Escalation and Desistance of Wife Assault in Marriage

• NCJ Number: 117806
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (November 1, 1989), 141-161
• Author(s): S L Field; M A Straus
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 21 pages
• Grant Number(s): T32MH15161; R01MH40027; SES85202232
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation; National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the 1988 meeting of the American Sociological Association.

Annotation

This study examines patterns of wife assault over 2 years using a sample of 380 married respondents who reported some violence in their marriages in 1985 and were reinterviewed in 1986.

Abstract

The findings confirmed the hypothesis that predicted a high rate of desistance, even for husbands who had frequently used severe violence. The findings also confirmed the hypothesis that minor assaults and assaults by wives are associated with subsequent severe assaults by husbands. These findings may indicate that minor assaults tend to encourage major assaults. Another alternative is that the husbands who are severely assaultive typically also exhibit lesser forms of violence; if the severe assaults by husbands are intermittent, then the survey might only detect the less serious assaults in the first year. A third possibility is that both minor assaults and severe assaults result from the same precipitating factors and may not be causing one another. Future research should focus on whether reducing minor assaults could reduce the likelihood of major violence. 3 tables, 44 references.