Preface

Despite three decades of research, activism and intervention services associated with family and intimate violence in the United States, much remains to be accomplished. Historically, the widespread prevalence of gender inequality meant that cultural construction of intimate violence was defined in male terms and viewed largely as a private matter. Thus, few instances of family and intimate violence came to the attention of the authorities. The "discovery" of child and spousal abuse by researchers and policymakers in the last three decades is evidence is evidence of the success of this construction.

Even as the lines between public and private spheres of life become clear, the tenacity of privacy as a cherished right in American society makes it difficult to convince a large part of the populace that violence that takes within intimate relationships is not only a public issue but also a criminal issue with serious consequences for the social fabric of society.

In this context, it is especially important for researchers, activists, and policymakers not to lose sight of the fact that family and intimate violence are a part of a wider spectrum that includes the terrorist bombings in Oklahoma, the drive-by shootings in urban settings, the police handling of Rodney King  and the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson. intimate violence, the subject of these web pages, is viewed as a behaviour falling along the continuum of interpersonal violence that includes acts of violence between strangers at one end of the continuum and intimate partners at the other end.

Furthermore, all intimate relationships carry the risk of violence and abuse regardless of the marital status or sexual preference of the partners. This perspective recognizes the varieties of intimate partnerships that exist in any culture, from traditional married couples to those involving same sex-partners. The pages of this web site will eventually demonstrate  that the severity and consequences  of intimate violence  are influenced by the degree of intimacy and symmetry of power that characterize intimate relationships. This approach is critical in understanding the cause and effects of violence that take place between partners as they move through life in varied stages of intimacy: from dating and courtship to engagement, marriage and separation.

Current explanations for the onset and persistence of intimate violence are also addressed by the authors. All agree that the subject of intimate violence is in much need of theory building if it is to progress beyond the uni-dimensional explanations that now dominate the literature. There is, for example, little evidence about the differences in the nature and extent of abuse and violence between intimate couples in varied stages of intimacy and commitment. Issues of escalation and desisting of violent behaviour and the reasons for both remain largely unexplored.

Furthermore, because there is increasing evidence that violence and abuse exist among dating and same-sex couples, approaching intimate violence is incorporated into everyday systems of social action, and will likely lead to narrowly constructed preventive strategies  with few lasting effects.

To move beyond the largely reactive posture in dealing with violence and abuse between intimate partners it essential to understand those factors at both the societal and interpersonal levels that lead to this destructive behaviour.  Focusing exclusively on either batterers or victims will result in individually oriented perspectives that emphasize psychological defects  or deficiencies.

In addition, by ignoring the large numbers of intimate partners who are not violent or abusive to one another, little will be learned about the strategies  that these couples employ to avoid such behaviour. Understanding the ways in which such behaviour is avoided or resisted is critical if society  is to establish prevention strategies for those individuals  who have yet to accept violence as an appropriate method for resolving interpersonal conflict.

The following web pages  provide a convincing argument that intimate violence is firmly rooted in many of the fundamental activities in which partners engage during the course of their relationships. For this reason, it is essential for researchers and activists to pursue an understanding  of the connections between the varied forms of violence and abuse that exist within all dimensions of intimacy. Only in this way will we understand how family and intimate violence fit in the mosaic of violence that continues to disrupt the social fabric of society.

Reference: Violence Between Intimate Partners: Albert P. Cardarelli , et al.