The purpose of this study was to further investigate the tripartite typology of
batterers, proposed initially by Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994). This study
empirically examined the typologies of male batterers based on personality characteristics
followed by an examination of the possible differences between batterer typologies based
on attachment dimensions, severity of violence in current adult romantic relationships,
witnessing or experiencing family of origin violence, and family of origin dynamics.
Participants in this study include a sample of 93 court-mandated adult males who
were on probation for some type of spousal abuse. Data was obtained by administering a
demographic form, severity of abuse rating form, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial
Inventory- III (Millon, Davis, Millon, 1997), Straus?? (1979) Conflict Tactics Scale, the
Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES-III)(Olson, Portner, &
Labee, 1985), and the Adult Attachment Scale (Collins & Reid, 1990).
Four clusters of men were identified as Borderline/Dysphoric (B/D), Antisocial
(A), Non-Pathological (N-P), and Depressive (D). Three of the groups resembled the
predicted subtypes (B/D, A, and N-P). The results of this study indicated that the N-P
subtype is most consistent with the proposed typology and with previous literature.
Distinctions between the B/D and A subtypes were not as clear and differences were
inconsistent with the manner predicted by the theoretical typology on several of the
research questions.
Scores on the attachment dimensions were consistent for the B/D and N-P groups,
but not for the A group. Severity of violence for the N-P group was supported but results
indicated that the B/D subtype reported greater severity of violence than the A subtype,
contrary to the theoretical typology. Differences in violence frequencies outside the
home were not found. Support was found for the hypothesis that the N-P subtype would
report experiencing and witnessing the least amounts of family of origin violence but
results indicated that the B/D and A subtypes differed in a manner inconsistent with the
proposed typology. Lastly, support was not found for the hypothesized differences
between the subtypes on family of origin measure. Recommendations for future research
are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/2458 |
| Date | 29 August 2005 |
| Creators | Robinson, Lori R. |
| Contributors | Lawson, David, Willson, Victor |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | 644462 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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