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The Abuse Litmus Test: A Classroom Tool to Assess Power and Control in On‐Screen Relationships
Author(s) -
Bonomi Amy E.,
Eaton Asia A.,
Nemeth Julianna M.,
Gillum Tameka L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/fare.12237
Subject(s) - psychology , debriefing , normative , harm , psychological intervention , test (biology) , sexual abuse , sexual assault , social psychology , poison control , suicide prevention , applied psychology , medicine , paleontology , philosophy , environmental health , epistemology , psychiatry , biology
Despite university efforts and recent evidence‐based interventions to reduce campus sexual assault, few systematic approaches have addressed how media depictions of sex and romance that inundate young adults via popular culture help to develop and sustain attitudes and behaviors that tolerate sexual abuse and intimate partner violence as normative. We introduce a feminist‐informed pedagogical tool—drawing from the Duluth Power and Control Wheel and the Women's Experience with Battering Framework—to facilitate college students' decoding of relationship power, control, and harm in popular film, including dynamics relevant to sexual assault. We include step‐by‐step instructions for implementing the tool in classroom settings, including estimated duration, script, sample films, discussion questions, and debriefing procedures (including linking to campus assault dynamics).