt & Silver, 2013). The perpetrator often uses fear or humiliation to control, isolate, punish, or subdue their victim psychologically. Several factors play a significant role in engendering emotional and verbal abuse. First, individual constructs, such as mental health challenges, substance abuse, gender, and age, are primarily responsible for the perpetration of emotional or verbal IPV. Further, a religion’s upholding of matriarchy or patriarchy where abuse of the supposed lesser gender is normalized exacerbates IPV (Kerman & Betrus, 2018). Besides, the state's distancing itself from familial issues accords IPV perpetrators a platform to further their acts. Moreover, firsthand childhood witnessing or experiencing IPV may increase in an adult's perpetration of IPV. Furthermore, economic factors, such as dependence or low socioeconomic backgrounds, play a role in perpetuating verbal and emotional IPV. According to statistics, 13 to 61% of women globally have experienced IPV at least once in their lifetime (Patra, Patra, Prakash, & Khanna, 2018). In the United States, at least 16% of women are victims of IPV annually (Slep, Foran, & Heyman, 2014). Thus, emotional and verbal abuse results from various causatives that may be further explained and remedied by the social-ecological theory.
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Social-Ecological Theory
The social-ecological theory was first modeled by Urie Bronfenbrenner and sought to conceptualize human behavior. The model contends that an individual is a function of nesting circles that define their actions. According to Bronfenbrenner, a person's microsystem is the innermost circle that actively determines the individual's relationship and interactions of close surroundings (Kilanowski, 2017). The second outer layer is the mesosystem, which extends personal communication to work, school, neighborhood, and church. Bronfenbrenner also asserts that the third outer ring that exerts negative and positive forces on an individual is the exosystem, which also does not influence a person's behavior. Moreover, the fourth outermost circle is the macrosystem, which consists of religion, societal, and cultural values that affect a person's actions. Finally, the fifth most outer ring is the chronosystem that comprises external and internal aspects of revised historical, time, and policy influential factors. Thus, an individual has five circles that determine their behavior according to the socio-ecological model.
Scholars contend that the socio-ecological model may explain emotional and verbal IPV perpetration. Nesting circles play a significant role in influencing the IPV perpetrator's actions (Gashaw, Schei, & Magnus, 2018). The microsystem may explain individual constructs while social constructs engender the mesosystem details IPV. Additionally, outside forces, such as financial stressors, are advanced by the exosystem, while the macrosystem represents community constructs of IPV. Finally, other factors that result in a perpetrator's indulgence in emotional and verbal IPV are best modeled by the chronosystem. Thus, various factors may exacerbate IPV's perpetration by male or female emotional and verbal abusers.
Application
Slep et al. (2014) researched to prove the application of the social-ecological model in engendering IPV. The researchers hypothesized that ecological aspects, such as modifiable risk elements, influence an individual's participation in psychologically abusing their intimate partner. The authors partnered with the Air Force military to conduct their investigation. The team interviewed 54 543 participants on the factors that influenced their engagement in IPV at any time (Slep et al. 2014). All subjects underwent screening for drug abuse, physical and mental health challenges, and criminal history. The study was conducted in 2006 between June and April. The dependent variables were emotional and verbal IPV, while the independent variables were social, individual, and societal constructs.
Different clinical measurement scales, such as the seven items scale for depressive symptoms, nine items personal coping scale, Short Form and Health Survey scale for measuring physical health, and 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test were used to check individual constructs stressors of IPV. Family constructs, such as the Marriage Index of relationship satisfaction and partner career support, were also measured. Moreover, the researchers measured work-related constructs, such as leadership support, income, and financial stress. Finally, community constructs of IPV, such as social support, community resources, safety, and agency support, were measured using various instruments (Slep et al., 2014). Data were analyzed using the WLSMV multiple-step technique. The results showed that all elements played a significant role in engendering IPV. Therefore, IPV may be remedied by assessing the perpetrators ecological stressors. Thus, emotional and verbal abuse is a function of socio-ecological risk factors.
Conclusion
The worrying rate of intimate partner violence has received attention from elites globally. Perpetrators have exacerbated verbal and emotional abuse with ecological challenges. The experiment performed showed that individuals engage in IPV with the influence of various stressors. Thus, the emotional and verbal intimate partner violence is a function of personal nesting circles, as explained by the socio-ecological model.
References
Gashaw, B. T., Schei, B., & Magnus, J. H. (2018). Social ecological factors and intimate partner violence in pregnancy. PLOS ONE , 13 (3), e0194681. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5875784/
Karakurt, G., & Silver, K. E. (2013). Emotional abuse in intimate relationships: The role of gender and age. Violence and Victims , 28 (5), 804-821. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-12-00041
Kilanowski, J. F. (2017). Breadth of the socio-ecological model. Journal of Agromedicine , 22 (4), 295-297. doi:10.1080/1059924x.2017.1358971
Patra, P., Prakash, J., Patra, B., & Khanna, P. (2018). Intimate partner violence: Wounds are deeper. Indian Journal of Psychiatry , 60 (4), 494-498. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6278226/
Smith Slep, A. M., Foran, H. M., & Heyman, R. E. (2014). An ecological model of intimate partner violence perpetration at different levels of severity. Journal of Family Psychology , 28 (4), 470-482. doi:10.1037/a0037316
Tekkas Kerman, K., & Betrus, P. (2018). Violence against women in Turkey: A social ecological framework of determinants and prevention strategies. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse , 21 (3), 510-526. doi:10.1177/1524838018781104
