Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2013 Causes and consequences of conflict : exploring the influence of honor-based norms and values on the experience of intimate partner violence in the United States Michelle Elaine Pence Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Pence, Michelle Elaine, "Causes and consequences of conflict : exploring the influence of honor-based norms and values on the experience of intimate partner violence in the United States" (2013). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 613. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/613 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT: EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF HONOR-BASED NORMS AND VALUES ON THE EXPERIENCE OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Communication Studies by Michelle E. Pence B.A., University of Missouri- Kansas City, 2005 M.A., University of Missouri- St. Louis, 2007 August 2013 I don't know where Fathers go when they die. I have an idea that after a rest-wherever it is- he won't be happy unless there's work to do. He won't just sit on a cloud and wait for the woman he loved and the children she bore. He'll be busy there, too, repairing the streets, oiling the gates, improving things. Smoothing the way. ~ Anon. I dedicate the completion of my doctorate to my grandfather, Tom Smith, who died on October 9, 2011, just a year and a half short of seeing me complete my education. My grandfather, who remains the hardest working person I’ve ever met, was a stoic man who took pride in his family, his city (Kansas City, Missouri), and his service to this country during World War II. He was also proud of me and my education, and was indeed one of my biggest fans. He deserves my thanks as well as this dedication, because in the midst of my traversing through “the dark side,” I knew the “light” through his example of what a good man is and does. I miss him constantly and hope he will always be proud of me. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There is absolutely no way I could have made it to this point, completing my dissertation, without support. To all the people that have been in my corner, I owe my deepest thanks. First and foremost, to my committee, James Honeycutt, Graham Bodie, and James Garand. You have no idea what it means to me that you never gave up on me; never quit. Your hard work and dedication were shining examples for me along this journey, and I will be eternally grateful. There are members of my family which deserve special mention. To my sister, Melinda. In the hardest times, you were the person who made my escapes possible. Without your support, I would not have been able to have the good experiences and create the positive memories that kept me afloat throughout these last several years. Truly, if anyone is responsible for my sanity and grace, it is you. Thank you is simply not enough. To my parents, Gary and Kathleen Pence. Thank you for supporting me after I took the fellowship; I could not have stayed in my home without your help. That stability was probably the only way I was able to finish this project in a year. And to my mom- my “friends” thank you also! Dissertation writing has been a busy time for them, also! To my cousins, Patrick, Lisa, Courtney, and Chris- your humor, compassion, enthusiasm, and support put a smile on my face. Thank you for the memories. There have been a handful of friends who have been there for all of it, my youth, my struggles, and now my achievement. To my best friend and savior, Mark Boyer. You saw potential in me at fourteen years old, and you never lost faith in me, even when I lost faith in myself. I will never understand why I get to be the luckiest girl in the entire world, to have you as a devoted best friend. If I go forward from here and live my life with half the humor, grace, and integrity that you have, I will be truly accomplished. To my dearest, oldest friends- Jaime Kunce and Sarah Rastogi. Thank you for being loyal. I truly love you both—thank you for iii always standing behind my decisions. Get ready, it’s my turn to repay visits! And finally, to Rocky Sluder- thank you for calling me every single Saturday night. I should have answered more often, but know what it meant to me to just see your call and know I have a loyal friend. There are several people I met during my time in Baton Rouge who became my soundboards, the sources of my sanity. First, to Donna and Lisa- you both know I would have been lost without you! Second, to Danielle McGeough, Ryan McGeough, Michael Sanders, Rya Butterfield, and Marina Cohen. I spent four years under an incredible amount of stress and hundreds of miles from friends or family. You became my surrogate family, loyal and kind and forgiving. Thank you for supporting me throughout this last stage of my education. And to Megan Cunningham: Thank you for showing me what true strength looks like, and keeping me inspired on this journey. There are a few people who I’ve come across while on this amazing journey who deserve my many thanks. To Jon Distel- you are my most interesting man in the world! Thank you for always believing in me, for making me feel smart enough to do this but interesting enough to stand out from the others that do. To Kami Silk- thank you always reassuring me, for helping me maintain some level of sanity! To James “Pepper” Rutland: No one knows everything that I went through in these last six months- except you. For better or worse, it was you who got the unfiltered, uncensored, unapologetic, most real and raw side of me. Thank you for that freedom, and for taking an eccentric, tattooed, and emotional girl and making her feel like she was the one worth a million bucks. Your strength, character, and generosity continue to humble me. Finally, to N.N., M.B., and J.R.: “We are the choices that we have made and our lives remain forever changed by those who would move us closer to a greater truth.” Thank you for the truth, past, present, and future. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……...……………………………………………….………………iii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………………..vi ABSTRACT……..………………………………………………………………........................vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION………………………...…………....……………………...1 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE...…………….……………….……......... ……14 CHAPTER THREE: STUDY 1………………….………………………..…………..................40 CHAPTER FOUR: STUDY 2…………….……...……………..….……………………........…48 CHAPTER FIVE: STUDY 3……………...….……………………………….....………………78 CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS……………...….………………..........100 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………....................115 APPENDIX A: CONFLICT TACTICS SCALE...…………………………..…………………131 APPENDIX B: PROXIMAL ANTECEDENTS TO VIOLENT EPISODES (PAVE)……. ….134 APPENDIX C: REASONS FOR VIOLENCE SCALE (RVS)...……...…………….…….......135 APPENDIX D: MOTIVATIONS AND EFFECTS QUESTIONNAIRE (MEQ)...……….. .....137 APPENDIX E: PROPOSED MEASURE...…………………………………………….……...139 APPENDIX F: RESULTS OF CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSES, STUDY 3…......149 APPENDIX G: IRB APPROVAL…………………………………………………………...…150 THE VITA……………...………………………………………………………………………152 v LIST OF TABLES 2.1 United States Census-Designated Regions and Divisions…...………………………… ……16 2.2 List of states from most peaceful (1) to least peaceful (50), U.S.P.I...…….................... ……18 2.3 List of 10 most and 10 least peaceful metropolitan areas, U.S.P.I…..………………… ……19 2.4 Hypotheses…………………………………………….…..…………………………… ……38 3.1 Mean rates of male-on-female, single victim/single offender homicides 1998-2009..... ……44 3.2 Results of fixed effects regression analysis, states ...…….…………….……………… ……45 3.3 Results of fixed effects regression analysis, regions.…...……..………......................... ……46 4.1 Items to assess provoked IPV……..…….……………………………………………...........59 4.2 Items to assess IPV for control………………………………………………………............60 4.3 Items to assess IPV related to character/personality of perpetrator and/or victim…………..61 4.4 Factor loadings, CTS2, Self-as-Perpetrator……………….…………….…...………………70 4.5 Factor loadings, CTS2, Self-as-Victim………………….…………...…........................ ……73 5.1 Characteristics of participants in Study 3…………………..………………...... ……………82 5.2 Five models of honor/nonhonor culture classification techniques.……….…………… ……86 5.3 Attributions and rates of endorsement ………………….......….………........................ ……88 5.4 Results for Models 1-5, Hypothesis 6…………..……….......….………........................ ……90 5.5 Fit indices……………………….……………………………………………………… ……91 5.6 Results from ordered logistic regression models with interaction effect………………. ……95 5.7 Fit indices…….………………………………………………………………………… ……95 5.8 Marginal effects………………………………………………………………………... ……97 6.1 Hypotheses and results…………………………………………………………………. …..102 vi ABSTRACT The three studies in this dissertation were posed with the common goal of revealing possible explanations for variations in the causes and consequences of interpersonal violence across regional cultures of the United States. Study 1 posed and tested two hypotheses related to the distribution of male-perpetrated intimate partner homicide across regions of the United States. The South and West, two regions characterized in full (the South) or in part (the West) by honor cultures, emerged as the regions with the highest rates of argument- and conflict- related, male-on-female intimate partner homicides in single victim/single offender incidents. Explanations provided at the individual level for cross-regional variation in the experience of severe intimate partner violence were explored in Studies 2 and 3, which had two goals.