Wife Battering and Violence Outside the Family

Abstract

The current survey of 2,291 males (nationally representative) questioned respondents about their violence toward their wives and their violent behavior toward individuals who were not in their families. The resulting data suggested that the vast majority of violent males specialized in their choice of victims; that is, they chose to assault only wives or nonfamily members, but not both. Only 10% of the violent males reported assaulting both wives and nonfamily individuals. Finally, it was noted that individuals who assault outside of the family were more likely to be employed in blue-collar jobs than either nonviolent individuals or individuals who only assault within the family.