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Marital Violence: Issues in Conception, Assessment and Intervention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2014

Robert L. Weiss
Robert L. Weiss*
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
*
Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403, USA
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Abstract

This paper discusses current issues in the literature on marital violence. Issues in three areas are discussed from a research and clinical perspective: conceptions of marital abuse, assessment of marital aggression and issues in treatment. Although there are specific cognitive-behavioural treatments reported in the literature, a position of caution is advocated here. Before intervening there are issues that the therapist should consider carefully. (1) Assessment must first answer whether conjoint marital therapy is appropriate at all. (2) Therapists must define their own position and estimate availability of supporting resources (e.g., legal, medical) when working with abuse. (3) Although all couples should be screened routinely for the nature and frequency of their aggressive patterns, neither the sensitivity nor specificity of currently available screens is yet established. Examples of current approaches to assessing spouse abuse are presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 6 , Issue 3-4 , September 1989 , pp. 153 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1989

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References

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