Psychological aspects of perpetrators of domestic violence and their relationships with the victims

Domestic violence is a serious public health concern in the United States, and yet researchers and clinicians have very little understanding about root causes and effective treatments. This article discusses several promising areas of research, including psychological variables that seem to be associated with male batterers and may reliably distinguish violent men from nonviolent men. We focus on research that has begun to differentiate violent couples from nonviolent couples, and suggest that battering behavior and battering relationships are more complex than was previously thought, This article also discusses methodological and conceptual problems that limit the research and our discussion about risk factors or predictive variables, and highlights the importance of resolving these confounding issues.