Intergenerational Transmission of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Because intimate violence tends to run in families, social learning theory posits that children learn to be violent through watching their parents and through being reinforced for their own aggressive behaviors. This account of intimate partner violence considers only environmental influences on familial resemblance, but familial resemblance may also be due to genetic factors. A genetically sensitive design is required to examine the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in intimate violence. This article reviews evidence for the intergenerational transmission of intimate violence and discusses why a genetically sensitive design is needed. It reviews behavioral genetic research that shows that aggression is genetically influenced and discusses how this research is pertinent to the study of intimate violence from a behavioral genetic perspective. It is urged that behavioral genetic studies of intimate violence be undertaken so that we may have a better understanding of this behavior.