Citation

Lloyd SA. J. Fam. Violence 1990; 5(4): 269-284.

Affiliation

Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, Miami University, 45056 Oxford, Ohio

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/BF00979064

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines conflict in violent versus nonviolent marriages, while controlling for level of marital distress. Seventy-eight married couples participated in a structured interview, an open-ended interview, and a series of six telephone interviews designed to gather behavioral self-report data. This study had three objectives. First, the association between conflict and violence was tested using two different measures of conflict. Results indicate that the relationship between conflict and violence appears to be mediated by the distress level of the marriage. Second, a typology of marital conflict was developed, based on spouses'' behavioral self-report descriptions of their daily conflicts. Five types of conflict were identified through cluster analysis; there were significant differences between groups (nondistressed-nonviolent, nondistressed-violent, distressed-nonviolent and distressed-violent marriages) in the occurrence of problem solving, squabbles, and stable heated arguments. Third, conflict strategies used in a typical disagreement were assessed in the open-ended interview. Significant differences were found between groups of marriages in use of negotiation, initiation of the discussion, verbal attack, anger, withdrawal, apology, and no resolution. The volatility of the distressed-violent marriage, and differences between violent and nonviolent marriages are discussed.