Abstract
Several of the attitudinal characteristics which are frequently attributed to abusive males were investigated in this study. Samples of male military personnel who had engaged in at least one serious episode of interspousal violence in the previous 6 months were administered measures of the following variables: (1) Attitudes toward self — The Coopersmith Self-The Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory; (2) Attitudes toward others — The Generalized Expectations of Others Questionnaire, a short form of The Attitudes Toward Women Scale and The Mehrabian and Epstein Empathy Scale; and (3) Dogmatism —The Rokeach D Scale and the Revised Authoritarianism Index, When compared to matched control groups of nonabusive males, statistically significant differences were found only for The Self-esteem Inventory and one item of the Generalized Expectations of Others Questionnaire. It is concluded that many of the attitudinal characteristics of abusive males reported in the clinical literature may not be a significant component in the etiology of spouse abuse.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bedeian, A. (1976). Relationship of need achievement to self-esteem: Evidence for validity of Form B of Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory.Percept. Motor Skills 43: 1219–1220.
Bern, E. H. (1982). From violent incident to spouse abuse syndrome.J. Contemp. Social Work 41–45.
Coopersmith, S. (1967).The Antecedents of Self-esteem, Freeman, San Francisco.
Eisler, R. M., Frederiksen, L. W., and Peterson, G. L. (1978). The relationship of cognitive variables to the expression of assertiveness.Behav. Ther. 9: 419–427.
Elbow, M. (1977). Theoretical considerations of violent marriages.Social Casework 58: 515–526.
Feshbach, S. (1964). The function of aggression and the regulation of the aggressive drive.Psychol. Review 71: 257–272.
Frederiksen, L. W., and Rainwater, N. (1981). Explosive behavior: A skill development treatment approach. In Stuart, R. B. (Ed.),Violent Behavior: Social Learning Approaches to Prediction, Management and Treatment, Brunner/Mazel, pp. 265–289, New York.
Friedman, D. H. (1982).Locus of Control, Self-esteem, and Dogmatism in Male Marine Spouse Abusers, Unpublished masters thesis, University of Washington, Seattle.
Ganley, A., and Harris, L. (1978).Domestic Violence: Issues in Designing and Implementing Programs for Male Batterers, Presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.
Gayford, J. J. (1975). Wifebattering: A preliminary study of 100 cases.Brit. Med. J. 194–197.
Gelles, R. J. (1982). Applying research on family violence to clinical practice.J. Marriage Family 9–20.
Hogan, R. (1969). Development of an empathy scale.J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 33: 307–316.
Kawash, G. F., and Scherf, G. W. (1975). Self-esteem, locus of control, and approval motivation in married couples.J. Clin. Psychol. 31: 715–720.
Letourneau, C. (1981). Empathy and stress: How they affect parental aggression.Social Work 26: 307–316.
Martin, D. (1976).Battered Wives, Pocket Books, New York.
Mehrabian, A., and Epstein, N. (1972). A measure of emotional empathy.J. Personal. 40: 525–543.
Mott-McDonald Associates (1981).The Report from the Conference on Intervention Programs for Men Who Batter, U.S. Department of Justice, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
Neidig, P. N. (1986). The development and evaluation of a spouse abuse treatment program in a military setting.Evaluation and Program Planing: An International Journal, 9(3).
Neidig, P. H. (1984). Women's shelters, men's collectives, and other factors in the treatment of spouse abuse.Victimil. Inter. J. 9: 464–476.
Neidig, P. H., Friedman, D. H., and Collins, B. S. (1984).Spouse Abuse: Mutual Combat or Wife Battering, Unpublished manuscript.
Parsons, T. (1947). Certain primary sources and patterns of aggression in the social structure of the Western World.Psychiatry 10: 67–81.
Pagelow, M. D. (1981).Women-Battering: Victims and Their Experiences, Sage, Beverly Hills.
Rokeach, M. (1954). The nature and meaning of dogmatism.Psychol. Rev. 61: 194–204.
Rosenbaum, A. & O'Leary, K. D. (1981). Marital violence: Characteristics of abusive couples.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 49: 63–71.
Rounsaville, B. J. (1978). Theories in marital violence: Evidence from a study of battered women.Victimol. Int. J. 3: 1–2.
Saunders, D. G. (1980). A model for the structured group treatment of male-to-female violence.Behav. Group Ther. 3: 2–9.
Saunders, D. G. (1982). Counseling the violent husband. In Keller, P. A., Ritt, L. G. (Eds.),Innovations in Clinical Practice: A Source Book, Professional Resources Exchange, Sarasota, pp. 16–29.
Spence, J. T., and Helmerich, R. L. (1978).Masculinity and Feminity: Their Psychological Dimensions, Correlates, and Antecedents, University of Texas Press, Austin.
Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: the Conflict Tactics (CT) scales.J. Marriage Family 41: 75–88.
Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., and Steinmetz, S. K. (1981).Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family, Anchor Press, Garden City.
Walker, L. E. (1979).The Battered Woman, Harper & Row, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Neidig, P.H., Friedman, D.H. & Collins, B.S. Attitudinal characteristics of males who have engaged in spouse abuse. J Fam Viol 1, 223–233 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00978561
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00978561