Atsidis,
John (4/11) Psychologists’ perception of and countertransferential reactions
toward victims of domestic violence (Elizabeth Kudadjie, Ph.D.; Howard Mcguire,
Ph.D.; Nicholas Papouchis, Ph.D.)
This study was undertaken to determine
therapist attitudes towards domestic violence victims while addressing the
methodological limits of previous research. Therapists' experiences of
unfavorable attitudes can be particularly destructive to the treatment of
victims of abuse. Doctoral level psychologists (N=200), in good standing with
the American Psychological Association (APA), were recruited to anonymously
participate. Packets consisting of vignettes and questionnaires were delivered
to the address supplied by the APA. Response rate was approximately 28% out of
a total of 713 packets mailed. A between subject design was employed to compare
attitudes reported on the domestic violence vignette with attitudes attributed
to a mugging vignette. Independent variables included type of victim, victim
gender, respondent experience, respondent training in domestic violence,
respondent self-efficacy, and respondent gender. Dependent variables included
positive and negative countertransference, countertransference behaviors, and
respondent attitudes as defined by the semantic differential paired-adjective
rating scale. Exploratory variables included respondent marital status and
feminist attitudes. Results indicated that there was a significant difference
in the negative attitudes attributed to domestic violence victims. Respondent background
and demographic characteristics, individually and collectively, did not impact
respondents' countertransference manifestations. The findings suggest the need
for therapists to make continuous efforts to achieve a greater awareness of
their negative enactments which can occur as a result of largely unconscious
negative attributions. Additional research is suggested to expand and provide
depth to the findings of this study. Specifically, attempts to identify the
sources of negative stereotypes regarding victims of domestic violence.
