Dyadic Concordance And Discordance In Family Violence: A Powerful and Practical Approach To Research And Practice

Citation

Straus, Murray A. (2015). Dyadic Concordance And Discordance In Family Violence: A Powerful and Practical Approach To Research And Practice. Aggression and Violent Behavior.

Abstract

This article describes a simple and powerful conceptual perspective and methodological approach to understanding aggression in family relationships and for developing violence prevention programs and helping victims: The core element is Dyadic Concordance Types (DCTs). Because of the importance of gender in such relationships, the DCTs used for this article identify Female-Only, Male-Only, and Both perpetrated aggression, plus a reference category of Neither. Evidence from more than 30 nations is summarized on the percent of couples in each of the DCTs for physical assault and other types of aggression. It indicates that across all nations, sample types, and gender of respondent, about half of couples in which there was violence or other abusive behavior, it was bi-directional, about one quarter were Female-Only perpetrator and one quarter Male-Only perpetrator. These results are consistent with the pattern found by 80 other studies. DCTs have also been used for research on aggressive behaviors in other family relationships, including parent-child and sibling relationships. Research shows that each DCT tends to have unique characteristics and consequences. The Discussion suggests that identifying DCTs can help understand the effects of partner violence, theories on these issues, services for victims and offenders, and provide a more scientifically complete basis for prevention of intra-family aggression. Taking into account the DCTs of the cases at hand should be the default starting point for research and practice concerned with intra-family aggression.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.04.011

Keyword(s)

family

Reference Type

Journal Article

Journal Title

Aggression and Violent Behavior

Author(s)

Straus, Murray A.

Year Published

2015

Edition

5/4/2015

ISSN/ISBN

1359-1789

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.04.011

Reference ID

5662