Theories Of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration

The empirical literature shows that there are many theories which explain intimate partner violence perpetration. Some of the theories have been previously discussed. The social learning theory argues that perpetration of violence is a learned behaviour whereas object relations argues that inadequate or lack of nurturing and trauma during infancy by primary caregivers affects an one’s relationships with others as an adult.

The other theory used to explain intimate partner violence perpetration is the feminist theory. Feminist theory views the root of violence as the unequal distribution of power of genders in a patriarchal society (Zosky, 1999). Men are seen as privileged over women and have more resources and decision making whereas women

This paper was scrutinizing factors associated with the phenomenon and appropriate theories relevant to this social problem. The available literature shows that women in heterosexual relationships are disproportionately affected by intimate partner violence and most of the perpetrators are men. This paper therefore, was focusing on intimate partner violence perpetrated by males towards their female partners. Several factors are associated with perpetration of violence towards women. Substance abuse, poverty, certain harmful cultural beliefs and practices and adherence to hegemony contribute to perpetration of violence. Moreover, a presence of certain personality disorders such as borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder in an individual increases their likelihood that they would perpetrate violence towards their

The Akers’ social learning theory argues that men who perpetrate violence against their female partners do so because they have learned the behaviour from the environment. They have learned it through exposure to it through witnessing or directly experiencing violence as children, and they have therefore learnt that violence is appropriate whenever conflict arises, their peers and family members approve of the violence and they are of the view that the benefits of the violence far outweigh the costs (Zavala, Melander, & Kurtz, 2015). The object relations theory argues that the violence is mainly due to intrapsychic challenges stemming from a pathological relations with a primary caregiver as an infant (Zosky, 1999). The feminist theory on the other hand, argues that a patriarchal society which privileges men and subjugates women contributes to violence as men use their power to exert their control over women (McPhain, Busch, Kulkarni, & Rice, 2007).

In this research, the independent variables are patriarchy, lack of nurturance in infancy and exposure to violence as a child. On the other hand, the dependent variable is intimate partner violence perpetration which comprises of physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence and economic