Summary of Workshop Discussion: Gender Symmetry, November 20, 2000

• NCJ Number: 242220
• Date Published: November 2000
• Length: 0 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This is a summary of presentations and open discussions in a workshop on "gender symmetry" in intimate partner violence (IPV), with a focus on research among racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities.

Abstract

The first workshop paper addresses critical distinctions in types of domestic violence. This paper argues that IPV research too often has made no distinction between kinds of violent relationships, which have different causes, developmental dynamics, and requirements for different types of interventions. The presenter, Dr. Michael Johnson, reports on his meta-analysis of studies of partners' behavior in violent relationships. This workshop summary outlines his four-category typology of partner violence derived from his study. The workshop open discussion between Dr. Johnson and workshop participants focused on this typology. The workshop luncheon address by Murray Straus focused on future directions in domestic-violence research. He presented information on the controversy over domestic assaults by women and some methodological guidelines for measuring maltreatment within the family. His presentation contrasted findings from studies of family conflict with studies of crime. The open discussion addressed patterns of severe and minor domestic violence in urban African-American communities. In a third presentation, Sarah Cook discussed preliminary findings from her Women's Life Experience Project on the context, meaning, and method in the measurement of domestic violence. The study is using a form-based approach in measurements that compare and contrast instruments. The study is also evaluating computer-based data collections that reflect women's experience of violence in intimate relationships. The open discussion focused on various contexts for domestic violence. The other two workshop presentations and subsequent workshop discussions considered women's use of violence in intimate relationships (Suzanne Swan) and future research directions as illuminated by the day's presentations and open-discussion exchanges (Walter DeKeseredy).