La violence contre l'épouse: Les traitements de couple sont-ils appropriés?

Conjoint therapy and domestic violence: Treating the individuals and the relationship

“…Furthermore, these types of services do not offer the opportunity for couples therapy. This has been reported to be problematic, as many relationships remain intact following these parallel services which do not offer the opportunity to address relationship issues that may partially contribute to violence (Bouchard & Lee, 1999).…”

“…Although the efficacy of parallel approaches has been mixed, numerous authors (e.g., Avis, 1992;Bouchard & Lee, 1999;Gondolf, 1995;Rosen et al, 2003;Stith et al, 2003) have noted that the use of conjoint therapy for domestic violence situations is highly controversial. It has been reported that within conjoint therapy for domestic violence there can be potential for: (a) physical and psychological risk to the victimized partner through being re-victimized, (b) the offender to use the therapy time to self-justify and to justify to the victim the abuse, (c) the victim to be held responsible for the abuse, and (d) the power imbalances within the relationship to be ignored (Avis, 1992;Bograd, 1992;Goldner, 1998;Gondolf, 1995;Rosen et al, 2003).…”

“…Thus, it seems that there are legitimate concerns for the application of conjoint therapy for domestic violence cases. However, research suggests (e.g., Bouchard & Lee, 1999;Gauthier & Levendosky, 1996;Goldner, 1998;Rosen et al, 2003;Stith et al, 2003) that this is not a universal rule that should be applied to every case.…”

“…Pan, Neidig and O'Leary (1994) found that marital discord and underlying relationship issues were the most accurate predictors of aggression within the couple. With many victims of abuse staying, or returning, to their partners who have been abusive (Bouchard & Lee, 1999;Heyman & Neidig, 1997), there seems to be a strong case for the inclusion of couples therapy to address relationship dynamics in treatment. Fourth, many couples are too afraid or ashamed to enter treatment for violence, and thus a couples therapy label can be more appealing (Shamai, 1996).…”

“…Numerous authors (e.g., Jacobson & Christensen, 1996;Johnson & Lebow, 2000;Stith, Rosen, & McCollum, 2002) have suggested that ensuring there is no current severe/moderate violence or abuse (e.g., emotional, physical) needs to occur before couples work is initiated. Furthermore, even if couples therapy is going to be utilized for more mild forms of physical aggression/violence (e.g., pushing, shoving) there still need to be precautions taken, such as a contract stating there will be no violence or battering of any kind (Bouchard & Lee, 1999;Jacobson & Christensen, 1996). Although some approaches to couples therapy for domestic violence (e.g., Rosen et al, 2003) have included couples with low-level physical aggression/violence, this is controversial (Bouchard & Lee, 1999;Jacobson & Christensen, 1996).…”