Living out the script : family of origin violence, family relationship patterns, anger expression, and spouse abuse

Studies on spouse abuse have typically focused on the frequency of the violence, the individual characteristics of abusers and victims, and the sociocultural aspects of the problem. Many of the current findings remain isolated. A comprehensive model explaining the causes of spouse abuse is lacking. The present study tested the premise that spouse abuse is a multidimensional problem, resulting from several factors in combination with one another.Two hundred nineteen students, faculty, and staff from a midsized university were surveyed regarding: (a) family of origin relational patterns: (b) childhood exposure to violence; (c) current anger expression; (d) attributions for abuse; and (e) current relationship violence. Based upon the existing theoretical literature, the variables formed a conceptual model describing relationship conflict behaviors. It was hypothesized that: (1) family of origin relational patterns and childhood exposure to violence would predict current anger expression and attributions for abuse: (2) current anger expression and attributions for abuse would predict current relationship conflict behaviors; (3) the relationships in (1) and (2) would be stronger than other possible relationships.Analyses were completed in two stages. First, the latent variables in the conceptual model were described through factor analysis of the measured variables. Composites representing measured factors containing the latent variables were placed into the hypothesized model. Second, canonical analysis evaluated the significance of the hypothesized and alternate relationships between factors.The hypothesized model was confirmed with some revision. The results indicated that violent behavior between men and women was most directly linked to current anger expression. Attributions about spouse abuse were not found to be related to current relationship violence. Anger expression appeared to be influenced by the family of origin relational patterns, childhood exposure to non-spousal violence, and a history of committing violence against adults during adolescence. Abuse between parents was not directly related to anger expression or relationship conflict. Abuse between parents was only influential when combined with an exposure to non-spousal violence during childhood. A revised model, which included a new factor called sociopathic features, was developed. It was concluded that relationship violence is best explained by a combination of these psychosocial factors. Implications for practice with spouse abuse are also presented. Given that anger expression appears to be the major factor, the most appropriate treatment may be that which focuses on anger expression and control. Future research is needed to evaluate this revised model of spouse abuse, and to identify potential ways of intervening in this developmental process.Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance ServicesThesis (Ph. D.