Appendix C—Instruments

Publication Details

This appendix reproduces the following tools:

  • Abuse Assessment Screen (in English and Spanish)
  • Danger Assessment
  • Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory (PMWI)
  • Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2)

Although these instruments have been used extensively in research settings, they have not been validated as clinical tools; nor do they have instructions for scoring. The PMWI and the CTS2, in particular, were designed as research tools, not clinical tools, and do not have cutting scores (the score beyond which a person has a problem). All the instruments in this appendix can, however, serve to open dialogue with a client, elicit information, promote discussion, and help evaluate a program.

Abuse Assessment Screen (English Version)

Abuse Assessment Screen (English Version).

Table

Abuse Assessment Screen (English Version).

Encuesta Sobre El Maltrato (Spanish Version)

Encuesta Sobre El Maltrato (Spanish Version).

Table

Encuesta Sobre El Maltrato (Spanish Version).

Danger Assessment

Several risk factors have been associated with homicides (murders) of both batterers and battered women in research conducted after the murders have taken place. We cannot predict what will happen in your case, but we would like you to be aware of the danger of homicide in situations of severe battering and for you to see how many of the risk factors apply to your situation.

Using the calendar, please mark the approximate dates during the past year when you were beaten by your husband or partner. Write on that date how bad the incident was according to the following scale (if any of the descriptions for the higher number apply, use the higher number):

  1. Slapping, pushing; no injuries and/or lasting pain
  2. Punching, kicking; bruises, cuts, and/or continuing pain
  3. "Beating up"; severe contusions, burns, broken bones
  4. Threat to use weapon; head injury, internal injury, permanent injury
  5. Use of weapon; wounds from weapon

Mark YES or NO for each of the following. ("He" refers to your husband, partner, ex-husband, ex-partner, or whoever is currently physically hurting you.)

Thank you. Please talk to your nurse, advocate, or counselor about what the Danger Assessment means in terms of your situation.

Danger Assessment

Danger Assessment.

Table

Danger Assessment.

Please share with the author the results of any research (raw or coded data) that is done with the instrument and/or an approximate number of women with whom the instrument was used, a description of their demographics, their mean score, and the setting in which data were collected. Please send this information within the next year. Also please send comments (positive and negative) and suggestions for improvement from battered women themselves, advocates, and professionals who are involved in its use.

Sources:

Campbell, J. Nursing assessment for risk of homicide in battered women. Advances in Nursing Science 8:36-51, 1986.

Campbell, J.C. Prediction of homicide of and by battered women. In: Campbell, J.C., ed. Assessing Dangerousness. Violence by Sexual Offenders, Batterers, and Child Abusers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1995.

The Psychological Maltreatment Of Women Inventory (PMWI)

The PMWI is a 58-item test designed to measure the extent and nature of abuse toward women in a relationship. The questionnaire below is given to women survivors of abuse. The version for male perpetrators includes identical behaviors but reverses the pronouns and direction of abuse.

Women's Scale Items

Women's Scale Items.

Table

Women's Scale Items.

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) (for Couples)

Copyrights

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) is copyrighted by the test authors and may be reproduced only with their express permission. Permission will be granted on the basis of completing a one-page permission form and signing a user agreement. The agreement commits the user to either (1) carry out and publish, or make available to the test authors, psychometric analyses, including frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, and alpha coefficient of reliability for each scale; or (2) provide the test authors with the raw data for each subject tested in a form that will enable the test authors to compute these statistics, together with as much demographic information as possible for each subject. The test authors agree to only use this information for psychometric analyses and to acknowledge the source of the data. The user providing the information retains the sole right to use the data for substantive purposes. Copies of the permission form and user agreement are available from Western Psychological Services. Copyright was formerly held by Murray A. Straus, Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire.

All versions of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales, except the new short form of the CTS2 are on the website http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2 The full-length CTS2 is in the appendix to paper CTS15, the CTSPC is in paper CTS17, and adult-recall/child-report versions are in paper CTS24. Many other articles on the CTS, including detailed scoring instructions (paper CTS28), can be downloaded from this website. Please note that permission to reproduce these instruments must be obtained from Western Psychological Services (see below).

WESTERN PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES (WPS) is the publisher of all versions of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2 and CTSPC). They provide copies on “Autoscore" forms. These forms permit easy manual scoring of the CTS. They can be ordered from WPS web site using a credit card [www.wpspublish.com] or through the Customer Service Department (phone 1-800-648-8857; FAX 310-478-2061; email custsvc@wpspublish.com).

PERMISSION TO PRINT COPIES. If you need to print the CTS for computer scoring, you must first arrange with Susan Dunn Weinberg of WPS [email: weinberg@wpspublish.com] for licensing and royalty payments for the number of copies you need.

RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL DISCOUNTS. WPS offers discounts for scholarly research and training. Contact Susan Dunn Weinberg (Weinberg@wpspublish.com). http://www.wpspublish.com/inetpub4/wo020302.htm#Comment:%20Research%Dicounts

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) (for Couples)

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) (for Couples).

Table

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) (for Couples).

Scoring

The principles for scoring the CTS2 have been previously described in the CTS1 manual (Straus, 1995) and in Straus and Gelles (1990). Therefore, only the most basic aspects of scoring are presented here. The reader is referred to these other sources for further information.

The CTS2 is scored by adding the response number (i.e., the number of times something happened) midpoint for each category chosen by the participant. Categories 0, 1, and 2 do not have midpoints, and responses for these categories are scored 0, 1, and 2, respectively. For Category 3 (3-5 times), the midpoint is 4; for Category 4 (6-10 times), the midpoint is 8; and for Category 5 (11-20 times), it is 15. The assigned scores for responses to Categories 3, 4, and 5 are, respectively, 4, 8 , and 15. For Category 6 responses (20 times in the past year), the authors recommend assigning a score of 25.

Responses for Category 7 ("Not in the past year, but it did happen before") may be used in two ways: (1) When scores for the previous year are desired (the usual use of the CTS2), Category 7 is assigned a score of 0; and (2) to obtain a relationship prevalence measure of physical assault (i.e., Did an assault ever occur?), respondents who answer 1-7 are assigned a score of 1 ("yes").

When the CTS2 is used for research with any type of sample except cases known to be violent (e.g., men in a batterer treatment program), the test authors recommend that two variables be created for the physical assault, sexual coercion, and physical injury scales: a prevalence variable and a chronicity variable. The prevalence variable is a 0-or-1 dichotomy, with a score of 1 assigned if one or more of the acts in the scale occurred. The chronicity variable is the number of times the act(s) in the scale occurred among those who engaged in at least one of the acts in the scale. If the CTS2 is used with a person (or group member) who is known to be violent, separate prevalence and chronicity variables are not required because prevalence is already known.

Source

Straus, M.A.; Hamby, S.L.; Boney-McCoy, S.; and Sugarman, D.B. The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues 17(3):283-316, 1996.

References

Straus, M.A. Manual for the Conflict Tactics Scales. Durham, NH: Family Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, 1995.

Straus, M.A., and Gelles, R.J. Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145 Families. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishing, 1990.

NOTE: Copyright 1995 Straus, Hamby, Boney-McCoy, and Sugarman. Reprinted with permission.