The intergenerational transmission of relationship violence.
This study explored the intergenerational transmission of violence in a community sample. A telephone survey of 1,249 adults in the City of Vancouver assessed family-of-origin violence (father to mother, mother to father, father to self, and mother to self), as well as physical and psychological abuse in intimate relationships. All forms of family-of-origin violence were predictive of all forms of relationship abuse, consistent with a general social learning model of relationship violence. There was no evidence of gender-specific or role-specific patterns of transmission. For example, father-to-mother violence was not specifically predictive of men's perpetration and women's victimization in adult relationships. Nor was parent-to-self violence more predictive of victimization than perpetration. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Kwong
Marilyn J
MJ
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6. mjkwong@sfu.ca
Bartholomew
Kim
K
Henderson
Antonia J
AJ
Trinke
Shanna J
SJ
D000328:Adult; D001955:British Columbia; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology