Abuse A Global Inclusive Interdisciplinary Conference
Abuse, or the mistreatment of oneself or another being, can come in many forms both subtle and extreme: drug, alcohol or substance abuse, cutting or other forms of self harm; verbal, physical, psychological, emotional, financial, medical or sexual abuse; child, elder or animal abuse; medical neglect; abuse of power, authority, information, or research; discriminatory abuse, legal abuse, hate crimes; harassment, bullying, controlling and cyber-bullying; human trafficking, female genital mutilation, enforced sexual slavery or child soldiers; or intimidation, isolation, peer abuse, coercion or humiliation. All different, yet all abuse.
The effects of such abuse are profound. It can undermine relationships and cause both physical pain and psychological distress. Consistently, increased health risks and specific negative behaviours have been found to be associated with a history of abuse in individuals. Research focused on adverse childhood experiences by the Adverse Childhood Exposure (ACE) Study (Felitti et al, 1998) posits that there is a strong and graded relationship between ten different adverse childhood experiences, including emotional and physical neglect and sexual and physical abuse, with risk factors for death and disease.
What are the bigger questions regarding abuse? What causes one to abuse? What are the experiences of those who are abused? What about those with limited or no voice? How do systems of abuse affect the greater community? What connection is there between abuse and resilience? What happens when abuse goes unchecked? This project endeavours to explore abuse in its many forms across a range of critical, contextual, and cultural perspectives. Seeking to encourage innovative dialogues, we warmly welcome papers and projects that demonstrate the struggle to understand abuse and its impact on the individual, familial, cultural, community, and global level.
This conference has a global focus; it aims to facilitate dialogue and spark innovative collaborations and discussions at the international level. We welcome papers from all disciplines, professions and vocations, going beyond the academic world and bringing together researchers, community, and professionals engaged in work on Abuse. We welcome traditional papers, panels or round tables, and workshop proposals, as well as other forms of presentation platforms (art, poetry, posters, video submissions, etc.) favoured outside academia, given the interdisciplinary nature of the conference, recognising that different groups express themselves in various formats and mediums.
Key Topics
Subject to the presentations and discussions which take place at the meeting, there is a possibility for a selective innovative publication to emerge with the aim of engendering further interdisciplinary collaboration and discussion.
We welcome proposals from a wide range of perspectives and voices, on topics including but not limited to:
Historical origins of abuse
Cultural perspectives
Types of abuse: physical, psychological, emotional, sexual, child, elder, financial, cyber, medical, dating, and animal abuse; physical, emotional, medical neglect; abuse of power, authority, information, or research; discriminatory abuse, legal abuse, and hate crimes; harassment, bullying, and cyber-bullying; or intimidation, isolation, and humiliation.
Abuse of academic research
Media representations of abuse
Case studies of abuse
Differences between abuse and discipline
Literature, art, music, film, portrayals of abuse; its effects, victims, and perpetrators
Laws surrounding abuse
Abuse related to technology and social media
Perpetrators of abuse
Victims of abuse
How to treat those who experience or perpetrate abuse
Therapeutic interventions
Causes of abuse
Effects of abuse on individuals, communities, systems