NCJ Number
156224
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1995) Pages: 159-176
Date Published
1995
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Marital abuse is explored.
Abstract
This article discusses the results of a study involving 199 military couples who were mandated to a treatment program for domestic violence. Data presented were collected at the initial assessment and screening session that both spouses were required to attend. Couples were given approximately 15 minutes of paperwork to complete and then were interviewed either by a therapist or clinical psychologist for approximately 90 minutes. Couples were interviewed conjointly using a semistructured interview to assess their violence histories. Methodology to analyze the results, which included the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS), is presented. Interviews consisted of questions about past and current marital violence, childhood victimization, type of parental violence witnessed, and subjective impressions of childhood emotional and/or physical abuse. Results suggest that in the majority of these couples both husbands and wives reported engaging in acts of current marital violence. Significant gender differences, however, were found such that husbands were more likely to use severely violent tactics, less likely to receive a marital violence injury, and less likely to report being afraid during the last incident of marital violence than wives. Wives were more likely than husbands to blame themselves for the first incidence of violence in the marriage. Husbands and wives did not differ in the prevalence of witnessing parental aggression, but wives were more likely than husbands to report being beaten as children and to perceive themselves as abused. For both genders, victimization from mother predicted marital perpetration, whereas victimization from father predicted marital victimization. Results from previous research studies are summarized. Limitations of this study are pointed out. References