Intimate Partner Violence : Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

The phrase intimate partner violence encompasses a pattern of psychological and emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking between past or present intimate romantic partners. Scientific and clinical evidence indicates that intimate partner violence can result in a plethora of mental health and physical maladies due to ongoing patterns of abuse within relationships, and those most at risk of victimization are women and their children. This entry reviews the incidence and definition of intimate partner violence, the risk factors, and the effects of violence on both victims and perpetrators. Interventions for such abuse now cut across multiple public and private sectors (criminal/civil justice systems, the health care system, child services, battered women's shelters, etc.), and mental health professionals must know how to negotiate such systems in order to help victims and their children. Various prevention and intervention strategies are described below. Finally, current issues concerning intimate partner violence include the controversies surrounding batterer treatment, the unintended consequences of contemporary changes in the law (e.g., mandatory/preferred arrest), and the recent increase in effective yet damaging manipulation of criminal, civil, and family court processes by batterers.