This article examines the scope of spouse or partner abuse in the United States, the dynamics in abusive relationships, and the resources available to battered women, especially shelters. The few studies examining the effectiveness of shelters have not yielded promising results, but rather found that an alarming number of women eventually return to their abusive partners. A new approach to treating battered women using transactional analysis is suggested. Selected concepts in transactional analysis theory are reviewed and their application to this population are discussed.
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