Marriage License as a Hitting License: A Comparison of Assaults in Dating, Cohabiting, and Married Couples

• NCJ Number: 114182
• Author(s): J E Stets; M A Straus
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 23 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Corporate Author: University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services; University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper examines differences in the nature and extent of physical violence as a function of marital status using data from two surveys: a study of 526 dating couples from a midwestern university and a study of a national probability study of 5,005 married and 237 cohabiting couples.

Abstract

Results indicate that the highest rates of violence and most severe violence was among cohabiting couples rather than dating and married couples. Controls for age and occupational status did not alter this finding. Without controls for these variables, dating couples showed more violence than married couples; but with age controlled, dating couples showed the lowest levels of violence. For all three groups the most frequent pattern of violence was for both partners to be violent, while the least frequent pattern was male-only violence. Respondent gender did not affect the rate of violence reported. A number of factors may account for the more frequent violence among cohabiting couples. These include social isolation, the publicity given wife-beating by the women's movement, questions of autonomy and control, and the level of investment in the relationship. The less serious/committed nature of dating relationships may explain the lower rate of violence for these couples. 5 figures, 3 tables, and 45 references. (Author abstract modified)