Citation

Russell M. J. Fam. Violence 1988; 3(3): 193-208.

Affiliation

School of Social Work, University of British Columbia, V6T 1W0 Vancouver, B.C., Canada

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00988975

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Treatments for wife assaulters and their victims have been based on a variety of psychological and sociological theories. Tests of theory based on investigation of assailant and victim characteristics as well as evaluation of treatment effects based on empirical outcome studies have yielded diverse results. In reviewing the literature it appears that development of assailant typologies based on extent of psychopathology, severity of violence, and context of violence has potential utility in guiding future treatment decisions for assaulters. Further development of similar typologies for classifying responses of assaulted women could yield similar results. Population screening and matching programs to individual characteristics could be expected to improve clinical outcomes.