In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Psychological Perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence

  • Introduction
  • General Overviews
  • Definitions of Intimate Partner Violence
  • IPV and Public Policy

Psychology Psychological Perspectives on Intimate Partner Violence
by
Laura Miller-Graff
  • LAST REVIEWED: 24 November 2020
  • LAST MODIFIED: 24 November 2020
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0185

Introduction

Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to acts or threats of physical, sexual, or psychological violence against a current or former partner. Although many of the psychological and physical ramifications of victimization are shared across contexts, it is critical to recognize that the cultural, social, and legal meanings and implications of victimization—and the access that survivors have to protection and support in the aftermath of violence—vary dramatically across contexts. Because of this, understanding the evolving history of IPV is necessarily context-specific, yet it is also important to recognize that there have been dramatic changes in policy in many nations since 2000 that have been motivated by growing awareness and advocacy. Examining contemporary research on IPV across contexts, a few summative points are evident. First, although the rates of bidirectional and male victimization vary across studies, women are generally victimized and injured at greater rates than are men—dramatically so in some contexts. Recent research has also suggested that individuals identifying as sexual and gender minorities may also be at greater risk for IPV. The negative effects of IPV on mental health, physical health, and development are profound and long lasting. These negative effects are not only evident in those directly victimized by of IPV, but also “trickle down” intergenerationally, and there is strong evidence documenting serious and enduring effects of IPV on the health and well-being of children. As discussed in more detail in the following sections, a substantial minority of IPV-exposed individuals have more than one violent partner in their lifetime, and these relationships often persist for years. Despite the wealth of research on the negative effects of IPV, intervention research is still in its nascence. There is relatively poor support for existing batterer intervention programs, especially those that are court-mandated and oriented toward identifying and changing stereotyped beliefs about gender relations. There is much stronger support for post-abuse care for survivors, with many available interventions demonstrating success in addressing depression and PTSD. There is also small, but growing, support for the effectiveness of programs with at-risk groups, such as IPV-exposed pregnant women. Innovative new directions for intervention include promising community-based and mobile health approaches that may improve the dissemination and scope of available services for survivors. For child witnesses, several intervention programs are available, but it is not yet clear from existing research which are the most advantageous or what the primary agents of change within these programs are. This bibliographic review of the literature is designed to highlight contemporary research in the field of partner violence and discuss some of its key controversies. It should be noted, however, that although it is rapidly changing, a great proportion of the available research has taken place in Western countries.

General Overviews

Although discussed in more detail throughout specific sections of this bibliography, several seminal works and reviews highlight some of the core issues in the field of IPV research. Global data on partner violence is analyzed and presented in a World Health Organization report, Garciá-Moreno, et al. 2005. Assessing intimate partner violence, however, is not without controversy, and a helpful articulation of contemporary debates and criticisms is well summarized in Hamby 2009. Jewkes 2002, alternatively, is a review of studies evaluating risk factors for IPV, focusing on many of the core theoretical assumptions that undergird the field, including the role of social inequalities, power dynamics, and gender. There are also several large-scale empirical studies on the effects of IPV on women’s health and functioning; although readers should refer to the section on Mental Health for journal articles on individual studies, a review of the physical effects of IPV is nicely summarized in Campbell 2002. A meta-analysis of the effects of IPV on psychological adjustment of child witnesses can be found in Vu, et al. 2016. Finally, there are several available reviews that provide overarching data on available interventions for perpetrators (Eckhardt, et al. 2013), survivors (Barner and Carney 2011), and child witnesses (Graham-Bermann and Levendosky 2011).

  • Barner, J. R., and M. M. Carney. 2011. Interventions for intimate partner violence: A historical review. Journal of Family Violence 26:235–244.

    DOI: 10.1007/s10896-011-9359-3

    This review article examines the historical influences on interventions for intimate partner violence. In its review of contemporary approaches, it focuses primarily on interventions with perpetrators, but its review of the history of interventions within the United States is useful in informing understanding about early influences on the field.

  • Campbell, J. C. 2002. Health consequences of intimate partner violence. The Lancet 359.9314: 1331–1336.

    DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08336-8

    In this review, major studies and population surveys on physical health effects of IPV are helpfully indexed and tabled to document the consistency of results across studies.

  • Eckhardt, C. I., C. M. Murphy, D. J. Whitaker, J. Sprunger, R. Dykstra, and K. Woodard. 2013. The effectiveness of intervention program for perpetrators and victims of intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse 4.2: 196–231.

    This review paper examines the effectiveness of intervention programs for both victims and perpetrators, indexing effectiveness within different types of intervention designs.

  • Garciá-Moreno, Claudia, Henrica A. F. M. Jansen, M. Ellsberg, L. Heise, and C. Watts. 2005. WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women: Initial results on prevalence, health outcomes and women’s responses. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.

    Chapters 1 and 2 of this report provide definitions, research design, and summative results from the World Health Organization international research study on the prevalence of violence against women. Available for free download online.

  • Graham-Bermann, S. A., and A. A. Levendosky, eds. 2011. How intimate partner violence affects children: Developmental research, case studies, and evidence-based intervention. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    DOI: 10.1037/12322-000

    This volume indexes evidence-based treatments for child witnesses to IPV by developmental epoch and includes research on the effects of IPV on children in that age range, reviews of treatment approaches, and clinical case studies.

  • Hamby, S. 2009. The gender debate about intimate partner violence: Solutions and dead ends. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 1.1: 24–34.

    DOI: 10.1037/a0015066

    This article examines the debate on gender symmetry in partner violence in light of data on other types of violence perpetration. It considers directions forward in research and assessment based on a “moderate asymmetry” approach.

  • Jewkes, R. 2002. Intimate partner violence: Causes and prevention. The Lancet 359.9315: 1423–1429.

    DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08357-5

    This review focuses on the factors and processes contributing to intimate partner violence; it focuses primarily on relationship and social processes related to power, masculinity, and gender norms.

  • Vu, N. L., E. N. Jouriles, R. McDonald, and D. Rosenfield. 2016. Children's exposure to intimate partner violence: A meta-analysis of longitudinal associations with child adjustment problems. Clinical Psychology Review 46:25–33.

    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2016.04.003

    This meta-analysis examines the prospective association of childhood exposure to IPV on child adjustment problems.

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