Synopses & Reviews
Review
"Who says there is no progress in social science, especially in predicting who is likely to become chronically violent? Distilling 20 years of research on men who assault their female partners, Dutton has produced a seminal paradigm for understanding the origins, development, and occurrence of intimate aggressive behavior. Among only a handful of books of similar influence in the field of applied social psychology, I predict this work will guide thinking and research in this emerging area for some time to come."--Ehor Boyanowsky, PhD, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
"By far the best text on the male batterer written to date. Dutton's conceptualization of the psychology of male batterers is firmly grounded in the broader clinical psychology and psychiatric literature as well as his 20 years of extensive domestic violence research and clinical work. This book is a 'must read' for any clinician working with perpetrators or victims of violence. I am convinced that this book will stand the test of time and is destined to be a classic text on this issue." --Daniel Jay Sonkin, PhD, Psychotherapist, Sausalito, California, author of Learning to Live without Violence: A Handbook for Men
Synopsis
Physical violence may be the most overt manifestation of relationship abuse, but maltreatment of intimate partners takes many other forms as well. This integrative work explores the nature of male abusiveness by focusing on the development of a particular personality constellation--one that is easily threatened, jealous, and fearful, and that masks these emotions with anger and demands for control. Presenting results of controlled research with over 400 batterers, Dutton shows that many abusers exhibit high levels of trauma symptoms. This symptomatology is cogently linked to elements of childhood experience including witnessing of violence, the use of shaming techniques by parents, and insecure attachment; and, in turn, to such characteristics as terror of abandonment and the inability to regulate one's emotions or deal with conflict effectively. A concluding chapter focuses on treatment.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-204) and index.
About the Author
Donald G. Dutton, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. His previous books include
The Domestic Assault of Women and
The Batterer. Dr. Dutton has served as an expert witness in several prominent legal cases involving domestic abuse and spousal homicide, including the O. J. Simpson case.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Early Explanations
3. Learning of Abusiveness
4. The Psychology of the Cycle of Violence
5. The Structure of the Abusive Personality
6. The Primitive Origins of Rage
7. An Anger Born of Fear: Attachment Rage
8. The Early Antecedents Studies
9. The Treatment of Assaultiveness