Two more controversial treatment approaches for domestic violence are treating couples and treating women as the perpetrators of domestic violence. In couples’ therapy, the partners focus on each of their contributions to the escalation of the violence when a discussion begins in a calm and rational manner. Although research has found this approach to be effective in some instances, there are many reasons it remains controversial. Some argue that by focusing on each partner’s contributions to the violence, it removes responsibility from the real culprit, the perpetrator of the domestic violence, and places blame on the victim, further victimizing her. In addition, some believe that it is inappropriate to treat the perpetrator and the victim together because it encourages the violence and heightens the risk to the victim because she may say something in therapy that she is later punished for outside of the therapy session. Supporters of the approach reply that couples are not suitable for this intervention if there continues to be physical abuse in the relationship.
Interventions that focus on the woman as the perpetrator of domestic violence are also increasingly being used. These treatment approaches typically are cognitive-behavioral in orientation and tend to focus on anger control and other issues, such as trauma, that may be unique to women who perpetrate domestic violence. These approaches obviously conflict with the traditional feminist approach to treatment that suggests that only men can be the perpetrators because of the power differential that exists in our society. The notion that women perpetrate domestic violence is based on more recent but consistent findings in the literature that not only do some women perpetrate domestic violence, but also the perpetration rates between men and women may be equal and the causes of their domestic violence similar. However, critics argue that even if there are equal rates of perpetration of domestic violence, the violence is not equal in any other aspect.
Many arguments exist that attempt to explain these equal rates of perpetration. First, critics argue that the equal perpetration rates are based largely on self-report data, and the research tends to suggest that men underreport their violence more than women. It also is argued that the violence typically perpetrated by women tends to be in self-defense. Women who act out in violence do so because they are being abused or are about to be abused, and they are attempting to retaliate while they are still physically capable. Another argument is that even if the frequency of the violence is equal, the severity of the violence is not. Men are more likely to perpetrate more severe violence that results in medical attention or greater physical injury because of their greater physical size and strength.
Finally, there is a difference between the perpetration of domestic violence and battering. Critics argue that women may be able to perpetrate domestic violence, but they are not able to batter. Battering is usually distinguished from perpetration in terms of the severity of physical damage, the ability to socially and financially isolate the victim, and the general difference in the ability to dominate and control the victim. The argument is that men are able to batter women and that the negative effects of battering go beyond physical abuse.
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