Development of a Theory of Women's Use of Violence in Intimate Relationships

• NCJ Number: 216174
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 12 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2006 Pages: 1026-1045
• Author(s): Suzanne C. Swan; David L. Snow
• Date Published: November 2006
• Length: 20 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article develops a theoretical model of domestic violence that places women’s violence in a broad sociocultural context.

Abstract

A great deal of controversy was started when several research reports in the late 1990s claimed that women were just as violent as men in intimate relationships. Yet these studies failed to take into account the circumstances in which women used violence, such as in self-defense, and also failed to consider that the violence directed at women by their male partners was often more severe and resulted in greater injury than the violence directed at men by their female partners. In order to correctly understand the etiology and consequences of intimate partner violence, the authors contend that women’s violence must be considered within the context in which it occurs. They develop a comprehensive, contextual model of women’s violence in intimate relationships that places their violence squarely within a larger sociohistorical and cultural environment. The model proposes a number of risk and protective factors related to women’s use of violence against male partners: (1) the experience of victimization at the hands of male partners; (2) women’s motivations for violent behavior and their coping strategies for relationship problems; (3) the experience of childhood trauma; and (4) outcomes of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse. The model of women’s violence and victimization also includes a consideration of the antecedents of violence and its consequences. The authors show how the intersection of several important factors, such as gender, race, and class, shape the experiences of women in violent relationships. The experiences of African-American and Latina women in violent relationships are analyzed to illustrate this concept of “intersectionality.” Future research should examine the effects of culture on women’s violence within other ethnic groups and should test and refine the model presented here. Figure, note, references