For the purposes of this report battered spouses are defined as married persons living with their spouses, upon whom an aggravated or nonaggravated assault was committed by their mates; married persons estranged from their spouses, upon whom an aggravated or nonaggravated assault was committed by their mates; and a male and female not married to each other but living together, upon whom an aggravated or nonaggravated assault was committed by their mates. A total of 14,521 spousal assaults were reported to Maryland law enforcement agencies during 1988, an increase of 2.9 percent when compared to 1987. The monthly statistics presented cover the number of incidents for each year from 1984 through 1988. Data are also shown for these years by day of the week and hour of the day. Other data cover the number of aggravated assaults between spouses during 1988, victims of spousal assault by weapon, victim data, marital status, circumstances, and clearances. Data are presented by county.