THE ETIOLOGY AND TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BETWEEN ADULT PARTNERS

The field of family violence, although rapidly expanding, remains characterized by large gaps in knowledge regarding both etiology and effective treatment strategies. The purpose of this article is to integrate diverse research efforts in order to better understand the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of interpartner violence. Identified limitations include problems with definition, and the lack of integrated, multidimensional explanatory theories, well-controlled treatment outcome studies, and relational-level analyses. Identified strengths include the development of typologies and advances in measurement of interpersonal violence. The underlying theme of this article is that an integrated effort, incorporating basic research and clinical innovation, individual and interactional perspectives, and differing theoretical orientations and advocacy positions, holds the greatest promise for effectively impacting this problem.