The cognitive processes mediating domestic violence

Domestic violence is a destructive, prevalent social phenomenon which constitutes a forlorn daily reality for disturbingly high rates of the general population [1]. What are the precursors of domestic violence and how might it be mitigated? The most common predictor for domestic violence, often discussed in literature, is poverty [2]. However, while demolishing poverty is a grand goal of society, planning targeted interventions to reduce poverty is oftentimes an unattainable challenge. Could it be that domestic violence is in fact mediated by individual cognitive processes that may allow for targeted interventions?

In association with the "Hotline assistance for men in the circle of violence" organization, we set out to test the hypothesis that the psychological construct of Perceived Control is a mediating factor in explaining domestic violence. Perceived control is a scale which quantifies an individual's belief of the degree of control she has over her internal states and behavior, her ability to change external circumstances and bring about desired outcomes. To test the hypothesis that higher rates of domestic violence are associated with lower rates of perceived control we estimated these behavioral and cognitive phenomena in a survey of normative Israeli population.

To measure domestic violence we used the Conflict Tactics Scale [4]. To the best of our knowledge, to this day, the largest Israeli survey to measure intrafamily violence included 120 couples [5]. We surveyed 426 individuals that self-identified as being in an at least 1-year long relationship. We found a weak but significant correlation between the tendency for violence and perceived control (p=0.002, r = 0.15). In addition, we found a significant interaction between the length of the relationship and perceived control, such that higher rates of perceived control and longer relationships predicted lower violent-behavior in the relationship.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest survey of domestic violence to be conducted in Israel. Its results suggest that domestic violence is correlated with a set of beliefs individuals have on their ability to determine their life circumstances, known as perceived control. Unlike poverty, which is the common predictor for violence in current literature and whose management is a great social challenge, perceived control is a cognitive construct that may be changed by empowering individuals to believe that they have the power to change their internal and external states. Our findings suggest that psychological interventions that are readily available to manipulate perceived control may assist in mitigating the destructive phenomenon of domestic violence.

[1] Tjaden, P. , & Thoennes, N (2000). Extent, nature, and consequences of intimate partner violence: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey (Report No. NCJ 181867). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.

[2] Jewkes, Rachel. "Intimate partner violence: causes and prevention." The lancet 359.9315 (2002): 1423-1429.‏

[3] Wallston, K. A., Wallston, B. S., Smith, S., & Dobbins, C. (1987). Perceived control and health. Current Psychological Research and Reviews, 6, 5–25.

[4] Straus, M. A. (1990). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence: The conflict tactics (CT) scales. . In M. A. Straus & R. J. Gelles (Eds.), Physical violence in American families (pp/ 29-47). New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.

[5] Eisikovits, Z. & Edleson, J. (1989). Intervening with men who batter: A critical review of the literature. Social Service Review 63.