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Proactive and Reactive Violence among Intimate Partner Violent Men Diagnosed with Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorder

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Abstract

Personality disorder features have been an important basis of many batterer typologies (Babcock et al. J Fam Violence 15:391–409, 2000; Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart Psychol Bull 116:476–497, 1994), most notably Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorders. Aggression that partner violent men commit has also been found to be heterogeneous, motivated by the need to control (proactive) or enacted out of emotion (reactive). In the present study, men who were physically abusive towards their female partner (N = 124 couples) were administered the SCID-II diagnostic interview for Antisocial (ASPD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). It was hypothesized that partner violent men diagnosed with ASPD would show highest levels of proactive violence whereas men diagnosed with BPD (alone or comorbidly with ASPD) were expected to be reactively violent. Results suggest that violence perpetrated by men with different personality disorders differs in its function. Within the context of intimate relationships, BPD/comorbid men appear to use violence more reactively, while ASPD men tend to use violence both proactively and reactively. Implications for treatment are discussed.

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Notes

  1. (Women’s) defensive and retaliatory violence are considered “other” here, as these acts, by definition, cannot precede men’s initial use of violence

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne, 2101 E. Coliseum Blvd., Fort Wayne, IN, 46805, USA

    Jody M. Ross

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 126 Heyne Building, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Julia C. Babcock

Authors
  1. Jody M. Ross
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  2. Julia C. Babcock
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Correspondence to Jody M. Ross.

Appendix

Appendix

Violent Incident Description Codes—Modified 9-Code System

Prosocial: Request or Apology or Problem solve or Positive

Withdrawal: Ignore or Leave

Complaint: Criticize or Blame or Complain

Distress: Pleading or Distress or Cry

Dominance/Belligerence: Sarcasm or Rejection or Demand or Pursue or Scream/yell

Offensive Violence: Offensive violence, moderate or Offensive violence, potentially life-threatening

Threat: Verbal threat or Physical threat or Property damage

Verbal Defense: Verbal defense (stand-alone, high frequency code)

Footnote 1Contextual/Other: Substance use or Defensive violence, moderate or Defensive violence, potentially life-threatening or Retaliatory violence, moderate or Retaliatory violence, potentially life-threatening, or other, non-related behaviors (e.g., 3rd party behavior).

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Ross, J.M., Babcock, J.C. Proactive and Reactive Violence among Intimate Partner Violent Men Diagnosed with Antisocial and Borderline Personality Disorder. J Fam Viol 24, 607–617 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-009-9259-y

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