The Cognitive-Developmental Theory (SCDT) model is presented to explain the interface of individual, interpersonal, and sociological factors that contribute to domestic violence. A basic premise of this model is that the interface among individuals, partnerships, families, and larger systems is fundamentally a cultural exchange process. The SCDT provides a useful method for identifying world-views that couples use to express feelings, thoughts, and behaviors related to violence and to examine the adaptiveness of the relational system. The SCDT concepts that offer the most explanatory power regarding relational violence include individual and collective cognitive-developmental orientations, phases of relational development, cognitive-developmental structures, adaptation and change processes, and co-constructive transactions. In describing each of these constructs, specific research areas regarding relational violence are formulated. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how to use a co-constructive-developmental framework to advance theory and research. 3 tables