NCJ Number
148354
Date Published
1994
Length
182 pages
Annotation
This study examines the dynamics and treatment of mutually violent mates, wherein interpersonal violence conditions and simultaneously victimizes both partners.
Abstract
This is the capstone in the authors' trilogy of monographs on the dynamics of domestic violence. "The Family Secret: Domestic Violence in America" (1983) focused on woman abuse from the victims' perspectives. "Violent Men, Violent Couples" (1987) considered the male abuser's role in the domestic violence equation, with a brief examination of women's parallel violence against men. Data for the current study were obtained from a sample of violent couples drawn from the Family Violence Diversion Network (FVDN), a counseling program originally established for men who were violent and abusive with their wives or girlfriends, in Austin, Texas. The researchers contacted 180 violent men and 134 women who had been in various relationships with those men. From this pool, they identified 86 couples with complete his/her, before/after counseling information. Also, there were clinical data on their self-reported behaviors, their backgrounds, and their progress while in the FVDN program. The study first traces the history of the politics of family violence from the focus on child abuse in the 1960's, woman abuse in the 1970's, family violence in the 1980's, and the modern systems phase of family violence in the 1990's. The systems phase of family violence research does not expect that every family that experiences abuse will have it in equal measure for both men and women. It does allow, however, for a dynamic that has long been ignored by many professionals. This study examines male and female violence separately before it addresses the connections between them. After reviewing how violence per se is learned and transmitted through culture, the study analyzes how males, females, and couples, respectively, become caught up in it. The goal of this book is not to detract from the seriousness of woman battering or the injurious consequences of male anger. Rather, the authors provide a pragmatic perspective on the problem of reciprocal spousal violence and suggest a systemic approach for intervention. Such intervention takes into account the interaction of family members and how the individual behaviors and backgrounds of each family member contribute to the characteristics of that interaction. Appended follow- up questionnaires, orthogonal rotation factor analysis of 25 forms of spousal violence in the FVDN sample, and a 65-item selected bibliography.