Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is the more common term today for what in the past has been called spousal abuse and domestic violence. The term reflects greater sensitivity to violence in non-married heterosexual couples, as well as gay and lesbian couples. It also focuses on adult violence, where as domestic violence has also been used to include child abuse and maltreatment, as well as elder abuse.

Violence toward Intimate Partners

Statistics from the 1980s indicated that for every one battered "husband" there were 12 or 13 battered "wives." Thus, the literature generally said "the batterer, he," and "the victim, she." Researchers such as Dutton (2007) argue that society tends to dismiss the severity of female perpetrated violence, and meta-analysis of over 80 studies on frequencies of IPV reveal generally equal levels of violence perpetrated by men and women, with women showing slightly higher levels of violence. Finkel (2007) offers that disagreements about male versus female perpetration rates may stem from the sample of research; studies based on crime statistics more often show men are more likely to commit violence, while studies based on clinical services more often show men and women are equal in their perpetration. Regardless, professionals often approach partner violence is heterosexist, as statistics show that IPV is just as high in the gay and lesbian community, where relationships do not have opposite sex partners. Further, one in four families reports severe partner aggression in the last year (Slep and O’Leary, 2005).

There is some debate in the literature over whether partners agree on their report of domestic violence. Some have found very low correlations, meaning the victim reports violence when the batterer denies it. Many reasons are included in the literature, ranging from simple lying, to a desire to avoid sole blame for "mutual violence," to poor recall of the violence due to a heightened emotional state during the violent act (see Gottman et al, 1995). Chamberland et al (2007) and others offer that batterers might also minimize the severity of the violent act, sometimes believing violence in family life is "normal" based on their own childhood exposure to violence in the home and in school (see Mrug et al, 2008), and resulting unrealistic beliefs about relationships (Foran & Slep, 2007). In any case, they fail to label the violent acts as "abuse" and so many professionals recommend against asking about "abuse." Instead, they recommend focusing on specific acts of violence, threat, and emotional mistreatment, beginning with the least and moving to the most serious. Many also recommend interviewing partners in a possibly violent separately, as victims are more accurate reporters. However, Kedia (2008) found 76% and higher agreement between male victims and female batterers, and 80% agreement between female victims and male batterers. Thus, there may be more agreement that generally thought.

Escalation of Violence to Homicide

In 2005, almost 1,500 people were murdered by their partners. This means death after IPV makes up 10% of all murders between 1976 and 2005 (Fox & Zawitz, 2007). Browne (1987) and Frieze and Browne (1989) offer a number of risk factors for batterers who became violent:

  • they became intoxicated every day, and used recreational drugs often (Stuart et al 2008 note drug use is a better predictor of IPV than alcohol use, particularly stimulants like amphetamines and cocaine, although Fals-Stewart et al, 2005, found alcohol use was strongly associated with less severe violence, especially in antisocial perpetrators)
  • they made threats to kill the partner and made frequent physical attacks which inflicted more and more severe injuries over time
  • they sexually assaulted their victims (Picheca, 2007, ties sexual assault in violent couples to attachment difficulties and emotional maladjustment rather than to antisocial traits)

Dutton (2007) argues our profession does a poor job of predicting which violent relationships will end in murder because we seldom get to assess the relationship before it ends in murder to discover the specific factors that made it different from cases which did not end in murder. Further, he offers these specific factors may be based on emotional and attachment issues, and that we don't adequately assess these issues. Cogan and Fennell (2007) agree, offering that based on their studies of about 700 college students, emotional factors like depression may better explain violence again intimate partners, and antisocial traits may better explain violence again non-partners.

Elder Abuse

While it is hard to arrive as exact figures, approximately 6% of the elderly population is abused (Pillemer & Wolfe, 1986; National Center on Elder Abuse, 2005; Cooper C. et al 2008). This does not include cases of neglect, and about five in six incidents are never reported (National Center on Elder Abuse, 2005). Most abuse happens in the family home rather than in a nursing home facility. The abuse may stem from a long history of family abuse, extreme stress on the caretakers, or problems stemming from substance abuse and degenerative illnesses (see Elder Abuse and Neglect: In Search of Solutions from APA).

Treatment of Violent Partners

Edleson and Grusznski (1989) did a four year follow-up after domestic violence treatment. Based on 57 couples, 24 women reported severe violence at follow-up compared to only 9 men. In another study of only those men who completed treatment (86 men), when women were asked "Has he been violent in the last nine months?", 67% said no. But when asked if he had threatened violence, 43% said yes. Thus, 24% weren't violent and didn't threaten, 43% weren't violent but did threaten, and the remaining 33% were violent. These are not the best results.

Babcock and Steiner (1999) also studied the effectiveness of mandated treatments, and found that only 31% of violent men sent to court mandated treatment completed it. While 37% of non-completers were incarcerated, disobeying the court order resulted in no punishment for 63% of non-completers. Those who completed were more likely to be first offenders, and to be employed with higher income and educational levels. Free non-completers were three times more likely, and incarcerated non-completers were eight times more likely to be arrested again for IPV in the following two years. Babcock conducted additional analysis and even after controlling for education, prior history of violence, substance abuse history and treatment, and criminal background, non-completers who were incarcerated were still more likely to continue IPV.

While there is some debate about couples therapy, Simpson and colleagues (2008) found that couples with sporadic and less severe IPV showed less violence after couples therapy, regardless of whether couples therapy focused on treating IPV or not.

Identification of Victims of Adult Abuse

Abused adults are most likely:

  • to be a woman, especially young pregnant women and women with two or more young children and few friends
  • to be depressed and unhappy with their lives and relationships
  • to have a family history of violence and sexual abuse
  • to have partners who are unhappy with their jobs
  • to have repeated visits to emergency rooms, a history of injuries, and implausible explanations for them
  • to have pain, especially chronic pain, and psychosomatic complaints
  • to have substance abuse problems (especially cocaine)
  • to be unemployed, or have a partner earning 75% or more of the income

Why Does Abuse Occur?

Psychopathology
The frequency of Axis I disorder among perpetrators of family violence is low, only about 10% in abusive parents. There is no specific pattern of pathology in abusers in general, but studies have often found depression, delusional jealousy, personality disorder, and anxiety (Falk, 1974). Newer studies are consistent, showing relationship problems and jealousy, as well as poor social support (O'Leary et al, 2007).

As noted above, alcohol and drug use also are strongly associated with IPV. However, the relationship between substance use and IPV is complicated, and depends on the type of violence (severe versus mild) and the presence of other disorders (such as antisocial characteristics).

Research tends to support two kinds of batterers - Sociopathic Batterers or Cobras shows antisocial traits, and use violence to control others and gratify their needs. As a result, they are more likely to abuse all family members, be sexually abusive, have an arrest record especially due to violence against non-family members, and to abuse substances. Typical Batterer or Pit Bulls are violent after losing control of their emotions. As a result, they are less likely to use violence outside the home, and are more likely to feel guilty after the violence and seek treatment (Gondolf, 1988; Gottman et al, 1995).

Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory presumes that people are rational and act in their own best interest. Applied to violence, it is easy to see that violence helps the abuser maintain control and satisfy needs. It thus has a functional value, and when the abuser models this effective behavior for children, they are likely to learn that men who are violent get what they want, and women passively accept it.

The Cultural Approval of Violence
This is based on the idea that violence is generally accepted in our society. This is consistent with violence seen in sports, toys, movies, advertisements, printed materials...

Resources

  • Babcock, J. C. & Steiner, R. (1999). The relationship between treatment, incarceration, and recidivism of battering: A program evaluation of Seattle's coordinated community response to domestic violence. Journal of Family Psychology 13(1), 46-59.
  • Chamberland C., Fortin A., Turgeon J., & Laporte L. (2007). Men's recognition of violence against women and spousal abuse: comparison of three groups of men. Violence And Victims 22(4), 419-36.
  • Cooper, C., Selwood, A., Livingston, G. (2008). The prevalence of elder abuse and neglect: a systematic review. Age Ageing 37(2), 151–160.
  • Dutton, D. G. (2008). Caveat assessor: Potential pitfalls of generic assessment for IPV. Hauppauge, NY, US : Nova Science Publishers.
  • Dutton, D. G. (2007). The complexities of domestic violence. American Psychologist 62(7), 708-709.
  • Fals-Stewart, W., Leonard, K. E., & Birchler G. R. (2005). The Occurrence of Male-to-Female IPV on Days of Men’s Drinking: The Moderating Effects of Antisocial Personality Disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 73(2), 239–248.
  • Foran, H. M., & Slep, A. M. (2007). Validation of a self-report measure of unrealistic relationship expectations. Psychological Assessment 19(4), 382-396.
  • Gottman, J. M., Jacobson, N. S., Rushe, R. H., & Shortt, J. W. (1995). The relationship between heart rate reactivity, emotionally aggressive behavior, and general violence in batterers. Journal of Family Psychology, 9(3), 227-248.
  • Kedia, S. (2008). Gender effects on client-spousal collateral agreement levels in substance abuse posttreatment reports. Addiction Research & Theory 16(1), 23-36.
  • Mrug, S. , Loosier, P. S., & Windle, M. (2008). Violence exposure across multiple contexts: Individual and joint effects on adjustment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 78(1), 70-84.
  • National Center on Elder Abuse - Fact Sheet: Elder Abuse: Prevalence and Incidence
  • O'Leary, K. D., Smith-Slep, A. M., & O'Leary, S. G., (2007). Multivariate models of men's and women's partner aggression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 75(5), 752-764.
  • Picheca, J. E. (2007). Perpetrators of sexual violence within intimate relationships: Sexual offenders or male batterers? Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 68(1-B), 631.
  • Simpson, L. E., Atkins, D. C., Gattis, K. S., and Christensen, A. (2008). Low-Level Relationship Aggression and Couple Therapy Outcomes. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(1), 102–111.
  • Slep, A. M.& Heyman, R. E. (2008). Public health approaches to family maltreatment prevention: Resetting family psychology's sights from the home to the community. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(4), 518-528.
  • Stuart, G. L., Temple, J. R., Follansbee, K. W., Bucossi, M. M., Hellmuth, J. C., & Moore, T. M. (2008). The role of drug use in a conceptual model of IPV in men and women arrested for domestic violence. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 22(1), 12-24.