What differentiates batterer men with and without histories of childhood family violence?

Aims: The goals of this study were to explore the prevalence of childhood family violence (CFV) (both suffered and witnessed) among male batterers in treatment, and to analyse the specific psychological profile of these perpetrators with CFV. Method: A sample of 1421 men recruited from a specialized...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fernández-Montalvo, Javier, Echauri, José Antonio, Azcárate, Juana M., Martínez, María, Siria Mendaza, Sandra, López-Goñi, José Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad Pública de Navarra
Repositorio:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:academicae__::f5520da63458056e6f4da8f46b5fbd9b
Acceso en línea:https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/38229
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Intimate partner violence
Batterers
Childhood family violence
Psychopathology
Assessment
Descripción
Sumario:Aims: The goals of this study were to explore the prevalence of childhood family violence (CFV) (both suffered and witnessed) among male batterers in treatment, and to analyse the specific psychological profile of these perpetrators with CFV. Method: A sample of 1421 men recruited from a specialized batterer treatment programme was assessed. A description of the sociodemographic, violence and psychopathological characteristics of the sample was carried out. Moreover, a comparison of all the variables studied between batterer men with and those without CFV was conducted. Findings: The results showed that 35.2% (n = 500) of the sample reported having been victims of CFV (67.2% of them directly suffered abuse, and 32.8% witnessed violence between their parents, mainly from father to mother). Batterers with CFV presented with more irrational beliefs both about women and about violence as a strategy to cope with everyday difficulties. Moreover, they had significantly higher scores than batterers without CFV on all psychopathological symptoms as assessed by the SCL-90-R, as well as on most of the STAXI-2 subscales. In the logistic regression analysis, the main variables related to having a history of CFV were low education level, voluntary access to the programme, having a previous psychiatric history, being an immigrant, having children, and presenting a greater number of psychopathological symptoms. Major implications: According to these results, batterers with CFV showed a higher severity in most of the variables studied than those without CFV. Consequently, these findings highlight the importance of tailoring batterer treatment programmes to their specific characteristics, particularly those regarding childhood victimization.