NCJ Number
111603
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1988) Pages: 42-54
Date Published
1988
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Violent behavior of mentally ill family members, its effects on the family, and patterns of adjustment were studied in a national sample of 1,156 individuals associated with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
Abstract
Respondents answered a questionnaire about their relative's behavior and their own responses to aggressive and destructive acts. Of the sample, 89 percent were parents, usually mothers. Approximately 38 percent of the sample's relatives was classified as violent. The variables that best discriminated between violent and nonviolent relatives were education, compliance with medication, alcohol abuse, employment, number of hospitalizations, income, and age. Violence and resources were inversely related. The higher the income, the better the self-reported level of family adjustment. Living in or out of the family home had no effect on adjustment. Families of nonviolent relatives reported a higher level of adjustment both in the first year of illness and at the time of study. When asked how they altered their behavior in response to violence, families reported five types of response: no alteration, self-restriction, distancing from relatives, assertion of limits, and attempts to calm the patient. A significant difference in adjustment was found between families using distancing and calming, with the latter group reporting the best degree of adjustment. 13 references. (Author abstract modified)