Abuse and aggression in courting couples

Abstract

Challenging Gelles’ (1972) assertion that violence between intimates is likely to occur only within a family context, more than 60% of a sample of 371 single respondents reported having experienced abusive or aggressive behaviors or having inflicted them during courtship. Theoretical considerations and empirical consistencies derived from the marital violence literature supported hypothesized relationships between more serious courting relationships and violence and between experienced childhood violence and the occurrence of violence in courtship. A hypothesized relationship between social class and violence in courtship was not supported, however. A conflict theory framework and propositions extracted from choice and exchange theory explain these findings. The extent of courtship violence documented here is in all probability an underestimate of its actual occurrence.