NCJ Number
216179
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 12 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2006 Pages: 1086-1097
Date Published
November 2006
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article presents future directions for research on gender symmetry in intimate partner violence.
Abstract
The main argument is that the priority for future research should be on why gender symmetry is so prevalent and on the implications of gender symmetry for prevention strategies and for services for victims and offenders. The author offers guidelines for future research that include the advice: (1) to rectify the disproportionate ratio of theory to data in the area of gender symmetry in partner assault by generating more empirical data and less theoretical analyses, and (2) that research on gender symmetry needs to include data from both men and women. Examples of needed research studies are presented and include studies on differences in injury severity between female and male victims of partner violence and research on whether gender-inclusive efforts at prevention are more effective than strategies that only focus on male perpetrators. Toward this end, the author suggests that researchers evaluate school-based violence prevention programs because they focus on preventing violence in both genders and because the field of school-based violence prevention is currently relatively free of the ideological and political influences that have colored the research produced in the field of family violence. Researchers should also turn their focus toward examining whether restorative justice practices can be effective at reducing partner violence as well as how gender symmetry in traditional criminal justice practices have impacted violence rates by both men and women. In closing, the author hypothesizes that as women gain greater equality in society, it will become increasingly important to develop and evaluate partner violence prevention programs that place an equal emphasis on assaults committed by women. References