What counts as “violence” is socially constructed, has varied over time, and reflects power relationships. Informed by social constructionism, we illustrate these points using as examples sexual violence and domestic violence. We review changes in how society and social scientists have defined and understood these topics during the last 30 years. We then discuss 3 areas of continuing controversy: who should decide if sexual or domestic violence has occurred, what to count as sexual and domestic violence, and the role of gender in defining sexual and domestic violence.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
A Southern Women's Writing Collective. (1990). Sex resistance in heterosexual arrangements. In D. Leidholdt & J. Raymond (Eds.), The sexual liberals and the attack on feminism (pp. 140-147). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
2.
Abrahamsen, D. (1960). The psychology of crime. New York: Columbia University Press.
3.
Adams, D. (1988). Treatment models for men who batter: A profeminist analysis. In K. Yllo & M. Bograd (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on wife abuse (pp. 176-199). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4.
Amir, M. (1971). Patterns in forcible rape. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
5.
The battered-child syndrome [Editorial]. (1962, July 7). Journal of the American Medical Association, 181, (1), 42-42.
6.
Baumeister, R. F. (1997). Evil: Inside human cruelty and violence. New York: Freeman. (Original work published 1996)
7.
Bergen, R. K. (1998). Issues in intimate violence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
8.
Bohan, J. (1996). Psychology and sexual orientation: Coming to terms. New York: Routledge.
9.
Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women, and rape. New York: Bantam.
10.
Burt, M. R. (1991). Rape myths and acquaintance rape. In A. Parrot & L. Bechhofer (Eds.), Acquaintance rape: The hidden crime (pp. 26-40). New York: Wiley.
11.
Chalker, R. (1994). Updating the model of female sexuality. SIECUS Report, 22, 1-6.
12.
Currie, D. H. (1998). Violent men or violent women? Whose definition counts? In R. K. Bergen (Ed.), Issues in intimate violence (pp. 97-111). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
13.
Dobash, R. E., & Dobash, R. P. (1998). Violent men and violent contexts. In R. E. Dobash & R. P. Dobash (Eds.), Rethinking violence against women (pp. 141-168). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
Domestic Abuse Intervention Project. (n.d.). Power and control [Poster]. (Available from Domestic Abuse Intervention Project, 206 West Fourth Street, Duluth, MN 55806)
15.
Elliott, P. (1996). Shattering illusions: Same-sex domestic violence. In C. M. Renzetti & C. H. Miley (Eds.), Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships (pp. 1-8). New York: Harrington Park Press.
16.
Estrich, S. (1987). Real rape. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
17.
Finkelhor, D., & Yllo, K. (1985). License to rape: Sexual abuse of wives. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
18.
Gavey, N. (1992). Technologies and effects of heterosexual coercion. Feminism and Psychology, 2, 325-351.
19.
Gelles, R. J., & Straus, M. A. (1988). Intimate violence. New York: Simon & Schuster.
20.
Gergen, K. G. (1985). Social constructionist inquiry: Context and implications. In K. J. Gergen & K. E. Davis (Eds.), The social construction of the person (pp. 3-18). New York: Springer-Verlag.
21.
Gilbert, N. (1991). The phantom epidemic of sexual assault. The Public Interest, 103, 54-65.
22.
Gordon, M. T., & Riger, S. (1989). The female fear. New York: Free Press.
23.
Griffin, S. (1971). Rape: The all-American crime. Ramparts, 10, 26-35.
24.
Gutmann, S. (1991). “It sounds like I raped you!” How date-rape “education” fosters confusion, undermines personal responsibility, and trivializes sexual violence. In O. Pocs (Ed.), Human sexuality 91/92 (16th ed., pp. 217-221). Guilford, CT: Dushkin.
25.
Hamberger, L. K., & Potente, T. (1994). Counseling heterosexual women arrested for domestic violence: Implications for theory and practice. Violence and Victims, 9, 125-137.
26.
Holmstrom, L. L., & Burgess, A. W. (1978). The victim of rape: Institutional reactions. New York: Wiley.
27.
Istar, A. (1996). Couple assessment: Identifying and intervening in domestic violence in lesbian relationships. In C. M. Renzetti & C. H. Miley (Eds.), Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships (pp. 93-106). New York: Harrington Park Press.
28.
Kahn, A. (1991, May 31). Professor challenges studies on date rape as exaggerated. Lawrence Journal World, p. 7C-7C.
29.
Kahn, A. S. (1998, August). Constructions of sexuality and violence against women. In Sexuality, society, and feminism—Psychological perspectives. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.
30.
Kahn, A. S., Mathie, V. A., & Torgler, C. (1994). Rape scripts and rape acknowledgment. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 53-66.
31.
Kanin, E. J. (1957). Male aggression in dating-courtship relations. American Journal of Sociology, 63, 197-204.
32.
Kanin, E. J. (1967). An examination of sexual aggression as a response to sexual frustrations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 29, 428-433.
33.
Kelly, L. (1987). The continuum of sexual violence. In J. Hanmer & M. Maynard (Eds.), Women, violence, and social control (pp. 46-60). Atlantic Heights, NJ: Humanities Press International.
34.
Kelly, L., & Radford, J. (1998). Sexual violence against women and girls: An approach to an international overview. In R. E. Dobash & R. P. Dobash (Eds.), Rethinking violence against women (pp. 53-76). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
35.
Kempe, C. H., Silverman, F. N., Steele, B. F., Droegemueller, W., & Silver, H. K. (1962, July 7). The battered-child syndrome. Journal of the American Medical Association, 181(1), 17-24.
36.
Koss, M. P., & Cook, S. L. (1998). Facing the facts: Date and acquaintance rape are significant problems for women. In R. K. Bergen (Ed.), Issues in intimate violence (pp. 147-156). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
37.
Koss, M. P., Dinero, T. E., Seibel, C. A., & Cox, S. L. (1988). Stranger and acquaintance rape: Are there differences in the victim's experience?Psychology of Women Quarterly, 12, 1-23.
38.
Koss, M. P., Gidycz, C. A., & Wisniewski, N. (1987). The scope of rape: Incidence and prevalence of sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of higher education students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 162-170.
39.
Koss, M. P., & Oros, C. J. (1982). Sexual Experiences Survey: A research instrument investigating sexual aggression and victimization. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 455-457.
40.
Kurz, D. (1998). Old problems and new directions in the study of violence against women. In R. K. Bergen (Ed.), Issues in intimate violence (pp. 197-208). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
41.
Letellier, P. (1996). Twin epidemics: Domestic violence and HIV infection among gay and bisexual men. In C. M. Renzetti & C. H. Miley (Eds.), Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships (pp. 69-81). New York: Harrington Park Press.
42.
Liebow, E. (1993). Tell them who I am: The lives of homeless women. New York: Free Press.
43.
Loseke, D. R. (1989). “Violence” is “violence”... or is it? The social construction of“wife abuse” and public policy. In J. Best (Ed.), Images of issues: Typifying contemporary social problems (pp. 191-206). New York: de Gruyter.
44.
MacDonald, J. M. (1971). Rape offenders and their victims. Springfield, IL: Thomas.
45.
MacKinnon, C. A. (1987). Feminism unmodified: Discourses on life and law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
46.
MacKinnon, C. A. (1990). Liberalism and the death of feminism. In D. Leidholdt & J. G. Raymond (Eds.), The sexual liberals and the attack on feminism (pp. 3-13). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
47.
Makepeace, J. (1981). Courtship violence among college students. Family Relations, 30, 97-102.
48.
Marrujo, B., & Kreger, M. (1996). Definition of roles in abusive lesbian relationships. In C. M. Renzetti & C. H. Miley (Eds.), Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships (pp. 23-33). New York: Harrington Park Press.
49.
Martin, D. (1976). Battered wives. San Francisco: Glide Publications.
50.
Merrill, G. S. (1996). Ruling the exceptions: Same-sex battering and domestic violence theory. In C. M. Renzetti & C. H. Miley (Eds.), Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships (pp. 9-21). New York: Harrington Park Press.
51.
Morgan, R. (1992). Theory and practice: Pornography and rape. In R. Morgan (Ed.), The word of a woman: Feminist dispatches, 1968-1992 (pp. 78-89). New York: Norton. (Original work published 1974)
52.
Muehlenhard, C. L. (1998). The importance and danger of studying sexually aggressive women. In P. B. Anderson & C. Struckman-Johnson (Eds.), Sexually aggressive women: Current perspectives and controversies (pp. 19-48). New York: Guilford.
53.
Muehlenhard, C. L., & Cook, S. W. (1988). Men's self-reports of unwanted sexual activity. Journal of Sex Research, 24, 58-72.
54.
Muehlenhard, C. L., Harney, P. A., & Jones, J. M. (1992). From “victim-precipitated rape” to “date rape”: How far have we come?Annual Review of Sex Research, 3, 219-253.
55.
Muehlenhard, C. L., & Linton, M. A. (1987). Date rape and sexual aggression in dating situations: Incidence and risk factors. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 34, 186-196.
56.
Muehlenhard, C. L., & Long, P. J. (1988, November). Are men ever coerced into unwanted sexual intercourse? Men's and women's experiences with sexual coercion. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New York.
57.
Muehlenhard, C. L., Powch, I. G., Phelps, J. L., & Giusti, L. M. (1992). Definitions of rape: Scientific and political implications. Journal of Social Issues, 48(1), 23-44.
58.
Muehlenhard, C. L., Sympson, S. C., Phelps, J. L., & Highby, B. J. (1994). Are rape statistics exaggerated? A response to criticism of contemporary rape research. Journal of Sex Research, 31, 144-146.
59.
Pizzey, E. (1977). Scream quietly or the neighbors will hear. Short Hills, NJ: Ridley Enslow. (Original work published 1974)
60.
Poirier, J., & Muehlenhard, C. L. (1998). Fear of rape: A comparison with other common fears of female and male college students. Manuscript in preparation.
61.
Ptacek, J. (1988). Why do men batter their wives? In K. Yllo & M. Bograd (Eds.), Feminist perspectives on wife abuse (pp. 133-157). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
62.
Rapaport, K., & Burkhart, B. R. (1984). Personality and attitudinal characteristics of sexually coercive college males. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 216-221.
63.
Reinholtz, R. K., Muehlenhard, C. L., Phelps, J. L., & Satterfield, A. T. (1995). Sexual discourse and sexual intercourse: How the way we communicate affects the way we think about sexual coercion. In P. J. Kalbfleisch & M. J. Cody (Eds.), Gender, power, and communication in human relationships (pp. 141-162). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
64.
Renzetti, C. M. (1996). The poverty of services for battered lesbians. In C. M. Renzetti & C. H. Miley (Eds.), Violence in gay and lesbian domestic partnerships (pp. 61-68). New York: Harrington Park Press.
65.
Rhode, D. L. (1990). Theoretical perspectives on sexual difference. In D. L. Rhode (Ed.), Theoretical perspectives on sexual difference (pp. 1-9). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
66.
Rich, A. (1980). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 5, 631-660.
67.
Roiphe, K. (1993). The morning after: Sex, fear, and feminism on campus. Boston: Little, Brown.
68.
Rotkin, K. (1986). The phallacy of our sex norm. In S. Bem (Ed.), Psychology of sex roles (pp. 384-391). Acton, MA: Copley. (Original work published 1972)
69.
Rush, F. (1990). The many faces of backlash. In D. Leidholdt & J. Raymond (Eds.), The sexual liberals and the attack on feminism (pp. 165-174). Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
70.
Russell, D. E. H. (1984). Sexual exploitation: Rape, child sexual abuse, and workplace harassment. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
71.
Sanders, S. A., & Reinisch, J. M. (1999). Would you say you “had sex” if...?Journal of the American Medical Association, 281, 275-277.
72.
Satterfield, A. T., & Muehlenhard, C. L. (1996, November). The role of gender in the meaning of sexual coercion: Women's and men's reactions to their own experiences. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, Houston, TX.
73.
Scully, D. (1990). Understanding sexual violence: A study of convicted rapists. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
74.
Snell, J. E., Rosenwald, R. J., & Robey, A. (1964). The wife beater's wife: A study of family interaction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 11, 107-112.
75.
Steinmetz, S. K. (1977-1978). The battered husband syndrome. Victimology, 2, 499-509.
76.
Struckman-Johnson, C. (1988). Forced sex on dates: It happens to men, too. Journal of Sex Research, 24, 234-241.
77.
Valdez, B. S., & Muehlenhard, C. L. (1998). The meanings of sexual intercourse and oral sex to male and female college students. Manuscript in preparation.
78.
Warshaw, R. (1994). I never called it rape (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
79.
White, J. W., & Kowalski, R. M. (1994). Deconstructing the myth of the nonaggressive woman: A feminist analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 487-508.
80.
Wille, W. S. (1961). Case study of a rapist: An analysis of the causation of criminal behavior. Journal of Social Therapy, 7, 10-121-1.
81.
X, L. (1994). A brief series of anecdotes about the backlash experienced by those of us working on marital and date rape. Journal of Sex Research, 31, 151-153.
