Systems Approach to the Prediction of Wife Assault: Relevance to Criminal Justice System Policy (From Dangerousness: Probability and Prediction, Psychiatry and Public Policy, P 103-114, 1985, Christopher D Webster, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-110751)

• NCJ Number: 110754
• Author(s): D G Dutton
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper describes a diagnostic and treatment approach to wife assault that is based on an ecological theory that considers individual, family, and cultural dynamics.

Abstract

On the basis of this theory, videotaped scenarios, depicting male-female conflicts involving intimacy and power issues, were developed and shown to assaultive and nonassaultive men. Research with these scenarios has examined group differences in psychophysiological reactions, self-reported arousal, descriptions of the conflict, and other behavioral self-reports. Additional studies have focused on group differences in power motivation, sex-role attitudes, verbal skills, exposure to childhood models of violence, support networks, marital satisfaction, and general use of violence. Treatment using an ecological approach focuses on overcoming denial of responsibility for and minimization of the violence, improving abilities to label emotions and communicate feelings, and teaching alternative behaviors for expressing anger and satisfying power motivation. While these studies offer some insights into the dynamics of wife assualt, prediction still remains precarious and subject to a high rate of false positives. 2 notes and 57 references.