Evaluates the impact on spousal violence of shelters for battered women. Predicts that shelters will have beneficial effects only for battery victims who are already taking control of their lives. For other women, a shelter stay may in the short run encourage retaliation. (Author/ABB)

Presents integrated theory which identifies attributes of intimate life assumed to reduce deterrent efficacy of arrest and thus increase probability of violence in marriage and marriagelike relationships. Research findings suggest that increased privacy, inequality, and legitimation of violence are associated with reduction in perceived arrest…

Explored violence toward parents among 1,545 white male high school youth. The overall incidence of this violence is relatively low and does not increase over time. However, more violence is directed toward fathers than mothers, and the proportion of violence directed toward fathers rises considerably in the senior year. (Author/BL)

Explores variation between first marriages and remarriages in the incidence of spouse abuse. Experiences of individuals prior to remarriage account for higher rates of spouse abuse in remarried families, regardless of complexity, than in intact, never-divorced families. (Author/ABL)

Argues for two distinct forms of couple violence. Review of large-sample surveys and data gathered from women's shelters suggests that some families suffer from occasional violence by either husbands or wives (common couple violence), while other families are terrorized by systematic male violence (patriarchal terrorism). Implications are…

Notes that many children who experience abuse, family disruption, or poverty reach adulthood with a strong commitment to family life. Questions whether changes in American families are indicators of pathology, deterioration, and instability; and asks how dysfunctional families transmit commitment to the concept of family to succeeding generations.…

Explores how domestic violence is related to personal control. Finds that individuals who have initiated violence against a partner do not differ from individuals who have nonviolent relationships in feelings of personal control. Experiencing violence at the hands of a partner has more significant adverse effects on sense of personal control for…

Examined effects of race and social class in comparative study of husband-to-wife violence experienced by 307 Black and White women. Results revealed no significant differences between proportion of Black and White women victims of marital violence. Data suggest that when social class positions are controlled, Black middle class women experienced…

The Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) was administered to 30 assaultive couples where the husband was undergoing treatment for wife assault. Differential reporting was found whereby husbands tend to view their marital relationship as mutually violent, while wives view it as husband-violent. The husband-wife correlation on specific items of the CTS…

Examined data from Second National Family Violence Survey. Found women under age 25 to be more likely than older women to be both pregnant and to be hit and abused by husbands and partners. Although pregnant women were not particularly vulnerable group, pregnancy did not insulate them from high rates of violence experienced by young women.…

Showed films depicting both violent and nonviolent husband-wife interactions to 60 romantically involved college couples and asked couples to report frequency with which both violent and nonviolent events occurred. Results indicated that men were more accurate in reporting violent events whereas women were more accurate in reporting nonviolent…

Examined role of social isolation in greater incidence of aggression in cohabiting couples than married persons using national survey data from 13,017 respondents. Claims these factors are related to cohabitors' aggression: they are likely to be youthful and black; lack social control associated with participation in organizations; and tend to…

Examines why exposure to family violence and adolescent dating violence are associated. For both genders, this relationship was mediated by the variables of positive outcome expectations and belief in the conventional rules of society. For males, the relationship was also mediated by the variables of positive outcome expectations and belief in the…

Compared levels of verbal and physical violence within 181 families with an adolescent family member's attitudes toward variables of family conflict and satisfaction. Suggests that nonviolent families are more likely to report successful conflict resolution than are violent families; increasingly severe family violence is associated with greater…

Compares the rate of physical abuse of children and spouses from a 1975 study with rates from a 1985 replication. The 1985 rates were substantially lower than in 1975. Possible reasons for the lower rates are examined and evaluated. (Author/ABB)