Relationship Aggression Between Partners (From Handbook of Psychological Approaches With Violent Offenders: Contemporary Strategies and Issues, P 357-372, 1999, Vincent B. Van Hasselt and Michel Hersen, eds. -- See NCJ-179662)

• NCJ Number: 179676
• Author(s): Alan Rosenbaum; Paul J. Gearan
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH 44812
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Sale Source: Kluwer Academic Publishers
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This overview of aggression by males toward females in the context of intimate heterosexual relationships focuses on individual and couple characteristics and treatment issues.

Abstract

Aggression is a common concomitant to relationship and family dysfunction; abuse victims are often depressed and anxious; and children of aggressive couples often display emotional and behavioral problems. All of these problems are likely to result in presentation to a mental health professional. Therapists should be aware of the risk markers for aggression and also of the need to assess for the occurrence of such aggression, since it may not always by acknowledged as a presenting problem. Once the problem is identified, therapists must also be aware of the appropriate responses and interventions. In the case of the abuse victim, it is essential to provide information and referral as an adjunct to treatment. Female victims must be made aware of their legal rights and options, as well as of the location of shelter and advocacy services. Therapists must also be careful not to co-opt the autonomy of the victim and to respect her right not to make a report to the police. Batterers' treatment or, more generically, intervention, has evolved both within and outside of the mental health professions. Although more often conducted from a psychoeducational or therapeutic perspective, didactic programs conducted by nonprofessional group leaders (sometimes ex-batterers) are not uncommon. Much of the research, however, has focused on time-limited, psychoeducational groups that often use cognitive-behavioral strategies. Such programs are not offered as an alternative to legal intervention, and the combination of arrest and court-mandated treatment is apparently more effective than arrest alone. Although promising, the outcome literature on batterers' treatment is methodologically flawed and inconclusive. Batterers are a heterogeneous population, such that different types of treatment may be required for different types of batterers. It is also possible that some batterers may be untreatable and inappropriate for this type of intervention. 75 references