NCJ Number
129176
Journal
Journal of Health and Social Policy Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (1989) Pages: 91-107
Date Published
1989
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This paper describes a study measuring childhood exposure to violence in 20 male batterers and 20 non-batterers from the Second Step Program in Pittsburgh and Catholic Charities in Beaver County, PA. It examines the influence of environmental factors, gender socialization, and respondent perception of the causes of spousal conflict.
Abstract
Participants matched for education, age, sex, employment, and occupation responded to questions on the Conflict Tactics Scale and the Causal Dimension Scale. Results revealed that the batterers were significantly exposed to violence in non-family settings, particularly in environments with their friends. However, the batterers did not significantly differ from non-batterers with respect to exposure to violence in family environment. Both groups identified males as the gender modeling violence in various environments. Furthermore, the batterers may feel like a victim in both family and non-family environments. The study suggests that preventive intervention with batterers should focus on altering social learning, particularly in peer, friend, neighborhood, and other group settings as well as in all male environments such as health classes or athletic programs. 3 tables and 55 references