The DOI matches its Crossref record; 99 of the 99 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Myth of Sexual Symmetry in Marital Violence
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: (I) surveys employing the “Conflict Tactics Scales” (CTS), a checklist of self-reported “acts” 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.
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Citations
Cites
Measuring Intrafamily Conflict and Violence: The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales
Straus, M. A. (1979) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.2307/351733 · Cited by 6,187
Behind Closed Doors: Violence in the American Family.
Boudouris, J., Straus, M. A., Gelles, R. J., & Steinmetz, S. K. (1982) · Contemporary Sociology · doi:10.2307/2068814 · Cited by 3,088
Passions within reason: the strategic role of the emotions
(1989) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.26-4535 · Cited by 2,967
(1979) · Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) · Cited by 1,905
de Sousa, R. (1987) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/5760.001.0001 · Cited by 1,595
Societal change and change in family violence from 1975 to 1985 as revealed by two national surveys
Straus, M. A., & Gelles, R. J. (1986) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.2307/352033 · Cited by 1,592
Physical Violence in American Families, 1985: Archival Version
Gelles, R. J., & Straus, M. A. (1989) · ICPSR Data Holdings · doi:10.3886/icpsr09211 · Cited by 1,251
Competitiveness, risk taking, and violence: the young male syndrome
Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1985) · Ethology and Sociobiology · doi:10.1016/0162-3095(85)90041-x · Cited by 1,242
Self-citationWolfgang, M. E. (1958) · doi:10.9783/9781512808728 · Cited by 1,167
Peterson, V. W., & Wolfgang, M. E. (1960) · The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science · doi:10.2307/1141446 · Cited by 932
Cited by
Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: a meta-analytic review
Archer, J. (2000) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.651 · Cited by 2,507
Kelly, J. B., & Johnson, M. P. (2008) · Family Court Review · doi:10.1111/j.1744-1617.2008.00215.x · Cited by 801
Does sexual selection explain human sex differences in aggression?
Archer, J. (2009) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x09990951 · Cited by 607
Coercion in Intimate Partner Violence: Toward a New Conceptualization
Dutton, M. A., & Goodman, L. A. (2005) · Sex Roles · doi:10.1007/s11199-005-4196-6 · Cited by 514
Cross-Cultural Differences in Physical Aggression Between Partners: A Social-Role Analysis
Archer, J. (2006) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr1002_3 · Cited by 494
Metadata
- Authors
- Dobash, R. P., Dobash, R. E., Wilson, M., & Daly, M.
- Venue
- Social Problems
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1992-02
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 71-91
- ISSN
- 0037-7791 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-8533
- OpenAlex
- W2045064810
- Cited by
- 965
- References
- 99
- FWCI
- 21.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: The Myth of Sexual Symmetry in Marital Violence. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1525/sp.1992.39.1.03x0064l
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- Dobash, R. P., Dobash, R. E., Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1992). The Myth of Sexual Symmetry in Marital Violence. Social Problems. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.1992.39.1.03x0064l
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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
