Physical abuse is any act of violence perpetrated within the context of a significant interpersonal relationship. Physical abuse could include violence between a husband and a wife, a girlfriend, and boyfriend, or gay or lesbian partners.

Scenario 1: Male-Dominated, Male Initiator

John a 27-year old male, and Jessica a 26-year old female. John and Jessica have been together for approximately three years. They both weigh roughly 12.5 stone and are 5 foot 10 inches tall. Jessica returns home from work one Friday evening after doing overtime. She has a deadline to meet on Monday so staying back was the only way of being able to meet it, this was unplanned and had not been mentioned to John. As she enters the door, John begins to question her on her whereabouts, asking her whether she has been with another man.

Jessica says John is being silly, that she simply had a load of work to get done and she is tired and wants to go to sleep. As the argument escalates, Jessica walks out of the sitting room and heads towards the bedroom. John grabs her by the arm hard enough to leave a mark. She pulls her arm away from him, and as she does so he pushes her hard into a table. Jessica regains her balance, looks at John, and tells him she has not, and is not, cheating. John slaps Jessica’s face and Jessica slaps John back across the face before running into the bedroom and closing the door. Jessica stays in the bedroom, and John stays in the sitting room.

Scenario 2: Female Dominated physical abuse, Female Initiator

John, a 27-year old male, and Jessica, a 26-year old female. John and Jessica have been together for approximately three years. They both weigh roughly 12.5 stone and are 5 foot 10 inches tall.

Jessica returns home from work one Friday evening after doing overtime. She has a deadline to meet on Monday so staying back was the only way of being able to get the work done. This was unplanned and had not been mentioned to John. As she enters the door, John begins to question her on her whereabouts, asking whether she has been with another man. Jessica slaps Mark across the face, saying he is being silly, that she simply had a load of work to get done and she is tired and wants to go to sleep.

As the argument escalates, Jessica walks out of the sitting room and heads towards the bedroom. John grabs her by the arm hard enough to leave a mark. She pulls her arm away from him, scratching John’s arm with her other hand. She looks at John and tells him she has not, and is not, cheating before picking up a nearby glass and throwing it at John. Jessica walks to the bedroom, shuts the door and stays in the bedroom; John stays in the sitting room.

Questions

Participants will then answer five questions measuring their perception of the individuals involved in the scenario. The question will be the following accordingly to each scenarios of physical abuse:

1 – Who do you believe is/are the victim(s) in this dispute?

•  _____
• _____
• Both

2- How responsible is ____for this situation?

• Not responsible
• Somewhat responsible
• Unsure
• Responsible

3- How responsible is ___ for this situation?

• Not responsible
• Somewhat responsible
• Unsure
• Responsible

4-How serious do you consider this case to be?

• Not serious at all
• A little serious
• Unsure
• Serious
• Extremely serious

5- How justified is _____ actions?

• Extremely unjustified
• Unjustified
• Unsure
• Justified
• Extremely justified