MS

thesisField researchers continue to document Intimate partner violence (IPV) as a public health concern in the United States. Initial efforts to bring public awareness to IPV began in response to the Women's Rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Studies of IPV supported the contention that "wife abuse" was a manifestation of "male dominance," such that male spouses of women were the perpetrators of IPV. However, the 1970s and 1980s brought about nationally representative samples that failed to support that IPV was perpetrated only by males; females were also found to report IPV perpetration at equal, or greater, rates than men. Today, IPV research reflects various theories, including family violence theories, conflict and control theories, theories of psychopathology, and gender and feminist theory applications. This manuscript represents a feminist theoretical approach to the study of IPV. Chapter 2 draws upon criticisms of the use of patriarchal theories to explain IPV by presenting a theoretical framework that incorporates the theory of self-efficacy, triadic reciprocal causation model, and patriarchy to explain attitudes accepting female perpetrated IPV in the literature. Data collection methods and findings will be provided to support that attitudes are more accepting of female perpetrated IPV than male perpetrated IPV. Practical applications and recommendations for future research in IPV research will be discussed in Chapter 3