Abstract
It is well established that personality pathology has been associated with the onset and continued perpetration of intimate partner violence, yet if and how this relates to the cessation of such behaviours remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether personality pathology differentiated 37 intimate partner violent men who had suspended the use of violence against their intimates (‘desisters’), 50 persisters, and 49 non-violent controls using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III subscales. Cluster A and Cluster B disorders at a diagnostic level were more often reported in men who had used violence against intimates compared to men in the control group. The rates and percentages of clinically meaningful traits and disorders were lower for the desisters than the persisters, with the desisters more like the controls than the persisters. The findings suggest that the initial stage of the desistance process may be related to personality pathology.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 539-554 |
Journal | Journal of Family Violence |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 16 Apr 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2015 |
Bibliographical note
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10896-015-9694-x.Keywords
- Intimate partner violence
- domestic violence
- desistance
- personality
- MCMI-III