Introduction
Approximately 24% of all intimate relationships experience some forms of violence, and between 36% and 58% couples who are seeking therapy have experienced physical violence in their relationships (Jose and O’Leary 2009). However, not all couples who experience violence in their relationships are the same, nor are they all appropriate for couples therapy. Johnson (2008) identified different typologies of violent relationships, two of the most commonly recognized being intimate terrorism and situational couple violence. Intimate terrorism is characterized by asymmetric violence that is used as a means to control one’s partner. Couples experiencing intimate terrorism are generally not considered appropriate for couples treatment (Stith et al. 2011). Situational couple violence is characterized by less severe violence that is often bidirectional in nature and typically a response to a specific...
References
De Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to solution in brief therapy. New York: W.W. Norton.
George, J., & Stith, S. M. (2014). An updated feminist view of intimate partner violence. Family Process, 53, 179–193.
Johnson, M. P. (2008). A typology of domestic violence: Intimate terrorism, violent resistance, and situational couple violence. Lebanon: Northeastern Press.
Jose, A., & O’Leary, K. D. (2009). Prevalence of partner aggression in representative and clinic samples. In K. D. O’Leary & E. M. Woodin (Eds.), Psychological and physical aggression in couples: Causes and interventions (pp. 15–35). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
O’Farrell, T. J., & Fals-Stewart, W. (2002). Behavioral couples and family therapy for substance abusers. Current Psychiatry Reports, 4, 371–376.
Rosen, K. H., Matheson, J. L., Stith, S. M., McCollum, E. E., & Locke, L. D. (2003). Negotiated time-out: A de-escalation tool for couples. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 29(3), 291–298.
Stith, S. M., Smith, D. B., Penn, C. E., Ward, D. B., & Tritt, D. (2004). Intimate partner physical abuse perpetration and victimization risk factors: A meta-analytic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10(1), 65–98.
Stith, S. M., McCollum, E., & Rosen, K., (2011). Couple therapy for domestic violence: Finding safe solutions. American Psychological Association. Washington, DC.
Stith, S. M., McCollum, E., Amanor-Boadu, Y., & Smith, D. (2012). Systemic perspectives on intimate partner violence treatment. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 38(1), 220–240. doi:10.1111/j.1752.0606.2011.00245.x.
Straus, M. A. (2005). Women’s violence toward men is a serious social problem. In R. J. Gelles & D. R. Loseke (Eds.), Current controversies on family violence (pp. 55–77). Newbury Park: Sage.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Spencer, C., Mendez, M., Stith, S. (2016). Couple Violence in Couple and Family Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_446-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_446-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences