Young women who commit intimate partner violence.

BACKGROUND

Only limited research has been undertaken on women who commit intimate partner violence (IPV). In this study I investigate how the abusive behaviour of young women towards their partners is correlated with characteristics of the relationship and with aggressiveness more generally. Furthermore, I investigate the assumption that the violence is mostly motivated by self-defence.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The analyses are based on a nationwide longitudinal study of the normal population. Data on IPV were collected when the women were 20 - 25 years old.

RESULTS

Of the 1 250 women who had been in a relationship during the last six months, a total of 114 (9 per cent) had slapped their partner during the same period, while 70 (6 per cent) had hit, kicked or bitten. Altogether 77 (6 per cent) reported that they (and not their partner) had acted violently in this manner, whereas 68 (5 per cent) responded that the attacks had been reciprocal. Perpetration of IPV correlated with other forms of destructive interaction with the partner. Nevertheless, a majority of those women who had acted violently were satisfied with the relationship. Aggression-related personality traits and acting-out behaviour during the teens were both related to perpetration of IPV.

INTERPRETATION

Young women who act violently towards their partners tend to be more aggressive than women in general, and are in many cases the only physically aggressive partner in the relationship. The study does not corroborate the assumption that selfdefence is the main motivation for women's perpetration of IPV. The results should be seen in light of the reservation that surveys of the normal population only to a limited extent capture really serious violence in intimate relationships.