Abstract
In this preliminary study, we investigated components of internal/external locus of control (LOC) in five case studies of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators. Inter-category relationship analysis was used to explore the men’s lived experiences through 10 in-depth interviews (two per case study). Findings revealed that (1) an external LOC enables violent individuals to indirectly express internal information by creating emotional distance, and (2) an internal LOC acts as a protective factor against violent behavior, especially when internal outcomes are attributed to internal factors. We suggest expanding the LOC measure and propose treatment strategies to enhance internal LOC among IPV perpetrators. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of factors influencing IPV perpetration and identifies potential turning points for intervention through externally focused narratives.
Keywords
Introduction
In this study we examined locus of control (LOC) in men who perpetrate intimate partner violence (IPV). Intimate partner violence is a global social health issue that manifests in physical, mental, sexual, and economic forms, crossing cultures, genders, education levels, religions, and socioeconomic statuses, worldwide (Navarro-Mantas et al., 2018). Although IPV occurs among both men and women, male-perpetrated aggression is more common and results in more severe physical consequences (Holtzworth-Munroe & Stuart, 1994). The perpetration of IPV has been associated with psychopathology (Creamer & Hand, 2021; C. Spencer et al., 2019), addictions (Cafferky et al., 2018), depression (Cheung et al., 2019), trauma (Semiatin et al., 2017), low self-esteem, abandonment anxiety, insecure attachment (C. M. Spencer et al., 2022), and criminal behavior (Cunha & Gonçalves, 2018). In addition, violent men have been shown to demonstrate low empathy and high distress in response to their partner’s emotions (Covell et al., 2007).
Studies have identified a link between an external LOC and violent offenses, as well as with recidivism—repeated engagement in criminal behavior after previous interventions (Capinha et al., 2025; Levy & Gumpel, 2022; Nwankwo et al., 2018; Page & Scalora, 2004). Rotter (1966, 1990) was the first to conceptualize the locus of control (LOC) concept, developing a 23-item LOC scale, later refined by Levenson (1973). Based on social learning theory, LOC represents the extent to which individuals attribute life events to internal factors (their own actions) versus external factors (outside forces). People’s expectations of outcomes following their actions critically affect how they attribute control in interpersonal situations. People with an external LOC feel as if they are passive agents in their own lives and consequently feel that matters lie outside of their control (Levenson, 1973, 1974; Maroufizadeh et al., 2018).
Whereas an external LOC has been associated with maladaptive behavior and poorer well-being (Pu et al., 2017), an internal LOC has been associated with achieving personal goals (Dijkstra et al., 2011). Additionally, an internal LOC has been linked with greater adherence to treatment and a higher likelihood of taking responsibility for violent actions (Burgoyne & Tyson, 2013; De Las Cuevas et al., 2014; C. M. Spencer et al., 2022). Research has shown that IPV perpetrators with a stronger internal LOC exhibit greater motivation to change and achieve significantly better treatment outcomes (Bowen & Gilchrist, 2004). Furthermore, good relationship and communication skills, coping, and conflict resolution, which are typically associated with an internal LOC (Pu et al., 2017), have been identified as protective markers against IPV (C. M. Spencer et al., 2022).
The question of why violent behavior is connected to an external LOC has been explored in various studies (Levy & Gumpel, 2022; Nwankwo et al., 2018; Page & Scalora, 2004). One theory that may provide a framework to explain both violent behavior and external LOC is attachment theory (Bowlby, 1973; Gottlieb & Schmitt, 2023). Bowlby’s (1979) attachment theory posits that infant-caregiver interactions shape adult interpersonal relationships, affecting secure/insecure perceptions across the lifespan. Individuals with an insecure attachment often struggle with emotion regulation, potentially leading to relationships where separation anxiety triggers violent controlling behavior (Dutton & White, 2012). Their paradoxical perception of partners as both essential and threatening stems from early experiences with unpredictable caregivers (Kim et al., 2021; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2016). These developmental patterns foster beliefs that outcomes are controlled by external forces rather than one’s own actions. This connection is particularly relevant for IPV perpetrators, who often demonstrate a fear of abandonment alongside blaming partners for relationship difficulties (Smyth et al., 2024; C. M. Spencer et al., 2022).
Kacen’s (2011) research illuminated the interpersonal behavior pattern of men with an insecure attachment style. By examining the life stories of 12 women and men involved in domestic violence, the author highlighted the inter-connectedness between the abuser and the victim regarding their identity. The study findings showed that the men expanded their selves by “swallowing the victim’s self.” The more the male abuser self-fed off the female victim, the more the female victim could be perceived by the abuser as an invader or parasite, with and without whom life was impossible. This dynamic illustrates how these men confuse internal and external realms by attributing their inner content to their female partners as outside targets.
An external LOC is reflected in attributions to factors beyond one’s control (e.g., “When I get what I want, it’s usually because I’m lucky”), whereas an internal LOC attributes outcomes to personal agency (e.g., “When I get what I want, it’s usually because I worked hard for it”) (Levenson, 1973). These general LOC scales can provide valuable insights into attribution patterns. Although the LOC scales were not designed for IPV contexts, attribution patterns have been applied in this area. When examining attribution in IPV contexts, researchers have utilized responsibility attribution scales that assess how perpetrators either acknowledge personal involvement or shift blame to external circumstances and victims (Lila et al., 2014; Yun & Vonk, 2011). The responsibility scales did not use the term “locus of control,” but their conceptualization is consistent with that of studies on LOC among violent men (Guerrero-Molina et al., 2020; C. M. Spencer et al., 2022), and levels of taking responsibility fall on a spectrum between external and internal loci of control.
External attributions are characterized by low responsibility levels and are often tied to implicit beliefs, such as minimization, denial of responsibility, and blame attribution, which are critical to the victimization, sense of entitlement, and righteous anger used to justify violent actions (Gilchrist, 2009; Weldon & Gilchrist, 2012). These patterns have been linked to criminal thinking distortions that predict recidivism (Murphy et al., 2020; Smyth et al., 2024; Walters, 2015). Treatment for IPV perpetrators aims to increase internal responsibility through two leading therapy approaches. The first is psychoeducational interventions focusing on gender dynamics of power and control, and the second is cognitive behavioral therapy focusing on skill-building and challenging dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors (Travers et al., 2021).
The Current Study
Despite evidence suggesting that strengthening one’s internal LOC could reduce IPV, perpetrators’ subjective LOC experiences remain insufficiently understood (Weldon & Gilchrist, 2012). This knowledge gap reflects broader limitations in LOC measurement development, and a critical examination of such measurement development demonstrates a notable methodological divergence. Rotter’s (1966) original work introduced a single-scale formulation for measuring both internal and external orientations. Later, Levenson (1973) significantly advanced the measurement of the external LOC dimension by developing a two-scale model that differentiated between powerful others and luck/chance. Levenson demonstrated that multi-dimensional external measures yielded more sensitive and significant results than single-scale measures. The internal LOC dimension, however, has remained virtually unchanged as a single-scale construct. This measure continues to be assessed as a unified entity, despite evidence suggesting it may be similarly multi-faceted. This measurement discrepancy may explain why several studies, including research with prison populations, found significant results for external LOC measures without corresponding inverse correlations in internal LOC measures (De Las Cuevas et al., 2014; Levenson, 1973, 1974). In the current study we addressed these gaps through a qualitative exploration of LOC among IPV perpetrators, unrestricted by standardized measurement assumptions. Specifically, we aimed to (1) identify patterns of internal and external attributions in IPV perpetrators’ narratives and (2) explore how these patterns related to their violent behavior. The examination of internal LOC, in particular, could affect both assessment methods and intervention strategies for IPV.
Methods
Employing a case study methodology, we conducted this preliminary study through an interpretive analysis of 10 interviews held with five male IPV offenders (i.e., two lengthy interviews each) engaged in a public service program aimed at IPV prevention. To enhance the transferability of findings, we carefully examined each participant’s IPV narrative, identifying common patterns and contextual factors. Drawing inspiration from the works of Rosenthal (1993, 2006), we delved into their individual life stories to explore their external and internal LOC attributions.
Participants
Study participants were selected from the Israeli Public Service Violence Prevention Program for Domestic Violence (hereinafter Service), where they were undergoing treatment. The Service utilizes expert social workers to operate programs for violent men via individual and family interventions. After receiving the Service’s consent, the second author introduced the research during Service meetings, explained the purpose of the study to the men, and enlisted study volunteers. All five men who responded to the invitation were included in the study and were aged 38 to 45. They had diverse marital statuses: three were married, one was divorced, and one was remarried to the same woman. In terms of their work, three were employed by others, one was self-employed, and one was unemployed. The men had married between the ages of 23 and 26, with their spouses being 4 to 5 years younger. Study participants (all names used below are pseudonyms) originated from traditional patriarchal societies in regions including the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, and each migrated as a child to Israel—a society more attuned to gender equality. The onset of IPV dated back to their becoming married or to their spouse’s first pregnancy and persisted for 13 to 17 years. Four of the men were referred to the Service by the courts after being convicted of domestic violence offenses. One (Robert) self-referred for treatment. All of the men acknowledged their violent behavior and were undergoing both group and individual therapy. Participants were in the first quarter of their treatment program, allowing the researchers to examine attribution patterns at an early intervention stage. All of the men reported experiencing a childhood environment in which they were emotionally neglected by their primary significant caregivers. Participants gave their written informed consent, and the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Israel’s Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Data Collection
To discern the participants’ lived experience, we interviewed each of them at length, twice. The interviews took place in the second author’s university office, as per the participants’ preference (Josselson, 2013). Each interview spanned 1-to-2 hr, resulting in a total of 16 interview hours altogether. The first interview involved prompting the participants to recount their life stories and family-of-origin histories. To maintain the participants’ narrative autonomy, the interviewers consciously refrained from posing questions that might disrupt their personal strategies in choosing topics (these strategies were also the target of the study’s investigation, e.g., how and why they selected what to say and what not to say). In the second interview, the interviewers purposefully delved into aspects either briefly mentioned or omitted from the original narrative. The aim of this second stage was to gain more biographical details from participants while simultaneously preserving their preferred manner of sharing. Among other questions, participants were asked in the second interview about their insights regarding violent incidents in their family. These life stories were recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis.
Data Analysis
We used the hermeneutic case reconstruction approach (Rosenthal, 1993) to analyze the interviewees’ life stories. This method of life story analysis is founded on abductive reasoning, encompassing four stages: (1) identifying facts and themes in the text; (2) examining the interrelations between categories (Rabinovich, 2020; Rabinovich & Kacen, 2010, 2013); (3) formulating hypotheses, empirically validating them, and reinforcing conclusions with textual evidence; and (4) theoretically generalizing the derived conclusions (Mor & Bar-On, 1996).
Once we developed categories, we applied the Relationships Between Categories (RBC) method to explore the inter-connections observed among recurrent categories in the texts (Rabinovich, 2020). Through scrutinizing patterns and relationships among categories, the RBC method enables a deeper understanding of the connections and significance within the data. Through the RBC analysis, we explored the interrelations between three central categories: (a) internal/external LOC, (b) internal outcomes (encompassing behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of the violence), and (c) external outcomes (involving life events and responses from others, e.g., a participant’s wife’s reaction, a daughter’s suicide attempt).
Qualitative Saturation and Reliability
In this preliminary study, we achieved qualitative saturation through the depth and data richness reached in the five cases (Braun & Clarke, 2021). Sixteen hours of interviews, consisting of two extensive sessions with each participant, provided significant data density for identifying meaningful LOC orientation patterns. This approach aligns with the “information power” concept, in which data quality is valued over sample size, particularly in exploratory research contexts (Malterud et al., 2016).
To ensure the reliability and rigor of the data analysis, multiple measures were employed. First, constant adherence to the foundational texts (Rosenthal, 1993) served as a cornerstone for ongoing validation and comparison of results across diverse analysis approaches. This iterative process facilitated verification and coherence of findings, enhancing study reliability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) and validating data interpretations and conclusions. Second, the analysis was collaboratively conducted by two researchers: The first author performed the analysis, adopting an insider’s viewpoint, while the second author provided an external perspective to refine the results. The aim of this dual-perspective approach was to mitigate biases and bolster overall analytic rigor. The findings yielded insights into the various aspects of LOC within the realm of IPV, thus providing valuable guidance for future research endeavors.
Findings
The results of this study indicated that each of the five men who were receiving treatment in the IPV prevention program had an LOC that was predominantly external. Their internal LOC was more limited, and it manifested in two ways: (1) attributing internal control to external outcomes in life events and (2) attributing internal control to internal outcomes (behavioral, cognitive, and emotional). Study participants primarily focused on the influence of external events and significant others in their lives, providing minimal descriptions of their internal experiences. We identified four core LOC categories: (1) narratives abundant in descriptions of external events and “behavior” verbs; (2) external attribution in relation both to how violence was activated and terminated; (3) internal attribution and self-acknowledgment of the difficulty of attributing life events to internal factors; and (4) using external attribution to communicate internal aspects. That is, the fourth category represents an attribution that lies on an internal-external continuum.
Category 1. External Attribution and Behavioral Emphasis
Participants’ narratives predominantly featured external events and action-oriented language. This focus on external factors indicated an external LOC, revealing difficulties in accessing and expressing internal experiences. Among the participants, Robert (raised in a violent, addiction-affected home), who voluntarily entered treatment, displayed a relatively higher internal LOC than did the others, although he also relayed significant elements of an external LOC. In response to the interviewer’s question about his life story, Robert attributed the course of his life to external circumstances, as evident in his explanation of major life decisions: “. . .We got married because she got pregnant. . .and then luckily I got a job in a nearby town” (attribution to an external event and luck).
In addition, Michael (who had had a polio-related disability since childhood) emphasized the behavioral aspects in his life story (behavior-oriented language marked) rather than focusing on internally-driven aspects: I
This short passage comprises 14 action verbs in total, some used more than once (left, went, gave, divorced, married, threw, rented), conveying inner drama. The phrase “I gave up on everything” in reference to Michael’s daughter’s pain suggests emotion, specifically a kind of emotional resignation underlying external active verbs. Notably, while most of the narrative uses active voice and behavioral verbs, the description of renewed violence shifts to passive construction (“it became the same mess”), which may suggest unconscious distancing from direct responsibility for returning to violent behavior. This strategy of hiding and revealing simultaneously, observed across all participants, may be an indication of difficulty with accessing internal experiences and attributing events internally, both of which difficulties are consistent with an external LOC.
Category 2. Attribution Regarding Violence
The men attributed both the initiation of their violence and its cessation to external factors. The following excerpts first illustrate the activation of violence and then the cessation of violence. All five participants externalized their violent behavior through references to external triggers, as illustrated by the following quotes. George (raised in poverty in a violent home) said: “. . .It may be that when someone pisses me off, I can no longer control myself.” Similarly, Tsion (an only child adopted as an infant after being born to an unmarried young woman in Morocco) attributed his violent reactions to external pressures. When asked by the interviewer to describe an incident of domestic violence in his family, he said: The last thing you need is to piss off an unemployed person [i.e., Tsion] because he has a thousand and one thoughts: how to take care of the house, how to keep the routine from collapsing, how to keep the house from falling apart. The last straw that can break him is that she [the wife] pisses him off; there are situations where you explode.
Robert followed the same pattern, attributing his violence to what he perceived as his wife’s flaws: “She’s a naïve woman. . .she’s not mature enough and not smart, and it pisses me off. . .and when it upset me, I would beat her.” The men continuously attributed their violent behavior to external factors (“unemployed,” “she pisses me off,” “naïve woman,” “not mature”), and internal attributions were infrequent (“you explode,” “I can no longer control myself,” “thousand and one thoughts”). In each case the men attributed their angry reactions to the women’s behaviors; the participants seemed to struggle to distinguish between the consequences of their own versus their partner’s actions.
Later in the interview, Robert spontaneously introduced internal aspects: . . .When she was crying, I was maybe a little worried. I ached for her, but I didn’t tell her. Why don’t things go well? Why don’t things go more smoothly? Why do I see that we’re out of sugar and you [his wife] don’t? This brought me to situations where I would beat her.
Here and in the following examples Robert recognized his thought process as the violence-activating factor. Once he recognized his external attribution (“out of sugar”) as his own thoughts, he manifested an internal LOC. An internal LOC was evident in the recognition of a sequence of internal reactions (in this case, mostly thoughts) that triggered one another and subsequently led to the eruption of violent behavior.
The cessation of the men’s violent episodes occurred only after some external event took place that required them to enroll in the IPV-prevention program, such as a legal proceeding or a real fear of marital or family loss. Robert (self-referred) was the only participant who explicitly talked about the cessation of his violence. He revealed an emerging capacity to connect external consequences with internal processes and motivations. When asked about pivotal moments that led to his understanding of his violence problem, Robert replied: After that [his daughter’s suicide attempt], I saw that
This segment reveals Robert’s emerging ability to inter-connect internal elements (violent behavior recognition, fear of family loss, desire for change) that eventually contribute to violence cessation. This internal-to-internal attribution appears to have created a context of an internal LOC where behavioral change became possible.
Category 3. Internal Attribution Difficulty
Study participants perceived an internal LOC as threatening. Consequently, they developed a strategy that distanced themselves from their inner world, manifested through minimal emotional expression. The few explicit references to emotions revealed their struggle to acknowledge and articulate their emotions, leaving the underlying psychological conflict largely unexplored. In the continuation of his account, Robert described his struggle to express sensitive emotions hidden behind a veil of aggression.
. . . And even if she wasn’t so wise. . . she wasn’t going to change. But I didn’t understand. I would always raise a hand to her. It was the easiest way to release my anger. But my heart ached for her, because after I calmed down, I would see her cry in the corner like a little girl. My heart ached for her, but I wouldn’t show it [because that would be] like apologizing. I wouldn’t show my feelings. . . it went on for many years.
Similarly, George said, “No one can penetrate my inner shell,” and Daniel (who described himself as the family’s “black sheep”) said, The pain is deeper. I may have said it in a superficial way. . . but it sits so deep. It’s hard to get it out. . . I usually don’t think about it, otherwise I would be in a mental institution. . . I let it stay and sink.
The participants appeared to implicitly recognize their struggle in attributing their emotions to their inner world. In these instances, the inner realm momentarily became accessible. The necessary distancing from their internal experience appeared to be a critical step toward deeper self-understanding. It seemed that linking outcomes to a sequence of internal stimuli represented a key skill associated with an internal LOC.
Category 4. External Attribution as a Strategy for Internal Communication
The fourth LOC category revealed external information as the men’s primary channel for expressing internal experiences. They communicated internal states through external interactions and behavioral cues. Their thoughts were often disguised as objective statements, revealing a profound emotional distancing. Pain, loneliness, and unmet emotional needs emerged indirectly through externally oriented narratives. Michael’s description of his relationship with authority figures revealed his underlying emotional needs. Notably, he appeared to lack a direct means of expressing these needs, instead communicating them indirectly through his portrayal of how others related to him: The manager [of the Service] Andy just loves me. I’m not saying that he likes me. [I’m saying that] he loves me, respects me. . . [He] loves me, and it makes all my nervousness go away. . . and his secretary also likes me. Every time I come there, the door opens at once. When someone else comes, they need to see who it is. When it’s me, I just push and the door opens. That’s it.
Through the portrayal of the manager’s and secretary’s affectionate and respectful behavior, Michael indirectly expressed his yearning to be valued, desired, and loved, potentially indicating an absence of these feelings elsewhere in his life. These themes emerged at various points in his narrative. All five men struggled to directly articulate their unmet needs and emotional longings in their relationships with others. Describing how others demonstrated love and consideration toward them, or conversely, how others disregarded them or failed to acknowledge them, became their way of expressing their deep-seated desire to be seen and understood.
George communicated his profound loneliness through a narrative of external circumstances and relationships: ראש הטופס I wasn’t accepted at school because I had a problem at home: My mother couldn’t let me go. She couldn’t separate from me. . . I grew up like this. I had no brothers or sisters. So, I got used to my niche, my own corner. . . . And in nature they [the animals] were all my friends, but no one [person] was a close friend of mine. . . for hours [I would] sit and watch birds. . . Imagine that until the eighth grade I slept with my mother, God bless her soul, in the same bed . . . At this age [you’ve] already started to mature.
George’s story strongly suggests that his mother was unaware of George’s emotional needs. His description of watching birds for hours seems to convey a deep sense of loneliness and emotional burden. His narrative makes clear that these painful emotions were deeply felt, yet they struggled to be fully acknowledged, understood introspectively, or recognized as essential aspects of his subjective identity.
Robert exhibited greater introspection than the others. He connected his daughter’s suicide attempt to his own violent behavior and repeatedly emphasized his fear of losing his daughters and family (internal LOC). However, his deeper pain was also conveyed through an external LOC. His traumatic experiences during his youth, including personal and familial breakdowns, were described through a series of external events. His father, who had been violent toward his mother for many years, died when Robert was young. His brother then developed an addiction, causing the household to unravel. Robert subsequently ended up living with the parents of his girlfriend, who later became his wife. Through fragmented external details, an outward focus was evident, hinting at a hidden unexplored iceberg of distress. Nonetheless, it was perceptible, and discernible between the lines.
In the following passage, Robert described an incident with his mother that demonstrated how he used descriptions of external events to express inner pain: “If I would have told Mom that I needed a book. . . [she would have answered], ‘We have no money. What? Are you a professor!?’ I was dragged down and didn’t bother studying.” His narration of this interaction seemed to be his way of expressing the pain of his thwarted developmental potential. In a similar vein, he hinted at the internal distress that perhaps informed his decision about who he would choose as a spouse: “I wouldn’t have cared if she had only one eye or was disabled. I just wanted a homebody. . .because of the unrequited love I had from the age of 16 with someone.”
After the unrequited love, Robert was willing to marry a disabled woman (even one with only one eye), wanting mainly a homebody, apparently to ensure she wouldn’t abandon him. Robert’s narrative reflects an external manifestation of the internal conflict underlying his violent behavior. Although he only hinted at his abandonment anxiety and the frustration he experienced during his school years, he repeatedly refers to the woman he chose as “naïve” and “immature”—perhaps reflecting the lingering impact of his own developmental difficulties. This dynamic may suggest that his behavior toward his wife, which pushed her into the role of the underdeveloped one, served as a way to communicate his own desire to feel more developed. His behavior might reflect a psychological process whereby aspects of his internal conflict were displaced onto his wife, potentially serving both to express and to distance himself from his own emotional struggles.
Discussion
In the present study, the five male interviewees were participants in the Israeli Public Service Violence Prevention Program for Domestic Violence. The interviewees all exhibited an external LOC, and they also used behavior-related verbs more frequently than cognition-related verbs, and cognition-related verbs more frequently than emotion-related verbs. Likewise, all of the participants utilized a limited range of expressive language when describing subjective experiences. Their narratives reveal a distancing approach to their subjective experiences: Struggling to articulate feelings of misery, confusion, and powerlessness, they relied on external materials as the primary channel for expressing their internal experiences. The men positioned themselves on an external-internal continuum, with external attribution serving as a clear avenue toward internal expression. Although their behavioral descriptions and external attributions revealed their inner narratives, there were only rare instances where one internal component (thought, feeling, sensation, etc.) was attributed to another internal component. However, when such internal-internal attribution occurred, it represented a significant moment of change.
Theoretical Implications
Our findings regarding external LOC in IPV perpetrators align with, yet also extend beyond, established theories of criminal thinking styles and cognitive distortions (Walters, 2015). Although there is significant conceptual overlap between external LOC and cognitive distortions, such as blame attribution and minimization, our results suggest notable distinctions. Criminal thinking patterns typically focus on cognitive justifications for behavior (e.g., “she provoked me”), whereas an external LOC represents a broader attribution framework encompassing one’s entire relationship with the world. The men in our study did not merely externalize blame for specific violent incidents; rather, they demonstrated pervasive patterns of attributing most life outcomes to external forces.
Furthermore, our finding that an external LOC functions as a mechanism for the indirect expression of internal emotional content adds a complementary dimension to Gilchrist’s (2009) work on implicit beliefs in IPV perpetrators. Whereas this earlier research identified the abusers’ beliefs about relationships, women, and violence which they used to justify their actions, our research highlights how these external attributions paradoxically serve as the primary channel through which these men access and communicate their internal world. Unlike the common perception that an external LOC is merely part of criminogenic thinking patterns that require correction, our findings suggest that an external LOC serves complex psychological functions simultaneously, acting as both a defense mechanism against painful emotions and as an indirect communication channel. This emotional distancing strategy might be rooted in early insecure attachment experiences (Kim et al., 2021), where emotional expression was discouraged or punished, creating a pattern where external attribution became the only safe outlet for processing internal content. This dual function may explain why traditional confrontational approaches, such as challenging thinking strategies, often meet resistance (Beutler et al., 2005; Butters et al., 2021). At the beginning of therapy in particular, such confrontations may inadvertently threaten the only available pathway these men have for expressing internal states.
Based on our results, we claim that an internal/external LOC in IPV perpetrators is not a binary measure. The findings suggest that external and internal attributions intertwine within the same experience. Moreover, we propose that internal LOC should be assessed using a two-scale measure, encompassing not only (1) the scale of attributing life outcomes to an individual’s behavior (as is currently done in the standard measure of internal LOC), but also (2) the scale of attributing one internal response to another internal response. Individuals’ abilities to attribute their behaviors to their thoughts or emotions appears to reflect a more developed internal LOC. Developing an internal LOC should be a central goal in treating IPV offenders, particularly when treatment is conducted within a legal framework. Furthermore, a more nuanced two-scale measure of internal LOC, as proposed here, should be examined to determine whether it resolves the previously observed lack of correlation between internal and external LOC in the studies described above (De Las Cuevas et al., 2014; Levenson, 1974). This refinement may better capture attribution processes and enhance measurement sensitivity in future research.
Clinical Implications
Brain studies indicate that emotion regulation is possible when people focus on their moment-to-moment internal experiences (Wheeler et al., 2017). These studies show that emotional and mental representations in brain systems, such as the amygdala and cortex, may be rigid or flexible, and they can change over time (Barrett & Satpute, 2019). When connections between emotions, cognition, and behavior are not sufficiently developed, the tendency to attribute one’s responses to external factors may become a stable coping strategy. Anger—a basic defensive emotion—may hide deep vulnerability, and a limited ability to process underlying issues internally may lead to violent expressions (du Bray et al., 2019). Given these considerations, effective treatment of domestic violence offenders must go beyond merely correcting their thinking errors to include creating a corrective attachment that can become a potential turning point by enabling offenders to gradually connect their internal states to one another.
With this approach in mind, therapists should attune themselves to patients’ external attributions as windows into their emotional world. For example, when a patient describes hours of birdwatching, the therapist should hear the indirect expression of loneliness and a need for calm, and when patients repeatedly emphasize that another person loves them, the therapist should hear these statements as the patients actually expressing their own longing for love. This attentive presence would allow the therapist to serve as a validating attachment figure—a figure who can help patients feel seen and understood at a time when they are still only able to convey emotions in a coded manner. Thus, the treatment would provide patients with a safe space for introspection and emotion regulation—experiences that they were unable to embrace in childhood—while the therapist serves as a validating attachment figure. Their violent behavior may have been a maladaptive attempt to communicate a desperate need for safety and secure attachment—needs that, paradoxically, cannot be obtained through force.
Limitations and Further Studies
Our study targeted a sample of five case studies of men actively engaged in an Israeli violence prevention program. Although the sample was small, the two in-depth interviews obtained from each individual yielded valuable data, enabling us to delve into distinct perspectives and attain a broader understanding that is often challenging to acquire from individuals with a history of violence (Weldon & Gilchrist, 2012). A methodological concern in this study was the participants’ cultural backgrounds, as they all came from traditional societies with distinct gender role expectations. The distinction between cultural norms and external LOC manifestations is not always clear-cut in such contexts. To address this challenge, our analysis focused on identifying psychological mechanisms beyond cultural explanations, examining how participants processed internal experiences and external events. Future research should explore the intersection between cultural factors and LOC orientation, particularly among men who perpetrate IPV.
The findings of our study highlight the importance of considering internal/external LOC as a non-binary measure, where external information serves as a bridge to internal communication. As previously suggested, developing a systematic tool for qualitative and quantitative studies requires separating the internal measure into two scales: external-to-internal attribution and internal-to-internal attribution. However, these scales need further validation and examination through additional research. Moreover, future studies should investigate whether strengthening violent men’s ability to inter-connect internal components can lead to a reduction in recidivism.
Footnotes
Ethical Considerations
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Israel’s Labor and Welfare Ministry (1994-5).
Consent to Participate
All participants gave their written informed consent prior to their participation.
Consent for Publication
As part of the informed consent process, all participants explicitly agreed to the publication of anonymized findings derived from the study.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
Due to the sensitive and personal nature of the qualitative data collected in this study, and in order to protect participants’ privacy and confidentiality, the data are not publicly available.