The indepth interviews were conducted with 18 male clients recruited through Emerge, a Boston organization that offers counseling for wife batterers. On the whole, the batterers' accounts of their violence consisted of the use of verbal strategies in an attempt to neutralize their behavior. They excused themselves of full responsibility, and at the same time, they offered justifications for their abusiveness. The most common way that batterers attempted to excuse their violent behavior was by an appeal to loss of control resulting from either alcohol or drug use or from a buildup of frustrations. Many batterers neutralized the unacceptability of their behavior by denying or minimizing the injuries battered women suffered. Most of the men made contradictory statements of excuses and justifications that turned on the denial (or acceptance) of responsibility and wrongness. 36 references.