Men’s Use of Controlling Behaviors: A Comparison of Reports by Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter and Women in a Domestic Violence Offender Program

The current descriptive study seeks to broaden empirical understanding about family violence by comparing women’s reports of their male partner’s controlling behaviors in samples of women in a domestic violence offender’s program (N = 77) and women in a domestic violence shelter (N = 77). Three interesting findings were noted. First, the majority of women in the IPV offender’s program reported their male partner committed some frequency of physical abuse (84.4%), emotional abuse (85.6%) and/or overall controlling behaviors (96.4%). However, the majority of the women in the IPV offender’s program reported the frequency of these behaviors occurred “rarely” (53.2%, 36.4%, and 55.8% respectively). Second, the partners of women charged with intimate partner violence are significantly less violent and controlling than the partners of women seeking refuge in the shelter. Finally, it appears that women IPV offenders report experiencing three distinct categories of partner initiated violent and controlling experiences. Practical, theoretical, and research implications are addressed.