Abstract
McFall’s (1982, 1989) Social Information Processing (SIP) model outlines different stages in cognitive processing and decision-making that may be deficient in men who engage in interpersonal violence (IPV). A decision-making task was developed to assess the utility of abusive and nonabusive behaviors among 32 men who engage in mild IPV, 32 maritally distressed men, and 32 nondistressed men. Because anger impacts appraisal and decision-making (e.g., Lerner and Tiedens in Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19, 115-137, 2006), all participants were randomly assigned to an anger induction or neutral induction condition. As hypothesized, the perceived utility for abusive behavior was greater for angry abusive men and the perceived utility of control appeared to significantly contribute to this difference. Specific deficits in the IPV group were found, supporting a SIP model of IPV, aiding in understanding the function of violent behavior. Despite study limitations, these findings have implications for enhancing specific skill training components of treatment for abusive men.
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The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of Defense or the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
The authors would like to acknowledge the Family Advocacy Program, Andrews Air Force Base, for their help in developing the Decision-making Task, the Prince Georges County Family Counseling Center for their assistance with participant recruitment, Evelyn L. Lewis, the medical monitor of the project, and thank Jerome E. Singer, Michael Feuerstein and Stephen J. Brannen for their comments and assistance.
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Nedegaard, R.C., Sbrocco, T. The Impact of Anger on the Intimate Partner Violence Decision-Making Process. J Fam Viol 29, 613–624 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9618-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-014-9618-1