Men Who Batter

Men who batter come from all socioeconomic backgrounds, races and walks of life. The abuser may be a blue-collar or white-collar worker, unemployed, or highly paid. He may be a drinker or nondrinker. Batterers represent all different personalities, family backgrounds, and professions. In summation, there is no "typical batterer."

The majority of batterers are only violent with their wives or female partners. For example, one study found that 90 percent of abusers do not have criminal records, and that batterers are generally law abiding outside the home. It is estimated that only about 5 to 10 percent of batterers commit acts of physical and sexual violence against other people as well as their female partners.

Although there is no personality profile of the abuser, there are some behaviors that are common among men who batter their partners. Some of these include:

* Denying the existence or minimizing the seriousness of the violence and its effects on the victim and other family members;
* Showing extreme jealousy and possessiveness which often leads to isolation of the victim from other family members;
* Refusing to take responsibility for the abuse by blaming it on a loss of control due to the effects of alcohol or drugs, frustration, stress, or the victim's
behavior; and
* Holding rigid, traditional views of sex roles and parenting.

Why Do Men Batter?

Typically, when trying to understand why men batter, people want to look for what is "wrong" with them, believing they must be sick in some way. However, battering is not a mental illness that can be diagnosed, but a learned behavioral choice. Men choose to batter their partners because the choice is there to make and, until quite recently, there has been no consequence for these actions.

Battering is the extreme expression of the belief in male dominance over women. To understand why men may choose to batter, it is important to look at what they get out of using violence. Men use physical force to maintain power and control over their relationships with their female partners. They have learned that violence "works" to achieve this end.

Many batterers grew up in homes where they or a sibling were physically abused or where their mother was abused by their father. In one batterers program, for example, 70 percent of participants came from violent homes. In fact, witnessing domestic violence as a child has been identified as the most common risk factor for becoming a batterer in adulthood.

While many batterers have substance abuse problems, there is no evidence that alcohol of drugs cause violent behavior. In fact, batterers may abuse their partners when they are intoxicated as well as when they are sober.