Dominant and Submissive Interpersonal Styles in ... - Onehealth.ca

Dominant and Submissive
Interpersonal Styles in Men
Who Use Violence:
Implications for Treatment?
Dr. Lisa Buys, Ph.D
Danielle Tessier
The Duluth Model
All men who use violence are
batterers
A batterer systematically uses
violence and other forms of abuse to
maintain power and control in an
intimate relationship
Involves dominant behaviors and
patriarchal beliefs
2
Power and Control Wheel
3

Where are all the batterers?
The view that all men who have used
violence are dominant batterers
conflicts with clinical experience
Differences between behavior in
group and behavior in the home?
Are most ‘batterers’ serving time?
4
Heterogeneity among men who
have been violent
Heterogeniety in men who use
violence has been well established in
the research literature
A number of typologies have
emerged to describe key differences
These differences have not yet had a
significant effect on treatment
programs
5
Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart
Comprehensive review of 15 existing
articles on typologies of spousal
abusers (up to 1994)
Categorized along 3 dimensions :
1. Severity and frequency of violence
2. Generality of violence
3. Psychopathology or personality
disorder
6

Family-only
Engage in the least marital violence and
extrafamilial violence
Little or no sign of psychopathology
Violence stems from stress and low-level
risk factors (childhood exposure to marital
violence, poor relationship skills)
Absence of psychopathology would help
prevent escalation of violence through
feelings of remorse.
7
Borderline/Dysphoric
Engage in moderate to severe spousal
abuse and may perpetrate some
extrafamilial violence
Show the most psychological distress and
borderline personality characteristics
Victims of parental abuse and rejection,
resulting in insecure attachment (trust
issues, highly dependant yet fearful of
loosing wives, high levels of jealousy)
High levels of impulsivity
Deficits in marital communication skills 8
Generally violent/Antisocial
Engage in moderate to severe marital
violence and the highest level of violence
outside the home
Most likely to show evidence of antisocial
personality disorder
High level risk factors (hostility toward
women, positive attitudes toward violence,
association with deviant peers)
Impulsivity and deficit in general social
skills
Spousal abuse hypothesized to be side
component to general use of violence,
aggression and antisocial behavior
9

Dutton Typology
Three subtypes:
Cyclical
Psychopathic
Overcontrolled
10
Cyclical batterer
Borderline personality– extreme
need to control intimacy, prone to
rage and jealousy
“Jeckyl and Hyde” – cycle of abuse
Fearful attachment style
50% of men who use violence
11
Psychopathic batterer
Antisocial personality
Violent outside the home, More
nonviolent criminal behavior
Dismissive attachment style
20% of men who use violence
12

Overcontrolled batterer
Distanced from own feelings,
avoidant, passive-aggressive
Violence results from buildup of
stress, anger or other negative
emotions
Preoccupied attachment style
30% of men who use violence
13
Gottman
Studied men who have used severe
violence
Examined heart rates at rest and
during conflict
Cobra group – heart rate decrease
during conflict (20%)
Pitbull group – heart rate increase
during conflict (80%)
14
Comparison of Typologies
Holzworth- Dutton
Gottman
Munroe
Generally Psychopathic Cobra
violent
Borderline Cyclical Pitbull
Family Only Over-controlled Pitbull
15

Problems
Antisocial and borderline types make
sense theoretically
Can find clear (sometimes extreme)
cases that fit the category, but in
reality antisocial and borderline
personality traits often overlap
Useful in risk assessment, but limited
utility in treatment
16
Problems (Cont’d)
Third subtype is poorly defined– a
default category for men without
extreme personality pathology???
Most men in our groups would fall
into this third category
17
Problems (Cont’d)
Proportion of men falling into
categories depends on sample being
examined – community, clinical,
forensic
18

Tweed and Dutton (1998)
Studied two recurrently identified
subtypes: Impulsive and Instrumental
Impulsive – withdrawn, moody individuals
hypersensitive to perceived slights,
volatile, over-reactive, most
psychologically abusive
Instrumental – narcissistic entitlement,
psychopathic manipulativeness, childhood
victims of severe violence, violent outside
the home
19
Instrumental and Impulsive
Impulsive or Reactive??
Defining behavior or individuals???
Although some clients show a clear
propensity for instrumental or
impulsive violence, most clients use
both
Most violent behavior is both
instrumental and reactive
20
Johnson typology
Categorizes men who use violence
on the basis of the relationship
context of the violence
Common couple violence
Intimate terrorism – batterer?
Violent resistance
Mutual violent control
21

What is Controlling Behavior?
Form vs. function
E.g., giving an order is a dominant
behavior, but it is only controlling if it
affects the behavior of another
person
Men may be more likely than women
to use physical fear to control
Are women more likely to use other
types of behavior to control?? 22
A different approach
Are there other ways to classify men who
use violence?
- provide a better fit with clinical
experience
- be more useful in developing treatment
approaches
23
Dominant vs. Submissive
Interpersonal Style
Dominant – Show more dominant
behavior in group and report more
dominant behaviors towards
partners, more abusive attitudes,
Submissive – Show more passive
behavior in group and report more
passive relationship behavior,
struggle with assertion, fewer
abusive attitudes
24

Interpersonal style
An interpersonal style is an individual’s
characteristic way of interacting with
others.
Focus on behavior
Extensive research on categorizing
interpersonal style
Violence is always a dominant act, but it
may or may not be consistent with an
individual’s typical interpersonal style
25
Interpersonal style Contd.
These groups may show characteristic
differences relating to their offence, risk of
re-offending and treatment needs.
Spousal abusers with a submissive
interpersonal style, in contrast to a
dominant interpersonal style, may be
more likely be passive in their
relationships, randomly violent rather than
regularly violent, and have alcohol as a
factor in their offence.
26
Interpersonal Circle
27

Measuring Interpersonal Style
Personality Assessment Inventory
(PAI)
Assesses a broad range of
symptoms, pathological personality
tendencies and other problem areas
Includes two scales measuring
interpersonal style (Dominance and
Warmth)
28
Dominance Scale
Very High Dominance –
Domineering, overcontrolling, strong
needs to control others, driven to
appear competent and authoritative,
with little tolerance for those who
disagree with their plans and desires
Very Low Dominance – self-effacing,
subordinate their interests to those
of others, vulnerable to mistreatment
and exploitation
29
Warmth Scale
Very High Warmth – strong needs to
be accepted by others, too caring
and trusting, avoids all conflict and
the expression of anger
Very Low Warmth – cold, unfeeling,
unable to display affection or make
commitment to personal
relationships
30

Inventory of Interpersonal
Problems (IIP)
Assesses the kinds of problems an
individual experiences in his (or her)
relationships
Self-report
Example – “It is hard for me to tell a
person to stop bothering me”
Results can be profiled on the
interpersonal circle
31
Case 1: Dan
33 year old man
Pushed her after she confronted him
about his infidelity
Minimized offence
History of violence in relationship
History of violence outside
relationship
Substance abuse problem, antisocial
personality traits
32
Dan (Cont’d)
IIP – Dominant interpersonal style
PAI – Very high Dominance, Low
Warm
Psychopathic or Antisocial Type
33

Case 2: Bob
38 years old, punched victim in jaw
States he was reacting to her
aggressive behavior
No criminal history, but prior
violence in relationship
Substance abuse not a factor
Remorseful and ashamed of his
violent behavior
34
Bob (Cont’d)
IIP – Peak on nonassertive, socially
inhibited
PAI – Average on dominance and
warmth
Family only???
35
Case 3: Joe
27 year-old who hit victim in head with
a shoe, highly intoxicated
Both he and partner had alcohol
problems
History of frequent conflicts, he has
been physically assaultive in past
Witness to parental violence as a child
One prior property offence – no
violence
36

Joe (Cont’d)
PAI – Average DOM, average WRM
IIP – Peak on “overly
accommodating”
37
Problems with Self-report
measurement
38
Next Steps and Resarch
Implications
Don’t throw the baby out with the
bathwater
39

Questions/Discussion
40
Thank you for your participation
For information about Telemental
Health education sessions:
(403) 783-7736
www.amhb.ab.ca
–Initiatives
– Telemental Health
– Current Telelearning Sessions
41