Behavioral and Psychological Differences Among Abused Women Who Use Violence in Intimate Relationships

• NCJ Number: 198544
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2003 Pages: 75-109
• Author(s): Suzanne C. Swan; David L. Snow
• Date Published: January 2003
• Length: 35 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Case Study
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses the differences among women that used violence in four types of relationships.

Abstract

The differences and similarities are examined on a number of behavioral and psychological dimensions among women that have been physically abused and have used violence against their partners. The first type is described as relationships in which women are Victims, or the partner commits more severe violence and coercion against the woman than she commits against him. The second type of relationship is when the women are Aggressors, or the woman commits more severe violence and coercion against the partner than he commits against her. The third type of relationship is women in Mixed-Male Coercive relationships, or women’s partners use more coercive control relative to the women, but the women’s use of severe physical violence is equivalent to or greater than that used by their partners. The fourth type is women in Mixed-Female Coercive relationships, or the women’s use of coercive control is equivalent to or greater than their partners’ use of coercive control, but the partners’ use of severe physical violence is equivalent to or greater than that used by the women. The majority of women were experiencing many difficulties, such as traumatic emotional, physical, or sexual childhood abuse. Sixty percent scored above the cutoff on the depression screening measure and nearly one quarter scored above the cutoff on the problem-drinking screen. Sixty-one percent had been injured by their partners in the past 6 months. Self-defense was the most common motive for violence, with three-quarters of the sample stating that they used violence for this reason. Retribution – getting even with the partner for something he had done – was a motive for almost half the sample. More than one third of the women stated that they threatened to use violence to get their partners to do the things they wanted him to do. It was also found that the women in the four types of relationships differed in anger, injuries, and depression. 7 figures, 2 tables, 60 references