NCJ Number
130608
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 167-182
Date Published
1991
Length
16 pages
Annotation
As part of a larger ecological analysis of woman battering in Israel, the combined ability of selected cognitive and interpersonal measures was examined to differentiate among 60 couples in which the men physically abused their women partners matched with 60 nonviolent men and their partners.
Abstract
The extent to which these variables, alone or in combination, may predict physical violence and verbal abuse was assessed. All study participants completed five standardized questionnaires designed to assess individual cognitive styles and interpersonal relationships within the couple dyad. Abusive men and their battered spouses could be distinguished from nonviolent men and their partners. Abusive men experienced lower levels of marital adjustment, higher levels of conflict over children, and higher levels of perceived self-control over their lives when compared to their nonviolent counterparts. Low marital adjustment and high conflict over child rearing characterized battered women. Both men's and women's verbal abuse was moderately predicted by lower marital adjustment. Men's physical violence was predicted by increased levels of conflict with their partners over child rearing. The study findings suggest the importance of marital relationship factors in domestic violence. 4 tables, 51 references, and 1 appendix (Author abstract modified)