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Female Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence

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Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Female perpetration of intimate partner violence went unrecognized in the early decades of domestic violence research. After family violence survey data revealed its frequency, a body of work examining the nature of women’s partner aggression has slowly accumulated. This chapter offers a description of the development of this body of research and summarizes the more robust findings. These include descriptions of the characteristics of aggressive women, such as demographics, mental health and substance abuse histories, parenting status, attachment styles, and education and employment. Gender comparisons have been a prominent focus across topics such as psychological and sexual aggression, motivations for aggression, risk factors, injuries, fear of partner, and coercion. An important consideration is that many female perpetrators who come to the attention of legal and protective authorities have a dual status as both perpetrators and victims, often beginning with victimization in childhood. This emerging picture can be further informed by research findings from related fields, such as those focusing on trauma and recovery, couples research, and intervention with domestic violence victims. The chapter concludes with a review of selected known treatments and prevention initiatives, and recommendations for further investigation and intervention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Center, Worcester, MA, USA

    Lynn Dowd

  2. Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Lesley Lambo

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  1. Lynn Dowd
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Correspondence to Lynn Dowd .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensbo, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of North-Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling

  2. Consultant, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Glenna Tinney

  3. College of Arts and Sciences - Society, Culture, and Language, University of South Florida - St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

    Shelly M. Wagers

  4. Department of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  5. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

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Dowd, L., Lambo, L. (2020). Female Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_160-1

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