A case study illustrates medical, legal, and social issues involved in wife battering. One key medical issue is that the very nature of wife battering includes assault that often injures. Many battered women do not initially consider their battering to be a crime and consequently have little contact with the legal system. The most common concern in assessing battered women is the presence of alcohol abuse, since a disproportionate percentage of wife battering cases involve alcohol abuse. The psychopathology of battered women does not conform to any particular pattern. Preliminary clinical observations and personality testing, however, typify battered women as fearful, overwhelmed, and depressed. The psychopathology of batterers is less diverse than that of battered women. Many batterers have personality disorders and also appear to be clinically depressed or paranoid. Two specialized treatment options have been developed to deal with wife battering, women's shelters and batterer programs. Wife battering must be recognized as a chronic syndrome of control and violence, and decisive interruption of the violence and victim safety need to be insured through legal and shelter options. Group counseling is needed to establish the responsibility for battering, its consequences, and alternatives to it. Battered women need resources and emotional support to assure their mobility, while batterers need to be made accountable to a reference group that offers them an alternative role model and nonviolent values. 76 references