Types Of Batterers Research Articles

Generalists versus specialists: Toward a typology of batterers in prison

In this study we apply the versatile/specialist offender debate to the research of intimate partner violence. We propose the existence of two types of imprisoned male batterers: the generalist and the specialist batterer. The individual, family, and community characteristics of these types of batterers are further explored in 110 imprisoned males in the Penitentiary of Villabona (Spain). As for the individual characteristics, results indicate that the generalist batterer present higher levels of psychopathology (specially antisocial and borderline personality), sexist attitudes, and substance dependence. Specialist batterers presented higher levels of conflict in their family of origin. Finally, generalist batterers reported coming from more socially disordered communities and showed lower levels of participation and integration in these communities than the specialist batterer. These results suggest that the classical distinctions among batterers based on psychopathology and context of violence (whether general or family only) might be of little utility when applied to imprisoned male batterers.

Subtypes of batterers in treatment: empirical support for a distinction between type I, type II and type III.

This study explores the existence of different types of batterers in a sample of 266 men who had been court referred for intimate partner violence. The data collected in the assessment that have been used to perform a hierarchical and a two-step cluster analysis fall into three areas: aggression towards the partner, general aggression and presence of psychopathology and personality traits, more specifically, alcohol use, borderline and antisocial personality traits, psychopathy traits, state anger and trait anger, anger expression and control, anger, hostility, and, finally, impulsivity. The results show a typology consisting of 3 types of batterers on the basis of violence level and psychopathology: low (65%), moderate (27.8%) and high (7.1%). This study provides empirical support for the development of batterer typologies. These typologies will help achieve early detection of different types of batterers, allowing us to tailor interventions on the basis of the needs of each of the types.

Intimate partner violence offenders: Generating a data-based typology of batterers and implications for treatment

Different studies have proposed that batterers can be classified into distinct groups according to psychopathology, violence severity and frequency. The aim of the current study was to define a data-based batterer's typology and its implications for rehabilitation. Data were collected from 187 male sentenced for intimate partner violence –111 of them to prison and 76 to community service. A cluster analysis supported a three-cluster solution: non-pathological (NP, 40%), antisocial/violent (AV, 27%) and disturbed batterers (DB, 33%). Subsequent analysis showed that AV batterers were profiled through the perpetration of physical and psychological violence, antisocial behaviour, deviant lifestyle, criminal records, inter parental violence and drug abuse; DB batterers, were profiled through behaviours of psychological violence, physical aggression and hostility, clinical symptomatology (e.g., somatisation, depression, anxiety, paranoid ideation), criminal records, antisocial behaviour, and a deviant lifestyle; and NP batterers were not profiled through any of the variables related to criminality and recidivism. Multinomial logistic regression supported different logistic models for batterer types in terms of psychopathological, antisocial and perpetrated violence-type variables. Implications of batterer typology on treatment are discussed.

Decoding Deficits of Different Types of Batterers During Presentation of Facial Affect Slides

The ability to decode emotional cues is associated with both personality disorders and violence. This study investigated whether subtypes of intimate partner abusers differ in their ability to label facial affect displays. Intimate partner violent (IPV; n = 69) and nonviolent (NV; n = 32) men were asked to label slides of facial affect. Cluster analyses classified the IPV men into three different types as per the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994; Typologies of male batterers: three subtypes and the differences among them. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 476–497) typology: family-only (FO), borderline or dysphoric (BD), and generally violent or antisocial (GVA). Overall, IPV men did not make more errors decoding facial affect slides than did NV men. However, GVA batterers showed deficits while BD batterers were particularly accurate in identifying emotions. Clinical implications are that emotional recognition skills training techniques may be useful for GVA batterers only.

Male Batterer Profiles

Domestic violence is an issue that affects different sides of society; numerous studies have shown that it is a problem that is increasing. This study used a discriminant analysis to identify those scales that might be more effective at predicting group membership among batterer types: pathological batterers, sexually violent batterers, generally violent batterers, psychological violent batterers and family-only batterers. The purpose of this study was to measure batterer behaviors and how the batterer types differ in terms of attachment styles, conflict resolution, psychopathology, jealousy, and alcohol abuse.

BEFORE DEATH, WE MUST PART:

Domestic violence trends and case law reporters across the country suggest the time is right for a new alternative in the struggle to provide refuge for victims of domestic violence. As the American justice system stands right now, there is no significant mechanism in the United States with the financial, legislative, and legal backing to help victims of domestic violence escape. A model for relocation based upon the Federal Witness Protection Program can provide such a mechanism. The first part of this note presents a New Jersey case where a divorce proceeding resulted in the relocation and change of identity of a battered woman and her children, and suggests this remedy as a model for an interstate or federal relocation program for domestic violence victims. The next part provides a discussion of the merits and rationale behind such a program. The third part discusses the types of batterers this program would seem to protect against, a legal standard to ascertain whether someone is eligible, and certain logistical issues of a theoretical program. The next two parts discuss items troublesome to the implementation of both state and federal programs. The sixth part discusses potential issues such programs might face once implemented on both levels. Finally, the last part provides an overall assessment of the feasibility of such programs, followed by the conclusion. While the costs that would be incurred by such a program on the interstate or federal level may be quite high, it is quite clear that relocation and protection could save countless lives each year and provide a new beginning for the innocent victims that toil in a world of domestic violence.

What situations induce intimate partner violence? A reliability and validity study of the Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) scale.

The current study investigated the reliability of a new self-report questionnaire assessing stimuli that would likely elicit intimate partner violence. The Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) scale is a 30-item, Likert-type measure designed to assess situations that would reportedly precede the use of violence. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis on a clinical sample revealed 3 factors: Violence to Control, Violence Out of Jealousy, and Violence Following Verbal Abuse. In Study 2, the factor structure was replicated on a community sample using confirmatory factor analysis. In both studies, different types of batterers, on the basis of A. Holtzworth-Munroe and G. L. Stuart's (1994) typology, scored differently on the 3 factors in ways consistent with theory. Therefore, the PAVE shows promise as a reliable and valid tool to help to understand the context and function of intimate partner violence.

A Typology of Maritally Violent Men and Correlates of Violence in a Community Sample

This study empirically tests A. Holtzworth‐Munroe and G. L. Stuart's (1994) typology of male batterers in a community sample. Latent class analyses based on severity of physical aggression, generality of violence, and psychopathology partially replicated the Holtzworth‐Munroe and Stuart typology by identifying 3 types of violent men: family‐only, medium‐violence, and generally violent/psychologically distressed. Separate groupings of borderline/dysphoric and generally violent/antisocial types were not found. In comparisons of batterer types to each other and to nonviolent men, generally violent/psychologically distressed men differed from other groups on psychological abuse, life stress, marital satisfaction, and attitudes about violence. Types also differed on wives' fearfulness of their husband and injury from marital aggression. Implications of conceptualizing marital violence from a multidimensional typology perspective are discussed.

Implications of Personality Profiles for Batterer Treatment

Research on men who batter women has recently given a great deal of attention to personality types of batterers. Treatment recommendations for batterer types have relied primarily on aggregated statistical analyses of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI), but may be misleading because the MCMI is designed to be interpreted using individual profiles. The authors employed a profile analysis with MCMI-III results of 100 batterers randomly drawn from 840 men enrolled in four batterer programs. Case examples are used to illustrate the personality profiles and their treatment implications. The profile analysis suggests six major personality groupings that in part reflect previously established types. However, the majority of batterers exhibit narcissistic or avoidant traits that are well suited for the prevailing cognitive-behavioral group treatment approach. A smaller proportion of men evidence personality problems that may warrant adjunctive psychiatric services or individual psychotherapy. In sum, “one size” of treatment appears to fit most.

Attachment, Emotional Regulation, and the Function of Marital Violence: Differences Between Secure, Preoccupied, and Dismissing Violent and Nonviolent Husbands

The purpose of this study was to investigate behavioral differences among nonviolent, unhappily married husbands and violent husbands with different attachment classifications on the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI; Main and Goldwyn, 1994). Twenty-three Domestically Violent (DV) husbands and 13 maritally distressed but non-violent (DNV) husbands were interviewed using the AAI. Violent husbands (74%) were more likely than the distressed/nonviolent husbands (38%) to be classified into one of the insecure categories on the AAI. As predicted, during laboratory arguments with their wives, dismissing husbands were the most controlling and distancing, and preoccupied husbands the least distancing, during marital interactions. Secure husbands were significantly more defensive than the two insecure types. Sequential analyses of reports of violent arguments at home revealed different patterns among different types of batterers. For the preoccupied batterers only, wife withdrawal was a significant predictor of husband violence. For the dismissing batterer only, wife defensiveness was a significant precursor to husband violence. It is theorized that preoccupied batterers' violence and emotional abuse is related to expressive violence in response to abandonment fears; whereas dismissing batterers use instrumental violence to assert their authority and to control their wives. The overlap between this and other typologies of violent men is explored.

A Comparison of Impulsive and Instrumental Subgroups of Batterers

Previous research on subtypes of batterers has revealed at least two distinct types of batterers. One group (Type 1) demonstrates suppressed physiological responding during conflicts with their wives, tends to use violence in nonintimate relationships and manifests Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-II) scale elevations on the Antisocial and Aggressive-Sadistic scales. The second group (Type 2) manifests violence in the intimate relationship only and reports dysphoria. The current study extends our knowledge of these two groups by using a cluster analysis to assess personality disorder and relating the results to each group's attachment style, anger, trauma scores, and scores on a self-report of Borderline Personality Organization (BPO). An instrumental group (Type 1) showed an Antisocial-Narcissistic-Aggressive profile on the MCMI-II and reported more severe physical violence. An impulsive group (Type 2) showed a mixed profile on the MCMI-II with Passive-Aggressive, Borderline, and Avoidant elevations, high scores on a self-report of BPO, higher chronic anger, and Fearful attachment. Both types of abusive men reported a Preoccupied attachment style, but only the Impulsive men reported an accompanying Fearful attachment style.

When your patient is a batterer

PREVIEWAs a primary care physician, you have no doubt taken care of female patients who have been physically abused by their husband or partner. Also-perhaps without knowing it-you have treated the men who abused them. How can you help batterers and protect others, including yourself and your staff, from their abuse? This article describes the three types of batterers, their behavior patterns, and steps you can take to help them get appropriate treatment.

Psychological and social dysfunctions in battering men: A review

This review examines psychological factors in the personalities of battering men. Issues reviewed include theoretical typologies of domestically violent men with focus on their use of alcohol, their frequent antisocial orientation, and their mood. Attention is directed to their poor educational records and their frequent criminality. The biological/genetic literature related to aggression and violence is also discussed. Speculation is made about a typology involving two types of batterers. One type is frequently alcohol-abusing, antisocial, low in intelligence and criminal in history. The second type uses less alcohol, is brighter and better socialized, has a better work record and lacks a criminal background. The conclusion is made that batterer intervention programs should acknowledge that batterers frequently have psychological and social problems in addition to their violence in the home. Suggestions are made for inserting alcohol education and controlled drinking concepts into battering intervention programs. Recommendations are made about the management of batterers with serious character problems.

Battering and the male rejection of influence from women

The propensity of men to reject influence from women and individual differences in this tendency were examined in the present report as potentially related to two types of domestically violent men. We operationalized rejection of influence in sequential analyses of emotional behavior during a 15 min marital interaction. In our previous research, we identified two types of batterers: Type-1, whose heart rates decelerated below baseline during the marital interaction; and Type-2, whose heart rates accelerated. We found that only Type-1 husbands reject any and all influence from their wives. We postulate that Type-1 batterers reject influence as a means of maintaining power and control. Aggr. Behav. 23:375–388, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Who Are Those Guys? Toward a Behavioral Typology of Batterers

This paper reviews a cluster analysis of batterer abuse and antisocial variables drawn from intake interviews with battered women in Texas shelters. A substantial portion of severely abusive and extremely antisocial batterers are identified in the cluster solution. A typology, based on cross-tabulations of the clusters and descriptive variables, includes three types of batterers: sociopathic, antisocial, and typical batterers. These findings suggest that research on batterer characteristics needs to direct attention to the differentiation of batterers, and that intervention with especially the sociopathic and antisocial batterers needs to go beyond court-mandated counseling and anger control treatment.

Pre-trial justice: A study of case settlement in Magistrates' courts : by John Baldwin. Basil Blackwell (432 Park Avenue South, Suite 1505, New York, New York 10016), 1985, 184 pp., hardcover—$34.95

In the midst of the debate over batterer program effectiveness, several alternative approaches have been promoted: psychodynamic treatment for attachment disorders, diversified programming for batterer types, motivational techniques addressing readiness to change, specialized counseling for African-American men, and couples counseling for mutual violence. A critical overview of the research on these alternative approaches exposes weak or insufficient supporting evidence. There is also strong generic evidence for the predominant cognitive-behavioral approach in batterer programs, and a focus on system implementation might account for improved outcomes. While the innovations are encouraging, an “evidence-based practice” for batterers has yet to be clearly established.