The concept of "abuse": content analysis of interpretations

Sedykh Ol'ga Gennadevna ORCID: 0009-0003-6413-9124 PhD in Economics Associate Professor; Department of Sociology and Psychology; Baikal State University 664003, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Lenin str., 11, office 2-111 sedyholga@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Alsaeva Yuliya Gavriilovna Master's Degree; Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law; Baikal State University 664003, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Lenin str., 11, office 6-103 uliaalsaeva5@gmail.ru Other publications by this author

Literature review

In modern society, conducting research on the topic of studying the phenomenon of "abuse" as an acute issue in the social environment of communication between people is becoming quite relevant.

Traditionally, it is customary to distinguish the existence of four types of this phenomenon: physical (infliction of injuries, beatings and other physical influences), psychological (use of manipulation, blackmail and threats against the victim), economic (excessive control over the victim's economic behavior, for example, deprivation of funds) and sexual (intimacy against the partner's will) ^{[4; 9; 16]}. In addition, it is possible to distinguish the classification of abusive relationships depending on the type of interactions: abuse against a spouse (partner), abuse against a parent, abuse against a child, abuse against a friend, colleague, and so on.

Abusive relationships are studied by many authors. The most cited authors in the eLibrary library.The following researchers are: A. F. Sadovnikova ^[14], A. K. Zebnitskaya ^[5], R. M. Sadykov, N. L. Bolshakova ^[15], I. A. Kleshnya ^[7], A. Y. Slanova, K. M. Kabulashvili ^[18] and M. D. Anfigentova ^[1].

Analyzing the work of these authors, it can be concluded that different authors understand the term "abuse" in different ways. Some researchers tend to understand abuse as a manifestation of aggression and violence, while others identify a number of characteristics by which these definitions can be distinguished. It was revealed that to date there is no generally accepted definition of abusive relationships, as a result of which society tends to put different meanings into the term.

Signs of abusive relationships are: excessive, unreasonable jealousy, constant accusations, excessive control and lack of stable mood ^{[14; 19]}. Despite the obvious manifestations of deviant interpersonal interactions, a person acting as a victim of abuse does not always have the opportunity to independently get out of a toxic relationship.

In the early stages of the abuse, usually none of its participants realize that something negative is happening — everything can start with jokes, which eventually lose their harmlessness. The aggressor, not realizing that his behavior causes damage to the victim, increases the manifestations of violence, which is usually psychological at the beginning of a relationship. Thus, the victim of a toxic relationship develops a certain habit and perceives what is happening as normal.

Both participants in abusive relationships are subject to negative consequences. For the victim of abuse, it can have psychological, physical, social, economic consequences:

1. Psychological consequences — anxiety disorder, decreased self-esteem, addiction, inability to trust others, problems with decision-making, fear of communication (fear of establishing relationships with others).

2. Physical consequences — injuries of various nature and degree, the appearance of chronic diseases, problems with sleep and diet.

3. Social consequences — social isolation from the inner circle (family, friends, work team), inability to build interpersonal relationships, loss of communicative, social interaction skills.

4. Economic consequences — reduced productivity in the workplace, loss of property or money, development of financial dependence on others.

The situation imposes the following negative effects on the aggressor:

1. Psychological consequences — lack of stable mood, "emotional emptiness", increased aggression in general.

2. Social consequences — social isolation due to the fact that their behavior can lead to loss of trust and support from loved ones, blackening of reputation, difficulties in future relationships.

3. Legal consequences — the risk of criminal prosecution for violation of the law, including cases where harm is caused to the victim's health, up to her death.

Abusive relationships often have a cyclical nature, which makes them even more destructive. Thus, victims can constantly return to a toxic environment, and aggressors can continue their behavior. All of the above highlights the importance of further research on the phenomenon of abusive relationships.

Discussion of the research results

The purpose of the study is to analyze and synthesize definitions of the term "abuse" in scientific publications in order to formulate a single definition that takes into account the variety of approaches and contexts in which this term is used.

Content analysis was chosen as the method, which allows us to study the content of the text material to identify the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the phenomenon of interest. The authors used high-quality content analysis.

As part of the study, an early designated general collection was compiled, including 185 scientific publications. To form a sample, scientific articles were selected according to the following criteria:

- readability (access to the full text of the document is open or the full text is available on the publisher's website);

- the content of a keyword such as "abuse", "abusive relationships", "abuser", "abusing" and more;

- placement in the scientific library was carried out before 01.07.2002. (the start date of the study).

Thus, the sample included 70 publications of the scientific community.

The study was conducted in three stages: the first one examined the dynamics of the publication activity of the scientific community on the subject under study. The second and third stages were devoted to the interpretation of the concept of "abuse". So, at the second stage, the definition of abusive relationships in the works of Russian authors was studied, and at the third stage – foreign ones.

The first stage. Studying the scientific electronic library eLibrary.EN, it can be noted that this phenomenon is of interest among representatives of the scientific community. The interest in the study of abusive relationships among the authors of scientific publications arose in 2018, when seven papers were published at once (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Distribution of articles published in the scientific electronic library eLibrary.RU by year

To study scientific publications on the subject under study in eLibrary.EN a keyword search was performed. The selection included scientific publications containing the following keywords: abuse (125 pcs.), abuser (66 pcs.), abusive relationships (54 pcs.), abusing (15 pcs.), victim of abuse (3 pcs.). Thus, the studied collection includes 185 scientific publications.

Studying Fig. 1, we can come to the following conclusions:

- 2018 was the "starting point" for the study of abusive relationships. Despite the fact that the scientific community has relatively recently begun to use this concept, it has already firmly entered both the public consciousness and scientific discourse. This can be evidenced by many factors. For example, in the very first year when the scientific community began to use the term, 7 papers were published. The first scientific publication that was posted in the electronic library is the publication "A New Life after a toxic relationship" by the author M. I. Osborne (Auckland, New Zealand) ^[11];

- the number of scientific publications on abuse grew rapidly, until 2022, when the peak of publication activity came. In 2022, 48 articles were placed in the scientific library.

Many authors of scientific publications compare abusive relationships with such concepts as: domestic violence, bullying, mobbing, bullying, psychological violence, abuse of power, manipulation. Let's distinguish the terms:

- domestic violence can be defined as a form of abusive relationships occurring in the family (home environment). Domestic violence involves violent acts of various types (psychological, physical, sexual, economic, and others) between partners, children in relation to parents or parents in relation to children and other family members;

- Bullying is deliberate, systematically repeated aggressive behavior involving inequality of social power or physical strength ^[33]. It can take place in various fields — in education, in the workplace, in the army, in the family and much more. At the same time, it occurs from the side of one person in relation to another (others);

- mobbing (from the English mob — crowd) is the deliberate systematically repeated aggressive behavior of a group of individuals against one or more victims;

- psychological violence is a form of aggressive behavior in which the aggressor uses manipulation, intimidation, control, humiliation and other forms of psychological pressure against the victim;

- manipulation is a type of psychological violence in which the actions of one person are aimed at changing the behavior of another person to achieve their goals;

- abuse of power can be regarded as a situation where a person uses his advantage (power, influence, authority) for personal purposes;

- bullying is a broader definition of aggressive behavior/various violent actions, combining concepts such as bullying, mobbing, psychological and domestic violence.

Thus, it is possible to compile a comparative table of the highlighted concepts (see Table 1).

Table 1

A comparative table of concepts similar to abusive relationships

Analyzing the table, we can conclude that all the terms highlighted above have differences. It can be said that abusive relationships differ, just the same, in the following features: behavior in which one aggressor commits violent acts of various kinds against one victim in various spheres of life.

The second stage includes a study of the domestic practice of studying this phenomenon.

Thus, the analysis of the definitions of the concept of "abuse" contained in the selected publications makes it possible to compile a summary table for clarity of the material (see Table 2).

Table 2

Definitions of abuse in scientific publications (domestic practice)

Let's define similar characteristics of the abuse in these publications:

1) Violence (emotional, physical, sexual, psychological violence; controlling, coercive, threatening, humiliating violent behavior) — in 9 publications;

2) The aggressor-victim role model — in 3 publications;

3) Submission and suppression of the will — in 2 publications;

4) Insulting the person — in 2 publications;

5) Violation of personal boundaries — in 2 publications;

6) Mistreatment — in 2 publications.

In addition to these features, we can also identify the following: a social phenomenon, an incident/series of incidents, violent behavior, unequal relationships, abuse.

Based on the highlighted main characteristics, we will deduce the most complete definition of the concept of "abuse".

Abuse is a social phenomenon of the implementation of the "aggressor-victim" role model, according to which the aggressor, violating the personal boundaries of the victim, applies emotional, physical, sexual, psychological and other types of violence to her, including controlling, coercive, threatening, humiliating violent, abusive behavior aimed at subordinating and suppressing the will of the victim.

The third stage of the study involved the analysis of the concept of "abuse" in foreign scientific works to highlight the main characteristics of this phenomenon (see Table 3).

Table 3

Definitions of abuse in scientific publications (foreign practice)

Let's define similar characteristics of the studied concept in foreign articles:

1) Violence (physical, sexual, psychological) — 10 publications;

2) Harassment — 6 publications;

3) Actions by the partner — 6 publications;

4) Category allocation: compulsory control — 5 publications;

5) Harm and injury — 5 publications.

In addition to the above signs, it is possible to distinguish: restriction or deprivation of liberty, insults and disrespect.

Conclusion

So, "abuse" is a common form of violence, including physical and non—physical types (psychological, economic, etc.), harassment and forced control by a former or current partner, which always harms the weaker side.

According to the results of the analysis, we can note that in domestic sources "abuse" is defined more specifically than in foreign ones. In general, both publications have a full understanding of the seriousness of the problem and the importance of taking measures to regulate them, both on the part of society and the state. And the identification of an unambiguous, complete concept that would include all the essential characteristics of the abuse has an important place in the development of the theory.

It is important to note that the interest in the study of "abuse" is a relatively "young" phenomenon, but nevertheless it seems relevant today. It is important to distinguish concepts similar in meaning to abuse: domestic violence, bullying, mobbing, psychological violence, manipulation, abuse of power, harassment. Namely, the difference consists in the characteristics and conditions of behavior in which one aggressor commits violent acts against the victim in various spheres of life.

In domestic publications, the study of the abuse takes place in the broadest sense of the word, which, however, does not prevent the interpretation of this concept. Based on the features identified as a result of the analysis of domestic sources, the most comprehensive definition of the term was formulated: "Abuse is a social phenomenon of the implementation of the aggressor—victim role model, according to which the aggressor, violating the personal boundaries of the victim, applies emotional, physical, sexual, psychological and other types of violence to her, including including controlling, coercive, threatening, humiliating violent, abusive behavior aimed at subordinating and suppressing the will of the victim."

In foreign literature, research is conducted in a narrow specialization, that is, it is more often considered in a specific area of the phenomenon. Based on the characteristics identified as a result of the analysis of foreign literature, a succinct definition was also formulated: "This is a common form of violence, including physical and non-physical types (psychological, economic, etc.), harassment and forced control by a former or current partner, which always harms the weak side."