Interviews with men from varied backgrounds and in different settings such as courtrooms, bars, and from a previous study of divorce identified 85 cases which were used to create a typology of male rationales for using violence in domestic situations. Five basic types of rationales were identified. Male responses typically: female provocation, loss of control, the act as a departure from normal personal behavior, female need for violent interaction, and male need for initiating violence. No other clear categories could be identified in this unrepresentative sample. Results indicated that if violence is to be reduced, new norms must be instituted. Women will need to adopt norms which clearly forbid violence in any and all cases in their relationships with men. Men need norms that cease to give credibility to most rationales for the violence. Current norms involve cyclical processes containing self-fulfilling prophecies. The impetus for changing these norms will probably come from women and women's groups rather than from men, who remain essentially dominant in terms of power and socialization definitions. A chart and a list of nine references are included. (Author abstract modified)