The Psychology of Women's Partner Violence: Characteristics and Cautions

Abstract

This article provides an overview of research on women's partner violence as well as the literature that investigates the developmental pathway to women's aggressive behavior. While women are known to commit partner violence toward their male partners, the prevalence and motivations for such behavior is still debated. Evidence that finds gender symmetry is reviewed and alternative literature discussed. Research challenging the conceptualization of women's partner violence as self-defensive is explored. The literature on the veracity of women partner violence offenders' explanations for their aggression is contrasted with the tendency within the literature to treat women's accounts as unproblematic. Alternative explanations for women's aggression are discussed with a focus on personality traits of psychopathology. Implications for interventions are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• partner violence
• domestic violence
• women's aggression
• personality disorder

Notes

Dunning, E. (2002). Contemporary perspectives on batterers' intervention: An exploratory study. Unpublished manuscript.

State of California. (1999). Report on arrest for domestic violence in California, 1998 (Office of the Attorney General). Criminal Justice Statistics Center, at.Cent.3, 1–20.

Statistics Canada. (2000). Family violence in Canada: A statistical profile. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, No. 85.