In this study, the authors identified potential risk factors for partner violence perpetration among a subsample (n=109) of men who participated in a national study of Vietnam veterans. Partner violent (PV) men with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were compared with PV men without PTSD and nonviolent men with PTSD on family-of-origin variables, psychiatric problems, relationship problems, and war-zone factors. PV men with PTSD were the highest of the 3 groups on every risk factor other than childhood abuse. Group contrasts and a classification tree analysis suggest some potential markers and mechanisms for the association between PTSD and partner violence among military veterans and highlight the need for theory development in this area of inquiry.

Prior research has speculated about, but has not provided systematic empirical data on, how officers use their prior knowledge to interpret wife assault situations and how these interpretations shape their responses. Our findings challenge claims that officers' reluctance to pursue formal arrest stems primarily from their proclivity to blame victims. By manipulating whether or not a wife exhibited abnormal behavior, we show that experienced officers do not focus on whether wives can control their “provoking” actions and are to blame; instead they consider the relative credibility and dangerousness of the husband. Prior experience with handling wife assault situations thus shifts the focus of decisionmaking from normative considerations such as blameworthiness to efficiency considerations such as substantiating claims for successful prosecution. However, both novice and experienced officers base their arrest decisions on prior beliefs about whether wives provoke their husbands when wives have alcohol problems. Our findings indicate that future research can profitably examine how prior knowledge shapes interpretations to gain a better understanding of police decisionmaking.

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