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Victims and Aggressors in Marital Violence

NCJ Number
81855
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 23 Issue: 5 Dated: (May/June 1980) Pages: 681-704
Author(s)
M Straus
Date Published
1980
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article presents findings on the victim-aggressor relationship and presents a theoretical analysis to explain why violence rates of women are so high within the family, despite the low rates of violence of women outside the family and their predominance as victims of marital violence.
Abstract
Data are based on a nationally representative sample of 2,143 couples. The violence rates of husbands and wives in the sample are similar: for husbands, the annual incidence rate was only slightly higher (12.1 per hundred husbands) than for violence by wives against husbands (11.6 per hundred wives). However, the tabulations also show a considerably greater tendency for husbands to escalate the level of violence than was found for the wives. Moreover, indirect evidence suggests that a substantial part of the violence by wives is self-defensive. The data were interpreted as suggesting that perhaps half of all marital violence by women is in response to attacks by husbands. Moreover, even when the woman initiates the violence, she is likely to be hurt more, both physically injured as well as suffering psychological, social, and economic penalties. Five factors which might account for the high rate of marital violence by women included the high rate of assault on women by their husbands, which leads to a high rate of retaliatory violence; implicit cultural norms which make the marriage license a 'hitting license'; childhood training in the use of violence; child care involving role practice in violence; and the high degree of frustration involved in marriage. Overall, the high rate of violence by women can be largely accounted for by the sexist and violent behavior and cultural norms found in American society. Notes, 23 references, tables, and graphs are included.

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