Community couples (N = 272) were assessed in a longitudinal study of early marriage. More women than men reported physically aggressing against their partners at premarriage (44% vs. 31%) and 18 months (36% vs. 27%). At 30 months, men and women did not report significantly different rates of aggression (32% vs. 25%). However, using either the self-report or the partner's report, the prevalence of aggression was higher for women than men at each assessment period. Modal forms of physical aggression for both men and women were pushing, shoving, and slapping. Conditional probability analyses indicated that the likelihood of physically aggressing at 30 months given that one had engaged in such aggression before marriage and at 18 months after marriage was .72 for women and .59 for men. Furthermore, 25-30% of the recipients of physical aggression at all three assessment periods were seriously maritally discordant at 30 months.

Standardized measures of assertion, marital adjustment, alcoholism, and sex role attitudes as well as personal history and demographic items were incorporated in a questionnaire battery, which was administered to 52 abused wives and 20 abusive husbands who were seen at a center that specializes in domestic violence problems. Comparison data were collected from 20 couples with satisfactory marriages and 20 maritally dysfunctional nonviolent couples. The results demonstrated that although abused wives and abusive husbands were differentiated from statisfactorily married couples on almost every measure, when comparisons were made with nonabused wives in marital therapy, there were no measures that yielded significant between-group differences. There were, however, three variables that differentiated abusive husbands from nonabusive husbands with marital difficulties: (a) abusive husbands were less assertive with their wives, (b) they were more likely to have been abused as children, and (c) they were more likely to have witnessed parental spouse abuse in their families of origin. In addition, alcoholism and conservatism characterized the men who would not come for therapy with their abused wives, as reported by these women.

Over the past 25 years, batterer intervention has become the most probable disposition following a plea or conviction on domestic battery charges and, consequently, batterer intervention programs (BIPs) have proliferated. Despite their popularity, and recent attempts by states to regulate practice, little is known about the actual programs operating in the field. The aim of this study was to examine the philosophy, structure, leadership, curricula, and support systems of BIPs. Respondents from 276 batterer intervention programs in 45 states described their programs via an anonymous, Web-based survey. The results provide some insight regarding the workings of actual BIPs and also point out problems such as the dearth of programs in languages other than English and the failure to translate recommendations for prescriptive approaches into practice.

No abstract

This paper attempts to investigate the effects of wife‐battering on children. Current behavior problems of the children are examined and potential long‐term consequences are evaluated through retrospective examination of the abusive husband. Findings suggest that both present and future behavior may be adversely affected by childhood exposure to domestic violence.