Domestic violence has been a growing concern for researchers
and clinicians since more than 50 years. This important
societal problem has been recognized by the American Psychiatric
Association planning and research committees who is
considering inclusion of a Marital Abuse Disorder diagnosis
(Marital Conflict Disorder with Violence) in the new Relational
disorders of the forthcoming DSM-5 (2013). Numerous studies
have looked at different predictors and models that would explain
and predict marital violence. A significant amount of research
that has been published on marital violence is studying
male perpetrators and female victims (McQueen, 2013). This
might be explained by the fact that females are more likely to
report spousal abuse than men, with the consequence that female
violence might be underreported by men. Some authors
would take a different position and support a bi-directional model
of marital violence, and a growing number of studies have
gone beyond the traditional model, with results indicating that
spousal abuse is also perpetrated by women Some researchers
concluded that a significant proportion of females seeking help
for victimisation are also perpetrators of intimate partner violence
(Williams, Ghandour, & Kub, 2008). In their review article
on domestic violence, McNeely and Mann (1990) state that
“classifying spousal violence as a women’s issue rather than a
human issue is erroneous”. They propose that we should look
beyond the traditional ways of investigating marital violence
and try to understand and explain the problem keeping in mind
that the victim and perpetrator roles can be played by both men
and women.