Reasons for Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Arrested Women

• NCJ Number: 214896
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 12 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2006 Pages: 609-621
• Author(s): Gregory L. Stuart; Todd M. Moore; Kristina Coop Gordon; Julianne C. Hellmuth; Susan E. Ramsey; Christopher W. Kahler
• Date Published: July 2006
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1K23AA13231-01
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined women arrested for domestic violence's, self-reported reasons for partner violence perpetration and whether women who were victims of severe intimate partner violence were more likely than women who were victims of minor partner violence to report self-defense as a reason for their behavior.

Abstract

Consistent with past research, findings show that women arrested for violence and court-ordered to violence intervention programs have similarities to battered women in shelters, with extremely high rates of past year victimization. The findings suggest that self-defense, poor emotion regulation, provocation by the partner, and retaliation for past abuse contributed to violence perpetration. It is recommended that women be provided voluntary access to material, legal, and social resources that may protect them from their partner’s violence and control and help them terminate abusive relationships. This study attempted to replicate and extend findings from a 1997 study and examined arrested women’s reasons for perpetrating partner violence in a larger sample, while allowing women to identify multiple reasons for perpetrating each act of violence. In addition, the study examined whether women who were victims of severe partner violence were more likely to use violence in self-defense than were women who were victims of minor partner violence. References