Can family violence be prevented? A psychosocial study of male batterers and battered wives

doi:10.1016/S0033-3506(05)80328-2

Public Health

Volume 106, Issue 1, 1992, Pages 45-52

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0033-3506(05)80328-2 Get rights and content

This study is based on interviews with 18 male wife-beaters and 49 battered wives. It was designed to establish the importance of such social background factors as violence and alcoholism in the family of origin for the eruption of similar problems in the next generation. The study concludes that battered wives and male batterers have a similar social background and that a vast majority of them have experienced violence in childhood and that half of them came from homes where the father was a heavy consumer of alcohol. As adults, the boys repeat the behaviour of their fathers and the girls repeat the behaviour of their mothers. To prevent wife abuse we must extend the scope from the battered wife to the whole family. Only by focusing on the conditions under which the children of the battered wife grow up can family violence be prevented in the future.

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Cited by (8)

Sexual abuse experienced by married Egyptian women
2007, International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Citation Excerpt :
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To assess the prevalence of sexual abuse (SA) and associated factors among married women in Lower Egypt.
A cross-sectional clinic- and hospital-based survey was designed for married women aged between 16 and 49 years. The study was conducted with 936 women from the Dakahlia Governorate, which is considered representative of Lower Egypt. Data were collected by personal interview using a questionnaire.
The response rate was 93.6%. The most commonly reported frequency of sexual intercourse was 2 to 4 times per week. More than one-third of the women (36.2%) thought this was too frequent, and 11.5% reported being sexually abused in addition to other sexual problems. The educational level of the women; the presence of genital mutilation; parity, especially for those who had more than 5 deliveries; number of gynecologic visits; and history of gynecologic interventions were significantly or highly significantly associated with SA. The husbands' educational level and age were highly significantly correlated with their wives reporting SA, particularly when the men were illiterate or were smokers or drug users.
The study's findings demonstrate an immediate need for the prevention of SA in Lower Egypt.
Morbidity and injury recurrence in victims of firearm injuries
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Civilian violence has become an increasing problem in the industrial world. Gunshot wounds, fatal or nonfatal,are often considered as acute trauma episodes. However, our previous study, based on 820 firearm injuries, showed that this group of patients was characterized by a high mortality rate and a pronounced involvement in criminality when compared to a control group. The aim of this study was to determine the general morbidity in the same group of firearm victims. Our hypotheses were that these patients consume a considerable amount of hospital care due to recurring trauma episodes and that their general morbidity is raised. Information was collected concerning all episodes of in-patient care for victims of firearm injuries from 1972–1992 in Stockholm, Sweden. The victims were compared with a sex-and age-matched control group. During the study period, 69.9% of the 820 firearm victims were treated for other reasons than gunshot injuries, compared to 45.5% of the 820 controls. The former group was hospitalized 3,703 times and the latter on 1,512 occasions. The firearm injury group showed an higher morbidity in almost all diagnostic subgroups according to ICD-9. The trauma recurrence rate was high and suicide, homicide and assault were relatively more common in this group. We suggest that the gunshot episode may be regarded as one expression of a ‘chronic trauma syndrome’. Patients exhibiting this ‘syndrome’ are characterized by recurrent episodes of trauma, a risk-taking and destructive behavior, high morbidity and mortality as well as anti-social traits. Medical, social and legal complications are common making these patients extremely costly for society and their identification a matter of concern. It is probable that this ‘syndrome’ also exists in other groups of trauma patients. Since hospitalization affords a unique opportunity of reaching patients who have a ‘chronic trauma syndrome’ risk profile, we believe, that these patients should not only be treated for their acute injuries, but that they should be offered help in order to change their destructive life-style. Research should be undertaken to evaluate whether an intervention program, such as counseling, could have an effect on morbidity and injury recurrence for these patients.
Characteristics of imprisoned wife-beaters
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The aim of this study is to present the authors' recent findings concerning the wife-beater and to discuss the existing state of knowledge as well as practical implications concerning the treatment of these men. The study presents interview and register data as well as some endocrinological findings in 18 wife-beaters sentenced to prison. These men generally lived under unfavourable socio-economic conditions, half of them were immigrants and most of them had been maltreated as children. Drug and alcohol abuse was common. The men showed an overconsumption of both somatic in-patient and out-patient care but had virtually no previous psychiatric history. Depressive symptoms were common, however, as were anti-social personality traits, reflected in a marked involvement in both violent and non-violent offences. The levels of testosterone were generally high. It is argued that the most efficient therapeutic approach would be to treat alcohol and drug addiction, an aspect of rehabilitation that has often been underestimated or overlooked in previous treatment programmes. The period of imprisonment could be utilized for these purposes, as an alcoholic who becomes sober is probably less prone to abuse his wife.
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Can family violence be prevented? A psychosocial study of male batterers and battered wives

Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment

Annals of Emergency Medicine

The wife assaulter

Journal of Social Therapy

The Violent Home

Wife battering: A preliminary survey of 100 cases

British Medical Journal

The NOW domestic violence project

Victimology: An International Journal

Conjugal violence: What 33 men report

Journal of Marital and Family-Therapy

Men who batter: Some pertinent characteristics

Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease