Wife Assault Research Articles

Wife Assault and the Canadian Criminal Justice System

Wife Assault and the Canadian Criminal Justice System

Client Personality Disorders Affecting Wife Assault Post-Treatment Recidivism

Previous evaluations of wife assault treatment outcome have focused generically on whether groups "succeed" or not without a clear criterion of what constituted success. The present study examines the question for whom groups generate the greatest reduction in post-treatment abuse and for whom they work least well. It was found that certain types of personality disordered men had the worst post-treatment prognosis. Specifically, men with high scores on borderline personality, antisocial personality, and avoidant personality fared least well after treatment. However, taken as a generic group, men in treatment had significantly reduced post-treatment abusiveness whether reported by themselves or their wives.

The intoxication defense in Canada: why women should care

This paper explains the impact on women--as victims/witnesses and as accused persons--of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Daviault' regarding the defense of intoxication. Prior to the decision in Daviault, the defense of intoxication was available for only one class of criminal offenses: those described as offenses (defined below). The defense was therefore absolutely barred for all other offenses, including sexual assault, manslaughter, and common assault. The effect of Daviault is to make a new defense, that of intoxication, available for all of these offenses. If successful, the defense means that men accused of sexual assault, wife assault, and femicide will be acquitted and not subject to any sanctions. This paper is divided into three sections. Section I gives an overview of the law of the intoxication defense and the impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms2 on the law and on the resulting Daviault decision. Section II analyzes the implications of Daviault for women who have been victimized by violent offenders and for women charged with criminal offenses. Section III provides a description and an assessment of options for reform of the law after Daviault, including those canvassed by the Department of Justice in its recodification project. I. The law of the intoxication defense A. Pre-Charter The early response of the criminal law in England to an accused's allegations that he should not be held responsible for a crime committed while intoxicated was unequivocally negative.3 In 1920 the English case of D.P.P. v. Beard4 established the intent/general classification that still survives in Canadian law today. This classification is anomalous in that it is applicable only to the law governing intoxication; it has no relevance to any other criminal law issue. The effect of this classification was to make voluntary intoxication available as a defense for certain crimes, those characterized as offenses, while still precluding intoxication as a defense for offenses. The Supreme Court of Canada has adopted, as part of Canadian common law, this understanding of the intoxication defense and the classification scheme, most notably in R. v. George,5 R. v. Leary,b and R. v Swietlinski.7 The law governing the intoxication defense applies whether the accused has abused alcohol, drugs, or some combination of the two.8 Specific intent offenses are, with some exceptions,9 those offenses where either the Criminal Code of Canada10 or the common law defines the mental element of the offense as one that is specifically focused on producing a particular consequence. The idea is that for such offenses, extreme intoxication could impair the accused's capacity to deliberately pursue a course of action intended to result in a particular outcome. For example, the following offenses have been put in the specific intent category by the judiciary: murder (requires proof of intention to cause the death of the victim),11 theft (requires proof of intent to deprive another permanently of his property),12 touching a child for a sexual purpose,13 uttering a threat to cause death,14 and using violence to overcome a victim's resistance.15 General intent offenses are those that have as their mental element an intent to commit the immediate act, without reference to producing any specific consequences. For these offenses, it is thought that the mental element is so minimal as to require only basic voluntariness, and that no amount of alcohol or drug consumption, short of insanity, could obliterate one's capacity to intend one's immediate physical movements. Alternatively, it has been stated by judges that the mental element involved in voluntarily incapacitating oneself is sufficiently blameworthy to allow it to be substituted for the mental element for general intent offenses. …

Risk marker analysis of the cessation and persistence of wife assault.

Risk marker analysis of the cessation and persistence of wife assault.

Antecedents of abusive personality and abusive behavior in wife assaulters

One hundred and forty men referred for wife assault and 45 demographically matched controls were assessed for psychological variables associated with abusive personality (anger, cyclical (borderline) personality organization (BPO) and chronic experience of trauma symptoms) and abusive behaviors (both physical and emotional) as reported by their female partners. Predictor variables for these abuse measures included the EMBU which assesses recollections of parental warmth and rejection and the Conflict Tactics Scale which assesses physical abuse in the family of origin. A composite of BPO, anger, trauma symptoms and fearful attachment called Abusive Personality (ABP) correlated .42 with wives reports of emotionally abusive behaviors. ABP was positively and significantly correlated with recollections of negative parental treatment by the abuse perpetrator. A compositive of parental rejection and verbal and physical abuse by parents correlated .41 with ABP. A discriminant function of high and low ABP found that ABP was predicted by paternal rejection, physical abuse, and absence of maternal warmth. Physical abuse by either parent correlated significantly with all subscales and total scores on the ABP measure. When combined with data showing ABP to correlate significantly with frequency of use of violence by wife assaulters (Dutton, 1995b, Dutton and Starzomski, 1993), the current study suggests a personality syndrome of assaultive males that has antecedents in the early experiences of these men. The present data suggest that family of origin experiences may have effects beyond modeling of abusive behaviors. These effects include development of a specific personality form associated with abusiveness.

Patriarchal ideology and wife-assault: A meta-analytic review

Using the framework of patriarchal theory, the present meta-analytic review examined the predicted relation between wife assault and the maintenance of a patriarchal ideology. This relationship was evaluated using three measures of patriarchal ideology: (1) attitudes toward violence, (2) gender attitudes, and (3) gender schemas. Overall, assaultive husbands reported more positive attitudes toward marital violence and lower scores on masculine and feminine gender schema scales than nonassaultive husbands. Methodological factors accounted for the significant heterogeneity among the gender attitude effect estimates for men. A nonsignificant average effect in the males' gender attitude emerged in studies which used husbands' self-report data and case-control comparison groups. In contrast to men, assaulted wives held more feminine gender schema and tended to exhibit more liberal gender attitudes than nonassaulted wives across studies. These meta-analytic findings offer limited support for the ideological component of the patriarchal theory of wife assault and are discussed with respect to their theoretical and methodological implications.

Male Sexual Proprietariness and Violence Against Wives

There is a cross-culturally ubiq- I uitous connection between men's sexual possessiveness and men's violence.1 We have studied ac counts of uxoricides (wife killings) from a broad range of societies, and find that male sexual propri etariness?broadly construed to encompass resentment both of in fidelity and of women's efforts to leave marriages?is everywhere implicated as the dominant precip and family. In a 1993 national sur vey, Statistics Canada interviewed more than 8,000 women currently residing with male partners. In addition to answering questions about their experiences of vio lence, the women indicated whether five statements about au tonomy-limiting aspects of some men's behavior applied to their husbands. Autonomy-limiting be havior was especially likely to be attributed to those husbands who were also reported to have be haved violently, and women who had experienced relatively serious or frequent assaults were much more likely to affirm each of the five statements than were women who had experienced only lesser violence (Table l).4 These and other data suggest that unusually controlling husbands are also un usually violent husbands. Rather than being one of a set of alterna tive controlling tactics used by pro prietary men, wife assault appears to go hand in hand with other tac tics of control.

Cessation and persistence of wife assault: A longitudinal analysis.

Patterns of wife assault, rates of cessation, and the effect of cessation on psychological aggression were evaluated in a three-year longitudinal study of 772 couples. More than one-third of the men who had been violent in the year prior to the initial survey ceased or interrupted their violence and showed significant reductions in their psychological aggression during the course of the study. Implications for the conceptualization and further study of wife assault are discussed.

Risk marker analysis of the cessation and persistence of wife assault.

This study evaluated the utility of specific risk markers of wife assault in understanding the cessation and persistence of violence against women over a 3-year period. Longitudinal data were used to identify violent men who ceased the violence for 2 years and violent men who persisted in using violence. A group of nonviolent men was used for comparison. Factor analysis indicated that marital conflict, socioeconomic status (SES), and witnessing violence in the family of origin were the most powerful discriminators of these groups. Moreover, it was found that high levels of marital conflict and low SES were associated not only with the occurrence of violence but also with the continuity of wife assaults over time.

Advocating Legal Intervention in Wife Assaults

As this century draws to a close, governments around the world are increasing their legal intervention in cases of wife assault. Yet few studies have examined the degree of popular approval for such interventions. This article reports the findings of a random sample of 510 adults in Singapore who responded to a series of questions regarding formal legal intervention in wife assaults. The results indicated that Singaporeans support police intervention in cases of wife assault and expect judges to treat such cases as seriously or more seriously than similar crimes while mandating abusers to receive treatment. Several demographic, personal history, and attitudinal factors affected the strength of an individual's advocacy for legal intervention.

Wife Assault, The Justice System and Professional Responsibility

The author reviews the response of the criminal justice system to the problem of wife assault by focusing on the key players within the system. The way the criminal law applies to wife assault affects battered women's access to that area of law known as family law, with negative repercussions for them and their children. Several myths about the nature of wife assault help ensure an inappropriate response. These include the myths that the woman is to blame, that by just leaving the abusive situation she can resolve it, and that if she does not leave it is because she enjoys the abuse. The author reviews current methods used by police, prosecutors and judges for dealing with wife assault and discusses the inadequacies of those methods. She concludes that despite many recommendations for change, there have been no significant improvements in the way the criminal justice system deals with wife assault. It is incumbent upon the legal profession to demonstrate professional responsibility by ensuring that wife assault is taken more seriously than it is now and than it has been in the past. This is a necessary reform before battered women can rely on the criminal justice system.

Alcohol Abuse, Wife Assault, and Power Needs

The high association between alcohol and violence suggests that alcohol instigates violence. The relationship, however, is complex, with disinhibition, disavowal, or interaction interpretations of the alcohol-violence association. Evidence from both the alcohol abuse and the wife assault fields suggests that offers a viable alternative interpretation. Power theory suggests that alcohol abuse and wife assault are manifestations of an underlying need for power and control related to gender-based distortions and insecurities. Alcohol treatment and wife assault programs often conflict in terms of assumptions and approaches. Power theory implies that alcohol abuse and wife assault be treated conjointly as weapons of power assertion and control, and, in the process, treatment effectiveness will be enhanced.

Wife Assault: A Systemic Approach that Minimizes Risk and Maximizes Responsibility

Studies show that approximately fifty percent of battered women who utilize emergency shelters return to their abusive relationships. In an unusual step for a women's shelter, the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter addressed this issue by developing a Men's Crisis Service for the abusive partners. The Men's Crisis Service attends first and foremost to the safety of the woman; it is accountable to the Shelter in general and the woman in particular. This paper describes the Men's Crisis Service, its relationship to the Shelter, and the Narrative/Constructivist clinical approach to its clients.

Wife Assault in Old Age: Coming out of Obscurity

RÉSUMÉUne récension des écrits en gérontologie sur l'abus et les mauvais traitements faits aux personnes âgées et de la littérature féministe sur l'agression à l'égard des épouses révèle des différences conceptuelles et pratiques qui ont isolé l'âge et le sexe, mettant ainsi dans l'ombre les expériences des femmes plus âgées victimes d'abus par leur partenaire. Le témoignage d'une femme ayant quitté son époux violent lorsqu'elle était âgée dans la soixante-dizaine et les observations à l'appui d'un groupe de prestateurs de services concernés sont présentés pour combler ces écarts conceptuels et pour mettre en lumière les processus sociaux qui cachent et perpétuent la violence faite aux femmes à un âge avancé. En vue de concevoir des méthodologies et des pratiques qui présentent et remettent en question les conditions qui favorisent la violence faite aux femmes plus âgées, les auteurs étudient des possibilités d'orientations qui favoriseront l'élaboration de nouvelles méthodes à l'intention des secteurs de la recherche et des services.

Male abusiveness in intimate relationships

Existing theories of wife assault (psychiatric, sociological, sociobiological, and social learning) fail in a variety of ways to explain the empirical data generated by research in the last two decades. A new theory is proposed to account for individual differences in the tendency to be assaultive in intimate relationships. The focus of this theory is on men whose abuse is proactive, repetitive, and specific to intimate relationships. It appears to accompany cyclical mood swings. This group appears to comprise about 40% of all men who present for treatment for wife assault. For these men, abusiveness is triggered by their internal mood states rather than by external events. Several studies are cited which indicate that intimate attachment generates rage in wife assaulters. The origins of this attachment-rage are traced to early development. This template generates a complex of perceptions (attributions and projections) and behaviors (abusiveness) specific to intimate relationships. Such males are shaped differentially from other males by a patriarchal culture that provides justifications for their abuse of women in intimate relationships.

Barriers to Information: How Formal Help Systems Fail Battered Women

Illustrations Information Transfer Failures or Why It's so Hard to Locate the Information You Need Theory and Research On Information-Seeking Information and Referral as a Social Service Function Wife Assault: An Information-Seeking Perspective A Community Analysis of Information Need and System Response Community Perspectives on Wife Assault: Results of the Household Survey Professional Perspectives on Wife Assault: Results of the Agency Survey Missed Connections: What To Do When Systems are Unresponsive to Citizen Needs Appendices Bibliography Index

How Novice and Experienced Officers Interpret Wife Assaults: Normative and Efficiency Frames

Prior research has speculated about, but has not provided systematic empirical data on, how officers use their prior knowledge to interpret wife assault situations and how these interpretations shape their responses. Our findings challenge claims that officers' reluctance to pursue formal arrest stems primarily from their proclivity to blame victims. By manipulating whether or not a wife exhibited abnormal behavior, we show that experienced officers do not focus on whether wives can control their “provoking” actions and are to blame; instead they consider the relative credibility and dangerousness of the husband. Prior experience with handling wife assault situations thus shifts the focus of decisionmaking from normative considerations such as blameworthiness to efficiency considerations such as substantiating claims for successful prosecution. However, both novice and experienced officers base their arrest decisions on prior beliefs about whether wives provoke their husbands when wives have alcohol problems. Our findings indicate that future research can profitably examine how prior knowledge shapes interpretations to gain a better understanding of police decisionmaking.

Wife assault in community-resident offenders

Wife assault in community-resident offenders

Intimacy‐Anger and Insecure Attachment as Precursors of Abuse in Intimate Relationships1

One hundred and twenty men referred for treatment for wife assault and forty demographic controls completed self‐report questionnaires assessing attachment patterns, anger, jealousy, Borderline Personality Organization, and trauma symptoms. This constellation, with the exception of attachment, has been found to represent a profile related significantly to the frequency of both verbal and physical abuse. In the present study, attachment was found to correlate significantly with these other measures. A measure of secure attachment correlated significantly, but negatively, with the constellation measures. A measure of fearful attachment correlated significantly and positively. A preoccupied attachment pattern correlated with the other measures less strongly than did the fearful measure. A dismissing measure was not correlated with any constellation measures. The role of attachment anger is discussed; it is suggested that fearful attachment could also be described as angry attachment. The concept of intimacy anger is introduced from early studies in attachment and applied to the explanation of assaultiveness in adult relationships.

Psychological Differences Between Court-Referred and Self-Referred Wife Assaulters

Assessed on a battery of psychopathology and personality measures were 40 court-referred and 40 self-referred men in treatment for wife assault. Although both groups exhibited high degrees of psychopathology and similar personality profiles, self-referred men scored significantly higher on borderline personality organization, marital conflict, anger, depression, and total trauma symptoms. The two groups exhibited distinct patterns of socially desirable responding. A discriminant function analysis of scores corrected for social desirability correctly classified 88% of the men into court-referred and self-referred groups. Implications of these findings for theory, assessment, and treatment are considered.