Comparing Different Types of Child Abuse and Spouse Abuse Offenders

This study examined differences in offenders’ background characteristics, personal and interpersonal problems, and family climate between three types of child abuse offenders (neglecters, physical abusers, and psychological abusers) and two forms of spouse abuse offenders (physical abusers and psychological abusers) in two large samples (child abuse n = 2,910; spouse abuse; n = 7,035) of cases officially identified over a 8-year period (1988-1995) by the U.S. Air Force Family Advocacy Program. Comparisons addressed demographic factors, personal and interpersonal problems, and aspects of family climate. Among child abusers, results supported the conclusion that types of child abuse varied with offender demographics and family climate factors. For spouse abusers, however, types of abuse were not as distinctly different in terms of the comparison variables. In general, therefore, for child abuse—but not for spouse abuse—findings challenge the view of abuse as a unitary phenomenon.

Dropout and Completion of Treatment Among Spouse Abusers

This study examines a population of spouse abusers undertaking a treatment program. Its purpose was to identify the variables associated with dropout and completion of treatment and to build a predictive model. Data were collected on 286 men who began group treatment in one of eight community programs in the province of Quebec, Canada. Results show that men who complete treatment are older, better educated and have better economic conditions than men who drop out. They also have a more stable family life, have been in a relationship for a longer period of time and have more children with their actual spouse. Men who completed treatment showed more commitment, better working capacities and a higher level of agreement with their therapists, thus developing a stronger therapeutic alliance. Support provided by people in the environment was significantly related to treatment completion. Social and judicial pressures were not related to completion.

A Large Sample Empirical Typology of Male Spouse Abusers and Its Relationship to Dimensions of Abuse

A number of studies have described typologies of domestically violent men. Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) recently proposed a theoretical model for predicting violence severity and generality from personality “type.” The present study, using data from 833 identified abusive men, tested the model. Personality types were determined from cluster analysis of data from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, and resulted in a three-cluster solution consistent with the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart model. The three main clusters included nonpathological, antisocial, and passive aggressive-dependent groups. Three other, smaller types were also identified. Multivariate and chi-square analyses comparing the main clusters on other variables generally supported the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart model. Nonpathological men had the lowest maximum violence and frequency. They restricted their violence primarily to intimate relationships and had the fewest police contacts. Antisocial and passive aggressive-dependent men did not differ in maximum violence, but antisocial men were the most generally violent and had the most police contacts. Passive aggressive-dependent men had the highest frequency of violence. Clinical, theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.