Abstract
The escalatory dynamics of partner conflicts promotes the use of increasingly severe violence: a verbal exchange that deteriorates to verbal aggression, followed by implicit or explicit threats of physical aggression, which continue into mild and then severe physical violence. Thus, escalatory dynamics of conflict is a key factor in understanding partner violence. Yet, this dynamics has received little theoretical and empirical attention. The first part of this chapter uses theory, research, and case descriptions to identify and describe the structure and content of escalatory partner conflict. It provides a detailed description of the mental and behavioral aspects promoting this dynamics. The second part of this chapter yet again employs theory, research and case descriptions to examine two major mechanisms that regulate partner conflicts in an escalatory manner: the cost–benefit mechanism and the sensitivity-to-harm mechanism. This lays initial theoretical foundations for the study of escalatory dynamics of partner conflicts.
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Winstok, Z. (2013). Partner Conflict Dynamics. In: Partner Violence. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4568-5_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4568-5_7
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