NCJ Number
137408
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 29 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1992) Pages: 136-147
Date Published
1992
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Data were collected from structured interviews with 50 physically abused women and their 11- to 12-year old children in order to extend knowledge about measuring familial interpersonal violence. The Conflict Tactics Scale was used to measure the occurrence and frequency of three, different conflict-resolving tactics including reasoning, verbal aggression, and violence.
Abstract
The data are analyzed to examine the concurrent validity and reliability of youth's report of maternal and spousal violence and to consider variation in recall periods and samples. The findings suggest that youth can provide accurate reports of domestic violence when the referent period is appropriate, the items are salient, and the topic is familiar. Abused youth appear more willing to discuss their domestic situation than nonabused youth. The data show higher agreement rates between the youth's reports and external data with regard to spousal than to maternal violence. Future research will yield more data on the methodologies needed to collect reliable and valid data on domestic violence. 4 tables, 3 notes, and 18 references