@article{ref1,
title="The myth of sexual symmetry in marital violence",
journal="Social problems",
year="1992",
author="Dobash, Russell P. and Dobash, R. Emerson and Wilson, Margo and Daly, Martin",
volume="39",
number="1",
pages="71-91",
abstract="A currently fashionable claim is that violence against husbands is about as prevalent as violence against wives; spousal violence has been said to be symmetrical in its extent, severity, intentions, motivational contexts, and even its consequences. The evidence for this alleged symmetry derives from two sources: (1) surveys employing the &quot;Conflict Tactics Scales&quot; (CTS), a checklist of self-reported &quot;acts&quot; perpetrated or experienced, and (2) U.S. homicide data. We criticize the claim of sexual symmetry by reviewing other contradictory survey evidence; by showing that the CTS provides an account of marital violence that is neither reliable nor valid; and by demonstrating that the sexual symmetry of spousal homicide victimization does not reflect sexually symmetrical motivation or action-and is in any case peculiar to the United States. Confining self-report data to a checklist of acts, devoid of motives, meanings and consequences cannot insure objectivity, validity or an adequate development of theory to explain violence.<p />",
language="",
issn="0037-7791",
doi="10.1525/sp.1992.39.1.03x0064l",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/sp.1992.39.1.03x0064l"
}