<p>The study by researchers in Toronto and New York suggests that many who live with chronic psychological abuse still see certain positive traits in their abusers — such as dependability and being affectionate — which may partly explain why they stay.<br /><br />“We wanted to see whether survey information from women who were not currently seeking treatment or counselling for relationship abuse could be a reliable source for identifying specific types of male abusers,” says Patricia O’Campo.<br /><br />O’Campo, social epidemiologist and director of the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, said: “We wanted to learn more.” <br /><br />The researchers explored the experiences of 611 urban-dwelling, low-income American women. <br /><br />Overall, 42.8 percent of those surveyed said they had been abused by their intimate male partners in the year preceding the survey. <br /><br />Psychological abuse was significantly more of an ongoing problem than physical abuse, while sexual abuse was reported as least common. <br /><br />A relatively small number of women (2.3 percent) perceived their partners as extremely controlling, while 1.2 percent reported that their partners engaged in extreme generally violent behaviours.<br /><br />But a considerable number of women felt their abusive male partners still possessed some good qualities: more than half (54 percent) saw their partners as highly dependable, while one in five (21 percent) felt the men in their lives possessed significant positive traits (i.e., being affectionate).<br /><br />Based on the survey findings, the researchers divided the male abusers into three groups: <br /><br />“Dependable, yet abusive” men (44 percent of the sample) had the lowest scores for controlling and generally violent behaviours, and the highest scores for dependability and positive traits. <br /><br />“Positive and controlling” men (38 percent of the sample) had moderately high scores for violence and also for dependability and positive traits. <br /><br />“Dangerously abusive” men (18 percent) had the highest scores for violence, controlling behaviour and legal problems and the lowest scores for dependability and positive traits.<br /></p>
<p>The study by researchers in Toronto and New York suggests that many who live with chronic psychological abuse still see certain positive traits in their abusers — such as dependability and being affectionate — which may partly explain why they stay.<br /><br />“We wanted to see whether survey information from women who were not currently seeking treatment or counselling for relationship abuse could be a reliable source for identifying specific types of male abusers,” says Patricia O’Campo.<br /><br />O’Campo, social epidemiologist and director of the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, said: “We wanted to learn more.” <br /><br />The researchers explored the experiences of 611 urban-dwelling, low-income American women. <br /><br />Overall, 42.8 percent of those surveyed said they had been abused by their intimate male partners in the year preceding the survey. <br /><br />Psychological abuse was significantly more of an ongoing problem than physical abuse, while sexual abuse was reported as least common. <br /><br />A relatively small number of women (2.3 percent) perceived their partners as extremely controlling, while 1.2 percent reported that their partners engaged in extreme generally violent behaviours.<br /><br />But a considerable number of women felt their abusive male partners still possessed some good qualities: more than half (54 percent) saw their partners as highly dependable, while one in five (21 percent) felt the men in their lives possessed significant positive traits (i.e., being affectionate).<br /><br />Based on the survey findings, the researchers divided the male abusers into three groups: <br /><br />“Dependable, yet abusive” men (44 percent of the sample) had the lowest scores for controlling and generally violent behaviours, and the highest scores for dependability and positive traits. <br /><br />“Positive and controlling” men (38 percent of the sample) had moderately high scores for violence and also for dependability and positive traits. <br /><br />“Dangerously abusive” men (18 percent) had the highest scores for violence, controlling behaviour and legal problems and the lowest scores for dependability and positive traits.<br /></p>
