Women’s Refuge Conference, 2012 – Pre Media Release,
October 17th, 2012

Different kinds of domestic violence need a different response,
argues USA academic

A keynote speaker for the Women’s Refuge Conference to be held in Blenheim on October 26-27th argues that there are different types of violence within relationships and that these can be differentiated and should be treated differently.

Professor Michael P. Johnson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Women’s Studies and African and African American Studies at The Pennsylvania State University and has been designated an Alumni Teaching Fellow, Penn State’s highest teaching award. Professor Johnson is an internationally recognised expert on domestic violence and this is the first time he has come to New Zealand to share his research on Intimate Partner Violence.

Professor Johnson argues in his research that there are different categories of relationship violence. The two main categories are coercive controlling violence and situational couple violence. The first is predominantly male violence against women and includes a pattern of emotionally abusive intimidation, coercion and control coupled with physical violence. This is probably the pattern that comes to mind for most people when they hear terms such as domestic violence, wife beating, battering or spousal abuse. He says that this kind of violence must be considered as a major risk factor for continued or increased violence in a relationship.

He argues that situational couple violence is the most common type of physical aggression in relationships and is perpetrated by both men and women. Professor Johnson describes this kind of violence in his research as resulting from arguments between partners that escalate into physical violence. One or both partners can have a poor ability to manage conflict or to control their anger.

Professor Johnson says fear of the other partner is not usually a characteristic of situational couple violence and the violence and emotional abuse are not accompanied by a chronic pattern of controlling, intimidating, or stalking behaviours. What is interesting about Professor Johnson’s research is that it describes the way women perpetrate violence within relationships and shows that women’s violence is not generally characterised by fear, power and control.

How the two kinds of violence are dealt with is quite important in Professor Johnson’s research. He believes different types of violence should have different types of interventions. For example, for some men and women involved in situational couple violence the problem may be poor communication skills, impulsivity and high levels of anger and possible alcohol abuse. For those involved in coercive controlling violence, the problem is rooted in emotional dependency and may call for a more psychodynamic approach to treatment. Other perpetrators have deeply ingrained anti-social or misogynistic attitudes that need to be addressed appropriately.

Treatment programmes that focus on the causes and contexts of different types of violence are more likely than one-size-fits-all approaches to address the major issues underlying the violence and, therefore, to achieve more positive results, he says.

ENDS

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