NCJ Number
211364
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 20 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2005 Pages: 267-285
Date Published
June 2005
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study examined the role of anger and victimization in women’s use of aggression in heterosexual intimate relationships.
Abstract
Due to increasing numbers of women being arrested for domestic violence offenses and findings that women, in general, self-report as much perpetration of physical aggression as men, an increased interest in women’s use of violence in intimate relationships has been fueled. Beginning with a literature review, this study examined anger expression and aggression in a sample of 108 women who used violence against a male partner in the previous 6 months. In addition, it examined the women’s victimization from their partners, childhood abuse experiences, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. The study employed path modeling to examine the interrelationships among these variables. Measures used in the study consisted of women’s aggressive behavior and victimization, childhood abuse, posttraumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms, and anger expression. The study indicates that anger is an important factor in women’s aggressive behavior toward their intimate partners. The women expressed anger both inwardly and outwardly much more often than women in the normative sample. The study suggests that it is especially important for domestic violence cessation programs to address posttraumatic stress in female clients, because these symptoms predict anger expressed outwardly toward others, which then predicts aggressive behaviors. Table, figures, references