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Marital Interaction Preceding Wife Assault

NCJ Number
118179
Author(s)
D Dutton; J Browning
Date Published
1989
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The use of unobtrusive audiotaping of events in the home was examined as a method for obtaining valid data on incidents involving wife assault.
Abstract
The research used two approaches: 1) a system for timed audiorecordings and 2) a system for continuous-loop recording. The methods were tested in the homes of men involved in the Vancouver, B.C. Assaultive Husbands Project and the Redirecting Anger Group who voluntarily agreed to take part in the research. Five couples agreed to take part in the effort to used times recordings. Each couple had interactions sampled at 9 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday for 2 weeks, with subsequent recordings producing 16 hours of interaction from each couple. The resulting 80 hours of tape yielded 3 arguments, none of which preceded physical actions. As a result, the continuous loop method was used with five couples who again volunteered to take part. Couples were instructed to turn off their tape machine after any argument leading to abuse. The results were unsatisfactory for this experiment as well. Only three conflicts were recorded, and subjects reported that they often forgot about the tape machine, resulting in erasure of many conflicts. Voice-activated microphones were then tried, but they often recorded television programs or music rather than just conflict. Although these efforts failed, timed recording might provide useful data if run longer and more often. 50 references.

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