Women’s Accounts of Domestic Violence Versus Tactics-Based Outcome Categories

This study compared battered women’s accounts of violence with tactics-based outcomes to assess the measurement limitations in predicting recurring violence. Accounts of 536 incidents were collected from 299 women at batterer program intake and at 3-month intervals over a 15-month follow-up. Each incident was coded using a sequential, situational model of violence, and the incident codings were summarized for each woman. The components of violent incidents did not correspond to any particular tactics-based outcomes. The female partners of men who repeatedly reassaulted them were, however, less assertive than those of non-reassaulters. A small subgroup did commit unrelenting and excessive violence across the reassault categories.