Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study is part of a larger research project that developed the event process model of family violence (FVEPM). The FVEPM was developed by applying grounded theory methods to the event narratives of 14 men and 13 women completing community-based family violence (FV) perpetrator treatment programs. The current study extends this work with the original sample, by examining the routes individual events take through the FVEPM. Three main pathways—comprising 93% of event narratives—were identified: a conflict escalation pathway (n = 14), an automated violence pathway (n = 6), and a compliance pathway (n = 6). Our findings extend existing FV typologies and theories by identifying patterns of features pertaining to the individual, the relationship, and the situation that converge to result in FV perpetration during a FVE. Further validation and development of the pathways may provide FV practitioners with an organizing framework from which to identify more nuanced assessment, treatment planning, and risk management processes for the diverse range of FV perpetrators they are tasked with treating.

Keywords

family violence offense process offense pathways female perpetrators treatment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agnew

(1992). Foundation for a general strain theory of crime and delinquency. Criminology, 30(1), 47–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1992.tb01093.x

Agnew

(2013). When criminal coping is likely: An extension of general strain theory. Deviant Behavior, 34(8), 653–670. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2013.766529

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.

Barbaro

Boutwell

B. B.

Shackelford

T. K.

(2019). Associations between attachment anxiety and intimate partner violence perpetration and victimization: Consideration of genetic covariation. Personality and Individual Differences, 147, 332–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.05.008

Capaldi

D. M.

Kim

H. K.

(2007). Typological approaches to violence in couples: A critique and alternative conceptual approach. Clinical Psychology Review, 27(3), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.09.001

Cheche Hoover

Jackson

J. B

. (2019). Insecure attachment, emotion dysregulation, and psychological aggression in couples. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519877939

Cicchetti

Lynch

(1993). Toward an ecological/transactional model of community violence and child maltreatment: Consequences for children’s development. Psychiatry, 56(1), 96–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.1993.11024624

Dixon

Browne

(2003). The heterogeneity of spouse abuse: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8(1), 107–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1359-1789(02)00104-0

Dixon

Graham-Kevan

(2020). Assessing the risk and treatment needs of people who perpetrate intimate partner violence. In Wormith

J. S.

Craig

L. A.

Hogue

(Eds.), What works in violence risk management: Theory, research and practice. Wiley-Blackwell.

10.

Dixon

Hamilton-Giachritsis

Browne

K. D.

Ostapuik

(2007). The co-occurrence of child and intimate partner maltreatment in the family: Characteristics of the violent perpetrators. Journal of Family Violence, 22(8), 675–689. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-007-9115-x

11.

Drummond

S. J.

(1999). A descriptive model of the offence process in domestic violence (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of Canterbury.

12.

Finkel

E. J.

(2008). Intimate partner violence perpetration: Insights from the science of self-regulation. In Forgas

J. P.

Fitness

(Eds.), Social relationships: Cognitive, affective, and motivational processes (pp. 271–288). Psychology Press.

13.

Heckert

D. A.

Gondolf

E. W.

(2000). Assessing assault self-reports by batterer programme participants and their partners. Journal of Family Violence, 15, 181–197. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1007594928605

14.

Holtzworth-Munroe

Meehan

J. C.

(2004). Typologies of men who are maritally violent: Scientific and clinical implications. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(12), 1369–1389. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504269693

15.

Holtzworth-Munroe

Stuart

G. L.

(1994). Typologies of male batterers: Three subtypes and the differences among them. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 476–497. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.3.476

16.

James

Seddon

Brown

(2002). ‘Using it’ or ‘losing it’: Men’s construction of their violence towards female partners. Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238778330

17.

Johnson

M. P.

(2006). Conflict and control: Gender symmetry and asymmetry in domestic violence. Violence Against Women, 12(11), 1003–1018. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801206293328

18.

LaMotte

A. D.

Murphy

C. M.

(2017). Trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and dissociative experiences during men’s intimate partner violence perpetration. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 9(5), 567–574. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000205

19.

Murdoch

Vess

Ward

(2012). A descriptive model of female violent offenders. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 19(3), 412–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2011.589942

20.

Polaschek

D. L. L.

Hudson

S. M.

(2004). Pathways to rape: Preliminary examination of patterns in the offence processes of rapists and their rehabilitation implications. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 10(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13552600410001667779

21.

Polaschek

D. L. L.

Hudson

S. M.

Ward

Siegert

R. J.

(2001). Rapists’ offense processes: A preliminary descriptive model. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16, 523–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626001016006003

22.

Simoneti

Scott

E. C.

Murphy

C. M.

(2000). Dissociative experiences in partner- assaultive men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15(12), 1262–1283. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626000015012002

23.

Stairmand

Polaschek

D. L. L.

Dixon

(2019). Perpetrators’ perspectives on family violence: An event process model. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519873440

24.

Stith

S. M.

Smith

D. B.

Penn

C. E.

Ward

D. B.

Tritt

(2004). Intimate partner physical abuse perpetration and victimization risk factors: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10(1), 65–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2003.09.001

25.

Stowasser

J. E.

(2007). EMDR and family therapy in the treatment of domestic violence. In Shapiro

Kaslow

F. W.

Maxfield

(Eds.), Handbook of EMDR and family therapy processes (pp. 243–261). Wiley.

26.

Strauss

Corbin

(1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage.

27.

Testa

Petrocelli

L. T.

Crane

C. A.

Kubiak

Leonard

K. E.

(2020). A qualitative analysis of physically aggressive conflict episodes among a community sample. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(21–22), 4393–4418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517715023

28.

Ward

Louden

Hudson

S. M.

Marshall

(1995). A descriptive model of the offense chain for child molesters. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 10(4), 452–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626095010004005

29.

Webermann

A. R.

Murphy

C. M.

(2019). Childhood trauma and dissociative intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 25(2), 148–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801218766628

30.

Wray

A. M.

Hoyt

Gerstle

Leitman

(2015). Examining intimate partner violence types in a diverse sample of court-referred parenting dyads. Journal of Child Custody, 12(3–4), 248–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/15379418.2015.1092911

Pathways to Family Violence: Investigating Patterns in the Event Process of Family Violence Perpetrators

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References