This article explores the relationship between criminological and family violence approaches to the study of male violence, both domestic and nondomestic. Reasons why these two approaches have remained relatively independent are discussed, and ways of linking the two perspectives are suggested. Interview data from 85 violent husbands are analyzed and interpreted in light of their implications for family violence and criminological approaches. The data confirm the existence of three patterns of male violence—“family only,” “nonfamily only,” and “generally” violent. The patterns are found to be associated with relatively clear and distinct lifestyles, social networks, and values, which seem to reinforce the violence pattern. The authors conclude that both the family violence and criminological perspectives can provide insight into the problem of understanding violent husbands.

This study reflects an attempt to assess posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a radically nonwestern culture, that of the Kalahari Bushmen, the Ju/'hoansi. After translating DSM-IV PTSD symptoms into their difficult and click-laden language, potential participants were nominated by village elders who were aware of domestic violence and symptoms during the preceding year. Ten men and 10 women, identified as meeting Criteria A, E, and F, were interviewed regarding their symptoms. Thirty-five percent of the sample met the criteria for PTSD for incidents occurring within the past year. All participants met the reexperiencing and arousal criteria but many otherwise distressed participants did not meet the avoidance criterion for PTSD. These results compare closely with PTSD assessments in other non-Western societies, while providing some empirical support of two new ideas about how the avoidance behaviors in such societies might be reconciled with information-processing theories of PTSD.

Given the high rates of crime in South Africa's townships, nonpolitical violence out-side the home and its psychological impact on women were investigated within two samples, the primary a help-seeking sample and the secondary a community sample. In the help-seeking sample, two thirds of the women reported having experienced several traumatic events outside the home. Those women displayed a median of 9 PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms, with nearly half meeting all criteria for PTSD. In the community sample, 40 women of color were interviewed at a community festival for women, and again two thirds reported having experienced several traumatic events outside the home during the previous year. These women displayed a median of 8.8 PTSD symptoms, with none meeting all criteria for PTSD. South Africa's distinctive culture of violence is discussed as context for understanding issues of community violence and PTSD among women in its minority townships.

The small literature on marital rape has placed much theoretical weight on the generalization that marital rape rarely occurs within otherwise nonviolent marriages. However, most existing estimates of the prevalence of marital rape have been essentially by-products of research on other problems, without having directly sought marital rape victims per se. Employing an unusually wide range of case-finding strategies to identify marital rape victims, this study does also sustain that central generalization and critically explores several of its varied implications.

No abstract