Por que elas ficam? uma revisão de literatura analítico-comportamental sobre a permanência de mulheres em relacionamentos coercitivos.

Abstract

Violence against women is already classified as a public health problem by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2005), affecting women of all ages, races, religions and social classes. Among the many types of violence against women, domestic violence stands out for its prevalence, often perpetrated by the woman's intimate partner, as indicated by the DataSenado survey (2013). Regardless of the several coercive variables in the relationship, many women remain in the abusive relationship. Among the women who reported having suffered some type of violence in the DataSenado survey (2013), 31% reported that they still live with their aggressor. In this regard, the present study consists of a behavior analytic literature review about domestic violence in order to identify the possible variables that maintain the woman in an abusive relationship. Therefore, a search of the topic of domestic violence was carried out in national and foreign behavior analytic journals and books. In total, 19 texts were selected to compose the material of analysis, being 10 scientific articles, eight chapters of books and one master’s dissertation. The texts were discussed on the basis of the following categories: Positive reinforcement for staying/returning in the relationship; Negative reinforcement for staying/returning in the relationship; Contingent punishment on leaving the relationship; Motivational variables; Effect of rules; Others. Among the texts analyzed, four discuss violence in general and the effects of coercion, 10 texts focus on the feminine condition in society, debating about cultural rules, consequences of abuse and intervention practices; three specifically discuss the woman's decision to leave or stay in an abusive relationship and two consist of case studies of women who have experienced domestic violence. Considering the control that certain variables have over behavior can only be understood from the investigation of established functional relations, it is not enough to know which variables control women's behavior, but also how they control. Thus, a discussion was made about the possible functions of the variables pointed out in the literature on the behavior of the woman to maintain/finish an abusive relationship. It is argued that, this kind of discussion allow behavioral analysts to find a direction/guide for the formulation of effective interventions in the field of domestic violence.