NCJ Number
180822
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
After considering some feminist contributions to understanding male violence against women, this chapter critiques the multivariate model of partner violence offered by O'Neil, and Harway and presents some concepts and suggestions for expanding and applying it.
Abstract
Feminists have emphasized that male violence against women is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon that takes multiple forms and is rooted in patriarchal social structures and cultural roles of women and men. O'Neil and Harway's proposed multivariate model of male violence against women incorporates academic theorizing, scientific research findings, and feminist contributions into a working framework for understanding partner violence. The multifaceted nature of partner violence is recognized in multiple layers of analyses, ranging from patriarchal social institutions to interpersonal interactions between men and women. The proposed model can be used as a tool for generating information that ultimately may inform the prediction and prevention of partner violence. This chapter offers a number of suggestions, observations, and cautions for applying it. One suggestion is to expand the model beyond predisposing and triggering hypotheses to include consideration of inhibiting hypotheses. In discussing this suggestion, the authors discuss how feminist perspectives that include biological, cognitive, and relational processes are essential to understanding partner violence. The chapter's overall conclusion is that the key to preventing male violence against women is to strike at the core assumption by males that underlies their violence against women, which is the androcentric assumption that males have a natural or God-given right to privilege and entitlement over women that justifies the use of force to achieve male goals.