Violent Men, Violent Couples

Résumé du livre

This book profiles the characteristics and causes of violence between husbands and wives, then describes a systems approach for counselling spouse abusers. The research is based on a sample of 241 known violent men, supplemented with information on 542 others. The analysis considers the men's motives, their social circumstances, their demography, and their feelings about the victims and their own violence. Similar information, obtained from a literature review, is presented for violent wives. Among the causative factors identified are stress, previous learning, and traumatic childhood experiences. The study illuminates the culture of male violence, exploring why violence in active military families is three times as severe as that in civilian families and the fact that religion is an underused resource for addressing the problem. The systems approach to counselling spouse abusers focuses on both persons in a violent relationship and emphasizes multiple causes. The treatment mode is matched to the severity and extent of violence as well as the context in which the violence occurs. (NCJRS, modified).