Date of Conferral

8-6-2026

Date of Award

August 2026

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Hedy Dexter

Abstract

Coercive control and domestic violence perpetrated by men against women are global social problems sustained by patriarchal norms that normalize gender-based violence. These norms often contribute to victims' maladaptive self-beliefs, leading women to believe they provoked the abuse. When survivors seek legal protection, they may experience revictimization through legal processes that minimize their claims and enable perpetrators to continue exerting power and control through the justice system. As a result, dissatisfaction with the legal system may reinforce self-blame, while low self-compassion may further undermine women's perceived control over stressful events in both the short and long term. While previous research has examined relations among legal revictimization, self-blame, and self-compassion independently, their relative strength in predicting perceived self-control has not been investigated. Informed by self-determination theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the relative strength of justice-related satisfaction, posttraumatic maladaptive beliefs, and self-compassion in predicting perceived control over stressful events. Data were collected via SurveyMonkey among English-speaking adult females residing in the United States with legal system exposure. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that higher justice-related satisfaction, posttraumatic maladaptive beliefs, and self-compassion positively predicted higher perceived control over stressful events. The results may foster positive social change by informing therapeutic interventions for abuse victims and trauma-awareness training for all legal system personnel.

Download

Share

 
COinS