An exploration of revenge within romantic relationships

Background: Following interpersonal transgressions, some individuals have difficulty letting go of hostile feelings towards their transgressor, foregoing forgiveness and enacting revenge. Romantic revenge research has received less attention than other interpersonal relationship contexts (e.g. the workplace). Aims and objective: This thesis explores romantic revenge, seeking to highlight current knowledge of this topic and determine areas requiring further exploration. It comprises a systematic review (consolidating our current understanding of romantic revenge), a psychometric critique (examining a measure – the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations inventory - used to explore unforgiving motivations, including revenge) and two empirical research studies (examining extra-legal factors that could influence public perceptions of a vengeful behaviour committed within romantic relationships - Revenge Pornography). Overall findings: The systematic review identified variables (e.g. personality) that appear to influence perceptions of, motivations for, or likelihood of engaging in romantic revenge; a preliminary framework was developed to highlight the complex processes involved. The critique highlighted a need for the measure to be validated with offender samples (specifically, those who commit vengeful offences against romantic partners). The empirical research revealed there are extra-legal factors (e.g. victim-perpetrator gender) that appear to influence perceptions of revenge pornography in relation to victim blame and perceptions of harm; these were subsequently included in the preliminary framework developed within the systematic review. Implications and limitations are discussed

Development of a case formulation model for individuals who have viewed, distributed, and/or shared child sexual exploitation material

Increases in the number of arrests of individuals who download or distribute Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) have highlighted a need to further understand the offending pathways of this offender group. This article describes the development of an aetiological model specific to CSEM offending. Individuals who had viewed, distributed and/or shared CSEM (n = 20) were interviewed regarding their life and sexual history, relationships, substance use, offending details, and circumstances leading to their CSEM offending, resulting in seven superordinate themes: Developmental Context, Individual Propensities (risk-related and risk-protective) and Psychological Vulnerabilities, Personal Circumstances, Permission-Giving Thoughts, Internet Environment and Behaviour, Evaluation of Consequences for the Individual, and Desistance. These themes were combined into a case formulation tool specific for CSEM offending behaviour, with the aim of providing systematic guidance for assessment and treatment providers

An exploration of revenge within romantic relationships

Background: Following interpersonal transgressions, some individuals have difficulty letting go of hostile feelings towards their transgressor, foregoing forgiveness and enacting revenge. Romantic revenge research has received less attention than other interpersonal relationship contexts (e.g. the workplace). Aims and objective: This thesis explores romantic revenge, seeking to highlight current knowledge of this topic and determine areas requiring further exploration. It comprises a systematic review (consolidating our current understanding of romantic revenge), a psychometric critique (examining a measure – the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations inventory - used to explore unforgiving motivations, including revenge) and two empirical research studies (examining extra-legal factors that could influence public perceptions of a vengeful behaviour committed within romantic relationships - Revenge Pornography). Overall findings: The systematic review identified variables (e.g. personality) that appear to influence perceptions of, motivations for, or likelihood of engaging in romantic revenge; a preliminary framework was developed to highlight the complex processes involved. The critique highlighted a need for the measure to be validated with offender samples (specifically, those who commit vengeful offences against romantic partners). The empirical research revealed there are extra-legal factors (e.g. victim-perpetrator gender) that appear to influence perceptions of revenge pornography in relation to victim blame and perceptions of harm; these were subsequently included in the preliminary framework developed within the systematic review. Implications and limitations are discussed