Court-Involved Batterers and Their Victims - Characteristics and Ethnic Differences

• NCJ Number: 105734
• Author(s): M A Douglas; J Alley; A P Daston; J Svaldi-Farr; M Samson
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the 92nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, August 1984, Toronto, Canada.

Annotation

This study examined depression, alcohol abuse, assertiveness, and sexist attitudes toward women in data for 214 court-involved male batterers and 19 of their victims.

Abstract

All subjects were involved in the Domestic Intervention Program in Miami, Fla. Standardized written questionnaires were used to obtain self-report measures for five variables: depression, degree of discomfort with assertion, response probability in assertion situations, alcohol abuse, and sexist attitudes toward women. Overall, these physically abusive men were unassertive, depressed, alcohol abusive, and sexist in their attitudes. Their victims were unassertive, depressed, nonalcohol-abusing, and traditional in their attitudes toward women. Compared to Hispanic and black batterers, white batterers were significantly more alcohol-abusing. While all batterers were conservative (sexist) in their attitudes, whites were less sexist than blacks, who were less sexist than Hispanics. Results are discussed in terms of a possible selection biases and cultural differences. 5 tables and 19 references.