MAGNOLIA—Business and psychology students alike filled BUS 208 last Wednesday to hear Assistant Professor of Psychology Deborah Wilson speak on relationship violence. This seminar was a part of Profession Development Month (PDM), which is sponsored by Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)/ Phi Beta Lambda (PBL).
“This seminar is a little different than other seminars featured in PDM. We wanted to include one about relationship violence because it can spill over into the workplace,” said Amber Amonette, a senior psychology research student and SIFE/PBL member who helped coordinate the event.
“Every eleven seconds, a woman in the US is battered,” began Wilson. “This is mainly because 92% of all domestic violence is male on female.”
Wilson went on to explain that we probably all know a woman who has been abused—we just may not know that she has been being abused. “Women do not want people to know they are being abused because they are ashamed. They may keep their dirty little secret because of children, or economic reasons,” said Wilson.
Wilson defined the three stages of abusive relationships as: the “honeymoon phase,” the “tension building phase” and finally the battering incident. “Abusive relationships become a vicious cycle that women can have a hard time escaping from,” said Wilson.
She then pointed out that the workplace is a perfect place for an abuser to target someone because they know the victim’s schedule. Wilson said, “Seventy-five percent of women who leave their batterer are at a much higher risk than they were when they were with their batterer. Relationship violence can happen in the workplace because the batterer has no other way to contact their victim.”
“The best way to deal with relationship violence in the workplace is to have a zero-tolerance policy regarding harassment. Thirteen thousand acts of relationship violence in the workplace happen each year. You never know when relationship violence could come knocking on the door of your workplace,” concluded Wilson.
For more information on abusive relationships contact Wilson at 235-4324 or by e-mail at djwilson@saumag.edu. For more information regarding SIFE/PBL contact Traci Hughes at (870)235-4298 or by e-mail at tracihughes@saumag.edu, or Dr. James Clark at (870) 235-4313 or by e-mail at jwclark@saumag.edu
