Marital physical violence suffered and committed by men: Repeating family patterns?

Abstract

Intending to contribute to the marital violence theme, this article has the objective to investigate the presence of physical violence suffered and committed by men in family relationships and the predictive power of family of origin experiences on this occurrence in a sample of 186 men. A sociodemographic questionnaire, Family Background Questionnaire (FBQ) and Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2) were used to collect the data. Physical violence suffered and committed by men established significant correlations with experiences of violence in the family of origin. The predictive factor for the occurrence was the experience of parental physical abuse in childhood. We discuss the relevance of a focus of attention on men also as victims of marital violence and the relevance of understanding the role of family of origin for the maintenance of violence in future relations.