The introduction to this paper seeks to clarify and distinguish the concepts of "conflict,""conflict of interest,""hostility," and "violence." The main part of the paper describes the Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales, which are designed to measure the use of reasoning, verbal agression, and violence within the…

The factual basis for therapy and family advice urging "leveling" in the sense of giving fre expression to aggressive feelings is reviewed and results presented of a study which tested the hypothesis that verbal aggression is a substitute for physical aggression. Presented at National Council on Family Relations, 1973. (Author)

Data from a sample of 2,143 adult men and women were used to explore the relationship between wives' dependency on marriage, and wife abuse. Results indicated that it is economic and not psychological dependency which keeps women in severely abusive marriages. (Author)

Based on previous research on cohabitation and Levinger's model of marital cohesiveness and dissolution, the hypothesis that a higher level of violence exists in ongoing marriages than in ongoing cohabitating relationships was investigated. Data from a national sample of 2,143 adults did not support this hypothesis. Instead the reverse was found,…

Data from a national sample found that cohabitors are more violent than marrieds. However, cohabitors over 30, divorced women, those with high incomes, and those who were together for over ten years, had very low rates of violence. Suggests cohabitation should not be seen as a unitary phenomenon. (Author)